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Hearing Instrument Practitioners – Practice Resources

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Practice Resources

Standards of Practice

Under section 19 of the Health Professions Act, the College Board may “establish standards, limits or conditions” for the practice of registrants. The College’s standards of practice and associated Clinical Decision Support Tools (CDST) are described in the Standards of Practice.

The Standards of Practice outline the minimum level of acceptable performance for registrants. The standards are enforceable under governing legislation as well as the core competencies for each profession regulated by the College. There are two types of standards:

Professional Standards

These are statements about levels of personal performance that registrants are required to achieve when practising. Professional Standards:

  • Reflect the values of professions regulated by the College
  • Clarify expectations of registrants as health care professionals
  • Represent the criteria against which practice in BC can be measured by clients, employers, colleagues, other registrants, and members of the public

Clinical Practice Standards

These are statements designed to guide a registrant’s practice with clients and set out levels of performance that registrants are required to achieve when practicing. The Clinical Practice Standards are complementary to the Professional Standards. Specific practice standards apply to clinical aspects of practice and to certain types of diagnoses, disorders, or conditions.

Notices to the Professions

The College has advised registrants of profession-specific information in the following Notices to the Professions:

Quality Assurance

The College of Health and Care Professionals of BC (CHCPBC) has designed a comprehensive approach to quality practice that includes continuing professional development, practice support, and quality assurance assessments. The Professional & Quality Practice Program (PQPP) will replace previous Quality Assurance Program requirements, apply to all 16,000 registrants across nine professions, and be consistent with the Health Professions and Occupations Act (HPOA) when in force on April 1, 2026.  

Please visit the PQPP page for the most up to date information about the new program.

Online Learning Courses

CHCPBC online learning courses cover essential knowledge about regulatory requirements to support registrants and Communication Health Assistants (CHAs). 

Professional Practice Advisors

The College’s Professional Practice Advisors (PPAs) provide professional practice information to registrants to ensure adherence to regulatory requirements, and to provide guidance on how practice standards and related documents can be implemented in practice. For more information on PPAs click here.

Competency Profiles

The Hearing Instrument Dispensing Competency Profile (PDF) includes a set of essential competencies and their related sub-competencies. Together, the components of the competency profile detail the professional competencies required of each clinician upon entry-to-practice in BC, with the goal of safe and effective practice.

Registered Hearing Instrument Practitioners (RHIPs) are experts in the identification, assessment, treatment, and (re)habilitation of hearing disorders especially as they pertain to hearing instruments. RHIPs help preserve and (re)habilitate auditory function in adult individuals by recommending, selecting, preparing, altering, adapting, verifying, selling, and offering to sell hearing instruments.

For dispensing services to children, RHIPs must either be dually registered as a Registered Audiologist (RAUD), RHIP or hold the applicable Certified Practice certificate (i.e., Certificate D for RHIPs to see children aged 12-16 years). 

After the minimum completion of a diploma program in Hearing Instrument Dispensing, HIPs entering practice in British Columbia, have the knowledge, skills, and judgment to provide services related, but not limited, to:

  • Auditory Function
  • Tinnitus [1]
  • Cerumen Management [2]
  • Prescribing and Dispensing of Hearing Instruments
  • Assistive Listening and Alerting Devices
  • Hearing Loss Prevention and Conservation

[1] Additional education and training may be required, according to provincial standards to treat tinnitus.

[2] A valid Certified Practice certificate to perform cerumen management (Certificate C) is required in BC.

Clinical Policies, Practice Guidelines, & Protocols

Clinical Policies

The following clinical policies are important resources for registrants to consult on a range of topics relevant to the practice of audiology, hearing instrument dispensing, and speech-language pathology:

Clinical Practice Guidelines and Protocols

Clinical practice guidelines and protocols provide recommendations to RAUDs, RHIPs, and RSLPs on delivering safe, high quality, and appropriate care to the public. The guidelines and protocols are developed under the direction of the College’s Quality Assurance (QA) Committee.

While the guidelines and protocols are mainly for RAUDs, RHIPs, and RSLPs, others such as health educators, health authorities, allied health organizations, and other regulated health professionals may also find them to be useful resources.

Infection Prevention & Control In The Practice Environment

The College has transitioned from providing registrants with guidance from provincial agencies for practising during the COVID-19 pandemic, to providing a set of fundamental safety practices that address overall infection prevention and control of communicable diseases in the practice environment.

Registrants are expected to take steps to prevent the transmission and infection of communicable diseases, including COVID-19, in the practice environment, including adhering to the following guiding principles and safety practices.

Guiding principles of infection prevention & control

Recommended guiding principles of infection prevention and control include:

  • Clients must not enter the clinic if they are sick and/or show signs of communicable disease.
  • Registrants must not enter the clinic and provide in-person care if they are sick and/or show signs of communicable disease.
  • Staff must not enter the clinic if they are sick and/or show signs of communicable disease.
  • Registrants and staff must follow proper hand hygiene.
  • A clean work environment must be maintained in the practice environment.
  • Adequate ventilation must be maintained in the practice environment.

Profession-specific resources