Founder of Hears Hearing & Hearables
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Hears Hearing & Hearables is an independent online hearing care store founded by Kim Fishman, an audiologist, built specifically to fix something that was broken.
We carry OTC and prescription hearing aids from all major brands, provide telehealth support nationwide, and connect patients with a curated network of independent hearing care professionals. Our pricing is transparent and publicly listed. We are not owned by a manufacturer, not backed by investors, and not part of any insurance benefit network.
This is the story of how we got here, and why it matters.
I graduated with a hearing science degree in 1995 and have spent almost 30 years as an audiologist, helping people hear better. For most of that time, I worked within systems I didn’t design, and kept running into the same frustrations.
The clinics that employed other audiologists pushed specific brands because of manufacturer relationships, not because those brands were right for the patient. Insurance ‘benefits’ directed patients to limited device lists chosen by the manufacturer that owned the benefit administrator. Providers signed contracts with non-disparagement clauses that prevented honest conversations with patients. And the patients sitting in the chair had no idea any of this was happening.
I pursued doctoral-level research at the University of Minnesota, studying the relationship between hearing loss, language, and the brain. I didn’t complete the program, in part because the environment wasn’t always welcoming to clinical creativity and thinking differently about how people are served. But that research shaped how I think about hearing care in ways that have never left me. The brain connection to hearing, the stakes of untreated hearing loss, and the importance of expectations inform everything I do.
In 2012, I started my own audiology clinic in Hopkins, Minnesota, Chears Audiology, and now Hears to U, because I needed to practice hearing care the way I believed it should be done. Transparent pricing. All major brands. No manufacturer agreements that compromised recommendations. Real-ear measurement as standard. Patient education is a core part of every appointment.
That model worked. But it only reached patients who could walk through our door in Hopkins. In 2021, I launched Hears Hearing & Hearables as an online store to extend that same approach nationwide, using telehealth technology to reach patients across the country who deserved the same honest, independent guidance.
Our online store. We carry OTC hearing aids, prescription hearing aids, hearing accessories, ear care products, hearing protection, and assistive listening devices. We serve patients across the United States through our online store and telehealth service. Membership is available and provides pricing benefits, but is never required to shop.
Our physical audiology clinic in Hopkins, Minnesota. For patients who can visit us in person, we provide comprehensive hearing evaluations, professional prescription fittings with real-ear measurement, hearing aid demonstrations, and ongoing care. Hears to U is part of the Hears Hearing & Hearables provider network and operates under the same standards of transparency, ethics, and best-practice fitting.
These aren’t values we chose from a list. They’re conclusions we arrived at after watching a system that wasn’t working for the people it was supposed to serve.
We posted our prices publicly in 2012, nine years before federal law began requiring hospitals to do the same. We were told by some colleagues that this was a mistake. We disagreed then and disagree now. A patient who knows what something costs before they commit is a patient who trusts you. Hidden pricing is not a business strategy; it’s a barrier to informed consent.
A hearing aid in a box is hardware. What makes it work is the right selection for your hearing profile, the professional fitting, the real-ear verification, the acclimatization support, and the follow-up when something isn’t right, that is the service. We separate the cost of the device from the cost of the service, always, so patients know exactly what they’re paying for.
We carry Phonak, Starkey, Oticon, Signia, ReSound, Widex, Unitron, and Rexton for prescription hearing aids. We carry ELEHEAR, Yeasound, LINNER, Sennheiser, and Lucid for OTC. We recommend based on your hearing profile and your life, not on which manufacturer we have a financial relationship with. We don’t have those relationships.
This is why we publish our Ethics Series, starting with why hearing aids are so expensive, explaining how the hearing aid industry works, who owns the major benefit administrators, what TPA contracts require providers to sign, and why prices are what they are. We believe you deserve to understand the system you’re navigating.
Hears Hearing & Hearables operates a membership model. Membership is never required to shop; anyone can browse and purchase. But membership matters for a reason that goes beyond discounts.
Independent audiologists pay three to five times more for the same hearing aid as high-volume retailers like Costco. We can’t change that on our own. But a growing membership base gives us greater negotiating leverage with manufacturers, and we pass every bit of those savings directly to members.
More than pricing, membership builds a collective voice. We cannot independently influence Medicare to cover hearing aids. We cannot single-handedly push back against the consolidation and conflicts of interest documented in our Ethics Series. But a community of informed, engaged patients and providers can make that case more loudly than any single practice.
“Our goal is to expand our membership to amplify our collective voice. A larger membership base enhances our ability to negotiate better prices with manufacturers, counteract monopolies, and provide affordable hearing care to those in underserved areas.” — Kim Fishman, Audiologist
Join our membership or learn more about what it includes.
We are actively building a network of independent audiologists and hearing care professionals across the United States, providers who are committed to transparency, ethics, and best-practice patient care without manufacturer bias.
Every provider in our network is held to clear standards: multi-brand recommendations, unbundled transparent pricing, APSO fitting standards including real-ear measurement, and no undisclosed financial relationships with manufacturers. We share clinical knowledge, stay current with evolving best practices, and collaborate to deliver better patient outcomes.
If you need in-person care outside Minnesota, we work to connect you with a network provider in your area. If we don’t yet have a provider near you, we’ll tell you that honestly and help you find the best available option.
If you are a hearing care professional who shares these values, we’d love to talk.
All major brands: Phonak, Starkey, Oticon, Signia, ReSound, Widex, Unitron, Rexton. Programmed to your audiogram by a licensed audiologist. Available with telehealth follow-up nationwide or in-person fitting at Hears to U in Hopkins.
Clinic-tested selection: ELEHEAR Beyond and Beyond Pro (HearAdvisor #2 of 56), Yeasound RIC700 and RIC800 (HearAdvisor #1 of 56), LINNER Mercury and Nova Lite, Sennheiser All Day Clear, Lucid Engage. All FDA registered, HSA/FSA eligible, backed by Minnesota’s 45-day return window. [LINK to OTC shop]
Hearing aid accessories and tips for all brands, ear care kits, hearing protection for work and music, assistive listening devices, TV streamers, remote microphones, tinnitus relief products, and more. If we don’t carry what you need, ask, we’ll find it or point you in the right direction.
Whether you’re just starting to think about your hearing, upgrading from an old device, navigating a confusing insurance benefit, or looking for an honest second opinion, reach out. We’re a small independent practice run by people who genuinely care about helping you hear better.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for taking your hearing seriously. We are genuinely grateful to help.
— Kim Fishman, Audiologist | Hears Hearing & Hearables | Hears to U, Hopkins, Minnesota
Mission:
To deliver the best audiological care available to include being an advocate for our customers, patients and clients. Help Customer to find local support in their community with a licensed provider that provides honest, transparent and ethical services. Support all things for customers to serve and help those who need ear and hearing care. To provide support to the overall mission of providing ear and hearing health care that offers choices, transparency and excellent customer service.
All products on our Hearable website are sold with care and concern for what is the best out there for people who take care of their wellness, ears, and hearing. If you don’t see a product that you want that we don’t have, please let us know and we will share our thoughts on if that is a good product and if we can offer competitive pricing.
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