A hearing clinic should not wait. The first follow up belongs on the day of the free test, and the rest should widen out over months, because people who need hearing aids are slow to act. In GoHighLevel the Appointment Status trigger starts the sequence when the test is marked showed, and a date reminder covers the trial period after a fitting. The bottom line: the test is when the person is most ready, so the next step must be offered then.
How slowly people act
The MarkeTrak 10 survey, reported by Powers and Rogin in Canadian Audiologist, found that hearing aid owners waited about 4.2 years before their first hearing test and about 4.6 years before getting their first hearing aid, and that most owners who had a test reported being told a hearing aid was recommended. That means the gap is not a lack of advice. The person leaves the clinic and delays. The same source cites an adoption rate of 29 percent in a study sample.
The steps after the test are short. A Jacksonville clinic describes a hearing aid evaluation, a dispense appointment about one to two weeks after the device is selected and ordered, a 30 day trial, and a two week follow up after the fitting. ASHA's consumer guidance says hearing aids come with a 30 day trial and advises returning to the audiologist within those 30 days. Custom devices take one to two weeks to make, and over the counter aids, cleared by the FDA in 2022 for adults with mild to moderate loss, ship in about three to five business days. Those are the alternatives the person is weighing while they delay.
The follow up schedule
| When | Message |
|---|---|
| Same day as the test | Thank you and a link to book the hearing aid evaluation |
| 2 days later | Reminder that the evaluation is the next step, with two open times |
| 1 week later | One message with the link, no pressure |
| 3 weeks later | Short check in |
| 3 months later | Check in and an offer of a repeat test |
| Dispense date plus 25 days | Reminder to come back before the 30 day trial ends |
Health information cautions apply. GoHighLevel's support portal says accounts are not HIPAA compliant by default and that HIPAA is an optional US$297 per month add on. Keep messages generic, with the clinic name and a link, and ask your attorney before texting patients.
Build it in GoHighLevel
- Create a calendar for free hearing tests and another for hearing aid evaluations.
- Build a workflow with the Appointment Status trigger set to Showed Up, filtered to the free test calendar.
- Add a Send SMS action the same day with the evaluation booking link.
- Add Wait steps and messages for 2 days, 1 week, 3 weeks, and 3 months, each with an if else that exits when an evaluation is booked.
- Create a contact date field called Dispense date. When the fitting is done, set it.
- Build a second workflow with the Custom Date Reminder trigger, 25 days after the Dispense date, that sends the trial period reminder.
- Turn on Stop on Response and set a Time Window for business hours.
HighLevel help center pages describe the Appointment Status trigger as firing when an appointment is created or its status changes, with statuses New, Confirmed, Cancelled, Showed Up, No Show, and Invalid, and with filters for calendar, calendar group, tag, user, and who made the change (customer, user, or API). The Update Appointment Status action can set the same statuses from inside a workflow. A third party agency guide adds that Appointment Status is now the main appointment trigger and the older Customer Booked Appointment trigger is being phased out, so use Appointment Status for new builds.
GoHighLevel's Custom Date Reminder page says the trigger fires before, on, or after a date, that in contact based workflows you can choose supported contact date fields and supported opportunity date fields, that it does not fire for a contact whose date field is empty, and that a workflow can hold two triggers, one before and one after the date. It also describes a Match on the year option for reminders that repeat every year, so read that setting's description in your account and test it with a real date field.
What the workload looks like
For example, if a clinic gives 30 free tests a month and 10 leave without a next appointment, that is 10 people who each need six messages over three months, or 60 touches (10 times 6). A workflow sends all of them and exits anyone who books.
Mistakes to avoid
- Waiting a week to reach out. The test is when interest peaks.
- Weekly messages for months. Space them out.
- Putting test results in a text. Keep messages generic.
- Forgetting the trial reminder. The 30 days pass quickly.
How this was handled before
Clinics gave patients a printed audiogram and a card, and waited for a call. Because owners in the survey waited more than four years to act, that model leaves the decision to memory. A scheduled follow up puts the next step in front of the person at widening intervals without asking staff to remember each one.
Check before you switch it on
US text messages sent from a standard 10 digit number need A2P 10DLC registration. The HighLevel support portal says registration is required for texts to US recipients from 10 digit long code numbers and that toll free numbers do not require it. HighLevel's opt in guidelines also say a person cannot be forced to agree to text messages in order to submit a form, so keep the consent box optional. One compliance guide separates informational texts, which need documented consent, from marketing texts, which need prior express written consent. Ask your attorney which category your reminders fall into. Many patients bring a family member to appointments, so ask who should receive the reminders. This is general information, not legal advice.
Questions people ask
How long do people wait before getting hearing aids?
MarkeTrak 10, reported in Canadian Audiologist, found owners waited about 4.2 years before a first test and 4.6 years before a first hearing aid.
How long is the hearing aid trial period?
ASHA says 30 days, and one clinic describes a two week follow up after the fitting.
Is GoHighLevel HIPAA compliant?
Not by default. It offers an optional HIPAA add on at US$297 per month.
Ready to try it yourself? Start a GoHighLevel account here.
You can also see this in action in our GoHighLevel capabilities demo.