NEW! The Virtual Medical Library Hearing and Balance Specialty Guide is now live!
The virtual medical library Hearing and Balance Specialty Guide provides access to high-quality, evidence-based medical, nursing, and allied health information resources for Military Health System personnel. It is broken down into subtopics (i.e., NIHL, tinnitus, BA, APD, etc.) and each subtopic has information pertaining to various resources, books and articles, reports and presentations, and working groups.
The Defense Health Agency's Hearing Center of Excellence works to improve hearing and balance health.
Our Goals
- Improve hearing health
- Enhance operational performance
- Optimize readiness
- Enhance service members and veterans quality of life
We work with the Department of Veterans Affairs to achieve our goals in partnership with:
- Federal health care organizations
- Universities
- Public and private institutions
Congressional Mandate
The HCE was created by Congress through the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009 to address military hearing injuries. This work includes:
- Prevention
- Diagnosis
- Mitigation
- Treatment
- Rehabilitation
- Research
Our primary focus and responsibilities include:
- Developing a data registry to track military hearing loss and auditory injuries
- Encouraging and facilitating hearing health research
- Developing best practices and clinical education
- Promoting and implementing hearing loss prevention strategies
Our Structure
We're a section of the DHA Medical Affairs Directorate. We're led by a branch chief and deputy branch chief. We have service audiology liaisons from the Army, Navy, and Air Force. They connect HCE to the field to address operational needs and problems.
Our Services
Clinicians and Technicians Resources
HCE Research and Collaboration
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Video
Jan. 16, 2025
When it comes to hearing protector fit testing, aiming for your Target Personal Attenuation Rating is the target you want to hit. Learn what it is and how to achieve your Target PAR. Learn more about the Hearing Center of Excellence at health.mil/HCE
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The American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) Foundation published a clinical practice guideline (CPG) in March of 2019 that defined sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) as: - An acute sensorineural loss of hearing over 72 hours, - A decrease of at least 30 decibels (dB) in three (3) consecutive frequencies, - Audiogram ...
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Speech Intelligibility graphic of low to high intelligibility at 86dBA
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Operational performance and quality of life can be impacted by tinnitus, which is the #1 service-connected disability. A multi-disciplinary approach is key to managing patients with bothersome tinnitus. For this Quality Improvement Project, the team sent out the Understanding Practices of Tinnitus Collaborative Survey (UPTiCS) to VA and DoD providers ...
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Graphic representation of the USA locations of the members that represent the CAVRN Network.
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Last Updated: May 22, 2026