How Arkansas's New Audiology Rules Affect Speech-Language Pathologists

Scope-of-practice changes rarely stay within one profession's lane, and understanding the ASHA Scope of Practice for SLPs helps navigate such shifts. On August 5, 2026¹, the Arkansas Board of Examiners in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology finalized rules implementing Act 517 of 2025, formally expanding what audiologists can do, from cerumen removal to ordering radiographic imaging and fitting cochlear implant processors. For speech-language pathologists, these shifts redraw collaboration lines in settings where hearing and communication disorders overlap daily. With roughly 2,740 SLPs practicing alongside just 120 audiologists in the state, clearer triage and referral norms become a practical necessity.

What Changed: AR Act 517 and the New Audiology Rules

Arkansas has officially broadened the clinical authority of audiologists, a move that reverberates through shared care settings with speech-language pathologists. The change centers on Act 517, signed into law on April 10, 2025, and effective as of August 5, 2025.¹ This legislation, along with the finalized Arkansas scope expansion rules, redefines how audiologists can diagnose, treat, and manage auditory and vestibular conditions.

The Legislative Path

Act 517 amended the Arkansas Code to expand the definition of audiology practice.² The law now includes evaluation, diagnosis, management, and treatment of ear disorders, explicitly authorizing audiologists to prescribe, order, sell, dispense, and fit hearing aids, as well as externally fit sound processors for osseointegrated devices and cochlear implants. The Arkansas Board of Examiners in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, the same regulatory body that oversees SLPs, oversaw the rulemaking process, ensuring the new provisions align with professional standards.

What the New Rules Permit

The finalized rules detail additional activities that audiologists can now perform. These include conducting health screenings, removing foreign bodies or cerumen from the ear canal, and ordering (but not interpreting) cultures, bloodwork, and certain in-office nonradiographic tests for hearing and balance disorders. Audiologists may also order radiographic imaging related to auditory or vestibular conditions, though they cannot interpret those images. These changes streamline patient care by allowing audiologists to initiate diagnostic steps that previously required a physician referral.

Why This Expansion Matters to SLPs

The expansion aligns with national trends to improve patient access, especially in rural and underserved areas where audiologists may be the first point of contact for ear-related issues. For Arkansas speech pathologists, these changes mean that audiologist colleagues may now handle cerumen impactions that once delayed hearing assessments or amplifications, and they can order relevant tests that inform both professions' treatment plans. While the act clearly excludes surgery and certain diagnostic interpretations, the overlapping scopes of speech pathology and audiology reinforce the need for clear communication and updated collaborative protocols.

Old Vs. New: A Side-By-Side Scope Comparison

Arkansas Act 517 marked a significant shift for audiology practice, moving from a limited set of defined activities to a broader diagnostic and treatment scope. The table below highlights key procedure changes, illustrating where audiologists’ authority has been clarified or newly granted.

How the Expansion Affects Speech-Language Pathologists

For SLPs practicing in interdisciplinary settings, the expanded audiology scope introduces both efficiency gains and boundary questions: knowing where your role ends and audiology’s begins now requires clearer protocols.

Shifting Clinical Workflows and Referral Patterns

The Arkansas scope expansion rules formalize what many SLPs have long anticipated: audiologists can now independently manage a wider range of ear and hearing conditions, from cerumen removal to ordering cultures and imaging for auditory or vestibular complaints. This means fewer patients with primarily audiologic needs will land in an SLP’s caseload first, freeing SLPs to dedicate more time to communication, language, voice, and swallowing disorders. Referral patterns become more bidirectional: SLPs are expected to refer promptly when a patient presents with possible hearing or balance issues that fall under the audiologist’s expanded purview, while audiologists will continue to refer to SLPs when hearing loss impacts speech, language development, cognition, or functional communication. Arkansas SLP rules already include services like auditory training, speechreading, and speech-language intervention secondary to hearing loss, so the smoother handoff strengthens, rather than fragments, the care continuum.

Managing Role Overlap in Aural Rehabilitation

One area that may raise initial questions is aural rehabilitation. With audiologists now authorized to perform cerumen removal and fit hearing aids and implant processors, SLPs may worry about turf. In practice, role overlap is minimal because each profession brings distinct expertise. The SLP’s focus remains on the communicative and functional outcomes of hearing loss: training patients to use residual hearing, teaching speechreading, or adapting communication strategies, while the audiologist handles the device, ear, and diagnostic side. The Arkansas rules explicitly require collaboration and referral as patient needs dictate, so a patient needing both cerumen management and communication therapy can receive seamless, sequential care without duplication. Clarifying these boundaries through clinic protocols and case discussions reduces friction.

National Guidance on Collaborative Practice

Nationally, ASHA supports coordinated access to clinically related hearing services and recognizes that expanding audiology’s scope can improve patient outcomes when paired with clear interprofessional agreements. While ASHA does not dictate state-specific rules, ASHA's 2026 statement emphasizes that SLPs should stay informed about scope changes in their state and develop referral relationships that protect patient safety and access. The Arkansas Board of Examiners in Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology, which oversees both professions, reinforces this by requiring that all licensed professionals work together and refer as needed, ensuring that no single discipline is asked to perform beyond its competence.

Better Patient Care Through Streamlined Services

The most immediate benefit for SLPs and their patients is reduced wait times and fewer redundant appointments. When an SLP suspects a hearing or vestibular component in a client’s communication disorder, the audiologist can now often order necessary tests or clear cerumen during the same visit, accelerating the diagnostic process. This allows the SLP to begin appropriate rehabilitation sooner: whether it’s coaching on listening skills or integrating AAC strategies. Ultimately, the expanded scope supports what both professions want: faster, more accurate diagnoses and faster access to the right care.

Key Procedures Now Allowed for Audiologists

What new clinical procedures can audiologists in Arkansas now perform, and how does that affect SLPs working with hearing loss? Under Act 517 of 2025 and the finalized rules, the audiology scope has broadened to include several hands-on tasks that may change how you collaborate on patient care.

Earwax Removal and Ear Canal Procedures

Audiologists can now remove foreign bodies and cerumen (earwax) from the external auditory canal.¹ For SLPs providing aural rehabilitation or working with hearing aid users, this is immediately relevant: a patient with impacted cerumen may have difficulty tolerating amplification or participating in listening exercises. Instead of referring to a physician, the SLP can coordinate directly with the audiologist in the same practice to clear the blockage, streamlining care.

Ordering Diagnostic Tests

Arkansas audiologists may order, but not interpret, cultures, bloodwork, and radiographic imaging related to auditory or vestibular conditions.¹ They can also perform in-office, nonradiographic testing of the ear canal.¹ For SLPs in schools or clinics, this means an audiologist can now order, say, a CT scan for a child with a complex hearing loss before the SLP begins language intervention, without waiting for an outside medical referral. The diagnostic boundary remains clear: the audiologist gathers the data, but the interpretation still falls to the physician.

Hearing Aid Dispensing and Fitting

Audiologists can now prescribe, order, sell, dispense, and fit hearing aids, including osseointegrated devices and cochlear implant sound processors, without holding a separate hearing-instrument-dispenser license.¹ Consumer protections still apply: medical clearance for minors, an advisement for adults, and a 30-day satisfaction period.² For SLPs, this doesn't change your direct role (dispensing remains an audiologist-led task), but it does simplify the referral chain. When you recommend that a patient with aphasia or auditory processing disorder needs amplification, the audiologist can now handle the entire fitting process in-house.

What SLPs Should Know

None of these new privileges require an additional certification beyond audiology licensure.¹ The critical takeaway for SLPs is communication: knowing that your audiology colleagues can now manage earwax, initiate diagnostic orders, and dispense devices independently allows you to coordinate more efficiently and keep therapy on track.

Limitations and Safeguards: What’s Still Off-Limits

Even as Arkansas audiologists take on new responsibilities, state law keeps firm boundaries around what they cannot do. Audiologists are still prohibited from performing any type of surgery, including cochlear implant surgery and osseointegrated device surgery. They may order cultures, bloodwork, and radiographic imaging related to auditory or vestibular conditions, but they cannot interpret those results or use them to formally diagnose or treat a patient. The safeguards are in place for a clear reason: interpreting advanced diagnostics and performing surgical procedures require training and licensure that fall outside the audiology scope. By reserving these tasks for physicians, the rules protect patient safety. For speech-language pathologists, this distinction is critical. When collaborating on cases that involve balance disorders or hearing loss, SLPs should understand that any suspicious imaging or lab findings will be escalated to a medical physician, not managed by the audiologist alone. This clarifies the referral pathway and helps SLPs know when to involve an ENT or other specialist. Far from creating turf wars, the rule's explicit limits reinforce a team-based model where each professional works at the top of their own license. Some opposition voices worried about scope overreach, but the final rules¹ address those concerns by drawing a bright line between what audiologists can and cannot do. The result is a deliberate expansion that adds practical skills while preserving the collaborative structure SLPs rely on every day.

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