Nationally Board Certified Hearing Instrument Specialist
Pennsylvania Hearing Aid Fitter License #F30648
Founder & President, Northeast Hearing Solutions
Who Nevin is
Nevin G. Balliet is a Nationally Board Certified Hearing Instrument Specialist (BC-HIS) and the founder and president of Northeast Hearing Solutions. He has been evaluating hearing and fitting hearing aids across Northeast Pennsylvania since 2006, and he sees patients personally at both offices, in Kulpmont and in Hazle Township.
He started the practice on two principles, and they have not changed since: follow the Golden Rule, and always try to do the right thing.
What the BC-HIS credential means
Every hearing aid fitter in Pennsylvania must hold a state license. Nevin holds Pennsylvania Hearing Aid Fitter License #F30648. Board certification is the step past that.
BC-HIS is awarded by the National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences, earned by examination and kept current through ongoing continuing education. It is the highest level of accreditation in hearing instrument sciences, and not every fitter holds it.
What it means for you in the chair is narrower and more useful than the title suggests: a documented standard for how a hearing evaluation is conducted, how a fitting is verified, and how a practitioner is expected to behave when the honest answer is that you do not need hearing aids yet.
What he does
- Comprehensive hearing evaluations — a full 90 minutes, not a fifteen-minute screening
- Hearing aid selection and fitting across most major manufacturers
- Live speech mapping — real-ear verification that the device delivers the prescribed sound in your ear, not just in the software
- Tinnitus consultation and management
- Earwax removal with the Earigator irrigation system
- Hearing aid repair and servicing, including devices bought somewhere else
- Custom earmolds and hearing protection, including for musicians and shooters
How he works
Ask him what the best hearing aid is and you will not get a model number. You will get questions: where the day is hardest, which voices you lose, what you have already stopped doing because it got tiring.
That is deliberate. The audiogram says which frequencies are gone. It does not say whether the problem is your grandchildren at a holiday table or the truck radio, and those two answers point at different devices.
It also means he will tell you when the answer is no. Some people arrive braced for a sales pitch and leave with wax removed and instructions to come back in a year. That happens often enough to be worth saying out loud.
One case he still brings up: a woman who had been living with untreated hearing loss for nearly forty years, and what the room sounded like the day she heard properly again.
Away from the office
Nevin is married to Denise, and they have five children, ranging from college graduates down to a fifth-grader. He cooks, watches films with the family, hikes, and will happily talk about cars for longer than you intended to.
Where to see him
- Kulpmont, 963 Chestnut St — Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, (570) 373-5000
- Hazle Township, 426 Airport Rd, Suite 139 — Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, (570) 459-1400
Schedule a hearing evaluation and you will be seeing Nevin, not a rotating fitter.
More: our team · what happens at a hearing evaluation · patient reviews
Common questions
What does BC-HIS mean?
BC-HIS stands for Board Certified in Hearing Instrument Sciences, awarded by the National Board for Certification in Hearing Instrument Sciences. It is the highest credential available in the hearing instrument field, earned by examination and maintained through continuing education. It is separate from, and in addition to, the Pennsylvania state license every hearing aid fitter must hold.
Is Nevin Balliet an audiologist?
No. Nevin is a Nationally Board Certified Hearing Instrument Specialist, not an audiologist. Both are licensed in Pennsylvania to test hearing and fit hearing aids. An audiologist has broader graduate-level clinical training and licensure to evaluate and provide non-medical assessment and management of hearing and balance disorders. A hearing instrument specialist focuses specifically on evaluating hearing for hearing aid candidacy, and on fitting, programming and servicing hearing aids. Neither is a physician. If something we find requires medical evaluation, we refer you to one.
How long has Nevin been fitting hearing aids?
Since 2006, when he founded Northeast Hearing Solutions. He has fitted hundreds of hearing aids across Northeast Pennsylvania in that time.
Which offices does Nevin see patients at?
Both. He is in Kulpmont at 963 Chestnut St on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and in Hazle Township at 426 Airport Rd, Suite 139 on Mondays and Wednesdays, 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. You see the same person at either office and at every follow-up visit.
Will I see Nevin himself, or be handed off to someone else?
You see Nevin. This is a two-person practice, not a chain with rotating staff, so the person who tests your hearing is the person who fits your devices and the person who adjusts them a year later.
Does Nevin fit hearing aids other than Oticon?
Yes. The practice fits and services most major manufacturers, and repairs devices bought elsewhere. Oticon is what we stock deepest, which is why many patients can be fitted the same day as their evaluation, but the recommendation follows your audiogram rather than the shelf.
What should I bring to a first appointment with Nevin?
Your insurance card, a list of medications, any previous hearing test results if you have them, and if possible someone whose voice you struggle with most. Hearing a familiar voice during the evaluation tells us more than a test tone does.