20 CSR 2165-3.010
General Obligations of the Licensee
PURPOSE: The purpose of this Code of
Ethics to be implemented through the Board
of Examiners for Hearing Instrument Specialists (hereafter referred to as the “board”), is
to benefit and uphold the public health, safety, and welfare in the performance of professional services, avoid the appearance of
impropriety, and provide competent services
according to professional and ethical obligations.
(1) It is fitting for the profession to have standards of excellence which set it apart, help it
to self-govern, and enable its members to
qualify as professionals. Therefore, this Code
of Ethics is binding upon every person
licensed by the board to practice the fitting of
hearing instruments as defined in section
346.010(11), RSMo. In these rules of professional conduct, the word “licensee” shall
mean any hearing instrument specialist, hearing instrument specialist in training, or registered supervisor.
(2) By applying for or becoming a hearing
instrument specialist or hearing instrument
specialist in training, a person shall—
(A) Comply with and uphold the Code of
Ethics defined in these rules; and
(B) Understand and be familiar with sections 346.010 to 346.250, RSMo, also known
as the Hearing Instrument Specialists Act.
(3) It shall be unethical for a hearing instrument specialist in training to misrepresent or
mislead, directly or by implication, prospective purchasers into the erroneous belief that
the hearing instrument specialist in training is
licensed as a hearing instrument specialist by
the state of Missouri by—
(A) Omitting “hearing instrument specialist in training” from business cards, advertising, or any other industry document bearing
his/her name; or
(B) Representing him/herself implicitly
through silence as a licensed hearing instrument specialist.
(4) It shall be unethical for a registered supervisor of a hearing instrument specialist in
training to—
(A) Fail to provide the training and supervision pursuant to 20 CSR 2165-2.010 to a
hearing instrument specialist in training; or
(B) Misrepresent, either directly or by
implication, the process for review of the performance of a hearing instrument specialist in
training.
(5) It is incompetency in the practice of selling and fitting hearing instruments if each of
the following testing procedures is not used
before a client is fit:
(A) Visual otoscopy;
(B) Air conduction, with masking where
appropriate;
(C) Bone conduction, with masking where
appropriate;
(D) Speech reception threshold, with
masking where appropriate and utilizing test
equipment with a calibrated circuit;
(E) Word discrimination, with masking
where appropriate and utilizing test equipment with a calibrated circuit;
(F) Most Comfortable Level (MCL) or discreets, with masking where appropriate and
utilizing test equipment with a calibrated circuit; and
(G) Uncomfortable Loudness Level (UCL)
or discreets while utilizing test equipment
with a calibrated circuit.
(6) The results of these tests shall be recorded in writing and retained in the client’s file
for a period of three (3) years from the date
of the test.
AUTHORITY: section 346.125, RSMo 2016.*
This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 165-3.010.
Emergency rule filed Oct. 18, 1996, effective
Nov. 1, 1996, expired April 29, 1997. Original rule filed Nov. 6, 1996, effective May 30,
1997. Moved to 20 CSR 2165-3.010, effective
Aug. 28, 2006. Amended: Filed June 27,
2008, effective Dec. 30, 2008. Amended:
Filed Sept. 25, 2019, effective March 30,
2020.
*Original authority: 346.125, RSMo 1973, amended 1981,
1995, 2009.