26 November, 2025
How Altron HealthTech supports Hearing Works’ innovative store-in-store model 
Transforming access to hearing healthcare across South Africa, Hearing Works has pioneered the store-in-store concept, leveraging Altron HealthTech solutions to streamline operations and improve patient access to basic healthcare. Here is how technology and social entrepreneurship are reshaping audiology and making hearing care accessible for all.
When a passionate group of hearing care professionals first set out to offer all South Africans access to affordable hearing assessments, the company knew that meeting its primary goal would require more than clinical excellence. It would need the right technology partner.
Hearing Works pioneered the store-in-store concept in 2017. The company followed on the heels of its sister company, Vision Works, entering the retail space to offer South Africans from all walks of life accessibility to affordable basic healthcare services.
“Audiology has never really been in retail before, and this is just the start,” says Hearing Works Head of Business Development, Dr Bopane Mothemela.
He adds that the store-in-store concept allows for audiology services within an optometry outlet. This not only improves access to hearing healthcare but also improves advocacy for hearing healthcare.
Advocacy and awareness
With optometry already well established in South Africa, Hearing Works’ integration with Vision Works also created an environment where consumers could organically encounter and learn about audiology.
This is especially true in a country where, according to a 2017 study by the University of the Witwatersrand, 87% of people don’t actually know about audiology and the services that audiologists provide.
That said, the team at Hearing Works has to consistently balance business management with healthcare delivery and focused patient care – a daily challenge for most healthcare professionals.
“As audiologists we’re not just seeing patients, we’re also running a business. Training has been the key ingredient for us, but technology is equally important,” says Mothemela, adding that this is where Altron HealthTech’s ecosystem plays a central role.
Tools that enable sustainable growth and accessibility
Supported end-to-end by Altron HealthTech solutions, Hearing Works relies on several Altron HealthTech products, as well as Altron FinTech’s DebiCheck system, to streamline operations. This is a partnership that ensures Hearing Works branches aren’t just solvent, but that they thrive.
“With Altron HealthTech, you get a claims response immediately, which means you know immediately where you stand in terms of cash flow,” says Mothemela.
While manual medical aid claims are time-consuming and can disrupt streamlined cash flow, Hearing Works audiologists receive approvals within seconds, thanks to Altron HealthTech’s real-time claims switching capabilities.
Moreover, with limited space for physical files, and a crucial need for safe and secure storage facilities, the Hearing Works team enjoys Altron’s data management and data storage capabilities through HealthONE and its subsidiary features.
“This technology takes care of 30% of our work. Thanks to Altron, there’s always a place to store and access patient files and the information that you need about your patients,” says Mothemela, further commenting on the affordability of the system.
In terms of accessibility, however, the audiologist – and aspiring social entrepreneur – considers DebiCheck his favourite tool.
“Hearing aids are quite expensive. On average, an entry-level hearing aid can start at about R30 000. But thanks to DebiCheck, Altron enables access to hearing aids through instalment payments.
“These are all technologies that facilitate how we do things and how we effectively run our business,” notes Mothemela.
Innovative development: occupational audiology
With personal experience in occupational or industrial audiology (which monitors the hearing health of employees in industries like mining and construction), Mothemela recognised the need for automation in the field.
“When I started occupational audiology, most of the audiologists did not know how to calculate percentage loss of hearing (PLH) or a standard threshold shift (STS) – tests used to monitor and evaluate changes in an individual’s hearing due to noise exposure in the field.”
Prior to Altron HealthTech’s intervention, occupational audiologists used to calculate everything manually. However, working with Altron HealthTech’s Development Intellect Team, Hearing Works co-created a function that automates Pure Tone calculations for occupational health reporting.
The innovation is especially valuable in mining, construction, and industrial environments – spaces where audiologists often lack the specialised training to compute these metrics correctly and quickly.
“Now you simply insert the data and the algorithm calculates PLH and STS for you. It kills a lot of unnecessary administration,” says Mothemela.
Finding the right technology partner
For these reasons and more, Mothemela sees Altron HealthTech as so much more than a service provider.
“We’d be ineffective without Altron HealthTech,” says the audiologist. “I focus on my patients, Altron focuses on their software, and together we provide the best services. They’re a strategic enabler and a key partner in our enterprise,” he says.
And while issues arise – as they inevitably do in digital environments – Mothemela notes that Altron HealthTech’s support team resolves them rapidly.
“These guys are amazing. Within a minute, my issue is resolved,” he says. “We’re partners in business, but we’re really more like family.”
And as Hearing Works continues expanding its pioneering model nationwide, the company sees technology as foundational to scaling healthcare access.
The future of tech-enabled audiology
Mothemela recognises that technology adoption among doctors can be difficult, especially for those who have been in the field for a while.
“But technology makes your work easier,” he advises. “Once you try Altron’s technology, your practice will never be the same.”