On November 26th, 2013, a solemn ceremony, recapitulating the third edition of the competition by Engineering Associations called Staszic Laurel of Innovation, took place in the Warsaw House of Technology – headquarters of the Polish Federation of Engineering Associations. The Institute of Physiology and Pathology of Hearing was awarded a Golden Laurel in the category named “innovation of the socio-economic development” for creating the world’s first National Network of Teleaudiology.

The competition is organized to support and promote creators, concepts, ideas and any innovative activities that are key to the development of the Polish economy and are both important and useful for the country and society. The Minister of Economy, Minister of Science and Higher Education, Minister of Regional Development, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Environment took the patronage over the third edition of the competition.

The goal of the National Network of Teleaudiology was to improve the quality of life for people with hearing and speech disorders in Poland, through the application of telemedical solutions. Telemedicine connects medicine and telecommunication, therefore enables to render services on distance, eliminates geographical and financial barriers as patients do not have to travel to specialist medical centers. It also increases the access to experienced and qualified personnel. For specialists it creates modern methods to learn and gain experience.

National Network of Teleaudiology consists of 23 telemedical positions located in the World Hearing Center in Kajetany and 20 partner-centers: 19 located scattered around the country and one center in Odessa, Ukraine.

This is the second Golden Laurel awarded to the Institute, which was also the winner in the second edition of the competition in the category of “construction, design, security, fire protection” for building of the World Hearing Center.