Audit of the Board of Registration of Hearing Instrument Specialists

This is a state performance audit of the Massachusetts board that licenses and oversees hearing instrument specialists.

“I am pleased to provide this performance audit of the Board of Registration of Hearing Instrument Specialists.”

Auditors checked whether the board followed open meeting rules and met often enough to handle licensing duties properly.

“The purpose of our audit was to determine whether BRHIS complied with Section 20(h) of Chapter 30 of the General Laws (the Open Meeting Law) and met quarterly to ensure the granting of licenses in accordance with Section 197(f) of Chapter 112, and Section 93 of Chapter 13, of the General Laws.”

If the board does not meet often enough, oversight can weaken and important board actions can be delayed.

“Infrequent board meetings could result in a lack of proper oversight of BRHIS’s operations or in the board being insufficiently informed and thus unable to act in the best interest of the organization.”

For ordinary residents, this matters because the board is supposed to protect the public by regulating people who fit and sell hearing aids in Massachusetts.

“The Board of Registration of Hearing Instrument Specialists protects the public through regulation of the practice and the title of Hearing Instrument Specialist in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in accordance with [Sections 93 and 94 of Chapter 13, and Section 197(f) of Chapter 112, of the General Laws].”

The main problem found was simple: the board did not meet as often as the law requires.

“BRHIS did not meet quarterly.”

The auditor recommended that if the board cannot reliably gather enough members for meetings, it should ask lawmakers to reduce the number needed for a quorum.

“If BRHIS believes that it cannot maintain a sufficient number of qualified board members to meet quarterly, it should consider requesting that the Legislature lower the quorum.”

The missed meetings had real consequences: four disciplinary cases waited 16 to 32 months before the board heard them.

“During this time, four disciplinary cases were delayed for 16 to 32 months before BRHIS heard them.”

A quorum means enough board members are present to legally hold a meeting and conduct business; the board said it often could not meet because it did not have one.

“At the time of the meetings during [the audit] period (July 2017, October 2017, January 2018, April 2018, July 2018 and October 2018) there was not a quorum available to meet.”