The UNCG Speech and Hearing Center
Speech & Hearing Center Annual Report
General Description: The UNCG Speech and Hearing Center, in operation since 1967, provides a comprehensive service program for diagnosis and therapy in language, speech and hearing for adults, adolescents and young children. The Center is a modern, handicapped accessible facility on the UNCG campus. The Center has eight therapy rooms and observation suites, a large pediatric language room with an observation suite, and two diagnostic suites for hearing evaluations and hearing aid fittings. In the spring of 2010, the Center became a Medicare approved provider.
Services at the Center are provided by graduate student clinicians in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, who are carefully supervised by faculty members who are state licensed and nationally certified by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Faculty supervisors are responsible for the diagnosis and management of all clients assigned to graduate clinicians. Faculty have many years of experience and expertise in the field of communication disorders.
Services: The following services are available to community members of all ages:- Evaluation of hearing, auditory processing, speech, language, reading, fluency and voice
- Auditory evoked potential evaluations
- Therapy for disorders of motor speech, articulation, language, reading, cognition, voice and fluency
- Summer preschool and early elementary school language groups
- Transgender Voice and Communication Group
- Assistance in accent modification for speakers of English as a second language
- Assistance for persons wanting to code-switch between standard English and a dialect
- Hearing aid consultation and fitting
- Tinnitus Retraining Therapy (TRT)
- Group and individual therapy for adults with cochlear implants
Fees: Fee schedules for evaluations and therapy are available upon request. Payment methods include third-party reimbursement, cash, personal checks, and Mastercard or Visa. Clients may contact Olga M. Olejarczyk, our Patient and Clinic Accounts Administrator, who will assist them in making financial arrangements on an "as needed" basis.
Clinical Aspects of the Graduate Program
Before beginning practicum, students must complete 25 supervised hours of observation of speech-language pathology and 25 hours of observation of normally developing children. With this accomplished, as well as completion of the prerequisite courses, graduate students are ready to begin clinical practicum at the university under the close supervision of ASHA certified faculty.
Audiology:The UNCG Audiology Clinic is part of the University Speech and Hearing Center and provides CSD graduate and fourth year Au.D. students from other universities with opportunities to work with adult and pediatric clients with hearing loss and auditory processing disorders. The Audiology Clinic is open to the public throughout most of the calendar year and offers a wide range of diagnostic and aural rehabilitation services. Assistant Professor, Dr. Lisa Fox-Thomas, and Associate Professor, Dr. Denise A. Tucker, provide clinical instruction and supervision.
Speech-Language Pathology: The initial registration for practicum is CSD 571: Beginning Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology, followed by CSD 678: Advanced Clinical Practice in Speech-Language Pathology, which usually occurs in the second semester of the first year of graduate school. Graduate clinicians are assigned clients at either the UNCG Speech and Hearing Center or an off-campus site that we serve on a contractual basis. In addition, students must enroll in CSD 672: Minor Area Clinical Practice to complete their 20 hours in Audiology.
After finishing approximately 100 hours of clinical training during the first year, second year students in speech-language pathology and audiology register for CSD 677: Internship in Communication Disorders and are placed at two different sites, one per semester, under the supervision of a licensed, ASHA certified speech-language pathologist at that site. The CSD program at UNCG has contractual arrangements with many school systems, hospitals, and agencies in the region, including Guilford county Health Department, the Developmental Evaluation Center, The Guilford County School System, Moses Cone Hospital, Forsyth Memorial Hospital, North Carolina Memorial Hospital, and others. Students usually spend one semester in an educational setting and one semester in a medical/rehab setting.
HIPAA BREACH NOTICE UNCG SPEECH AND HEARING CENTER
On, June 10, 2010, the UNCG Speech and Hearing Center became aware of a breach of personal health information ("PHI"). Investigation has determined that computer malware was present on a single Center computer that was used for billing. While it is unknown whether any PHI was actually removed from the computer, it has been established that the malware would have allowed unknown third parties to have access to certain types of PHI. The breach was fixed on June 10, 2010, and the database has been secure since that time. The exact duration of the exposure prior to June 10, 2010, is unknown.
The information on the subject computer was name, address, social security number, date of birth, telephone number, insurance company, insurance ID number, group number, diagnosis code, procedure code and charges.
The Center has taken steps to notify affected individuals for whom we have contact information so they can take personal action to reduce or eliminate potential harm. Approximately 2,300 notices are being sent. Therefore, if your information was exposed, it is likely that you will be receiving a letter or email from the Center with specific information.
If you believe that you may be one of the persons whose PHI was exposed, you may contact us with questions and concerns by calling our Office toll free at 1-877-550-6012, Monday through Thursday between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., and 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on Friday.
If you are identified as one of the persons whose PHI was exposed, then you are encouraged to be vigilant by reviewing account statements and monitoring free credit reports. You may also wish to initiate a fraud alert with the three major credit bureaus. The following information is available to you if you determine that such services are needed:
If additional identity theft information is needed you are encouraged to contact the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov/idtheft or the North Carolina Attorney's Office at 9001 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-9001. Telephone: (919) 716-6400, Fax: (919) 716-6750.
The UNCG Speech and Hearing Center has taken these steps to protect our patients' PHI and protect against further breaches:
The UNCG Speech and Hearing Center sincerely apologizes for any inconvenience or concern this incident causes those whose PHI was exposed. Our patients' information privacy is very important to us and we will continue to do everything we can to correct this situation and fortify our information protections.
Sincerely,
Ms. Vicki McCready
UNCG Speech and Hearing Center, Director
