About e3 Audiometrics

The roots of e3 Audiometrics date back to 1968 with the founding of a business called Electro Medical (EMICO). Created by the grandfather of current Regional Sales Manager Ryan Woods, EMICO grew into a large medical equipment distributor and service provider, covering most of the Western United States.

EMICO was the first independent hearing diagnostic equipment distributor in the state of California, meaning it wasn’t created by a manufacturer or restricted to selling only one equipment brand. For years, they led the clinical market in the Golden State, competing heavily with then competitor and current namesake, Audiometrics.

As the years went on, it became more difficult to manage such a large service area, so they handed accounts outside of California over to local distributors. At this point, the business only consisted of its founder, a service technician, and an office assistant.

Biomed Origins

After downsizing, it came to EMICO's attention that biomed companies were stickering equipment they sold as if it had been calibrated. From that point forward, EMICO became a biomed business. They built a truck, customized a cart, and started calibrating devices of all shapes and sizes – from blood pressure cuffs to scales.

A Family Business

After graduating from University of Massachusetts Amherst in the year 2000, Ryan Woods took his grandfather up on the offer to run EMICO. Being a business owner was his dream, so he was excited to get started. However, his grandfather fell ill two weeks into the transition, so he was left to fend for himself with no training or mentorship.

The first year, he spent day and night wrapping his head around the business and the industry, buying books, attending seminars, and doing any other research necessary to build his expertise. He eventually came to the realization that the best way to grow his business was through education, loyalty programs, and, most importantly, responsiveness.

A True Underdog Story

While Woods was able to offer better service than the competition, he didn’t sell the well-known product lines they did. Because of this, he had to provide the best service. However, he understood he was missing out by not having the ability to distribute any premier manufacturing brands. He was initially denied by many manufacturers, but hit a breakthrough when Audioscan agreed to let him sell their devices. A short time later, he became Vivosonic’s first US distributor.

Eventually, he started acquiring more product lines, such as Interacoustics and Madsen. With the ability to sell products from these renowned manufacturers, EMICO started to take market share away from the competition. As a result, they started to gain much more attention and respect from competitors.

From Contentious to Cordial

While the business was on the upswing, there were personal issues that were holding it back from progressing any further. Because of this, Woods deemed it necessary to partner with Audiometrics, which was run at the time by Jeff Pommier, current Regional Balance Specialist of e3 Diagnostics. While their relationship was contentious at one point, they started meeting more frequently and decided they would both benefit by working together. The trio decided to do business under the Audiometrics name because it was the most recognizable. Today, e3 Audiometrics is the leading hearing diagnostic equipment distributor and service provider in Central and Southern California.

Joining the e3 Organization

At the beginning of 2013, Audiometrics was in discussions with Electro Acoustic Company (EAC) to join forces and expand the businesses into Northern California. However, before the deal closed, e3 Diagnostics made an agreement to acquire both businesses, along with Health Care Instruments (HCI) and Sonic Medical Devices (SMD). The Northern California portion of the business changed to the HCI Audiometrics name, while Central and Southern California retained the well-known and established Audiometrics name.

Today, we continue to grow and retain our reputation as the premier audiometric equipment distributor and service provider. Through e3 Diagnostics, we are now part of a nationwide network of special instrument distributors. This means we have the resources needed to provide customers with the responsive and dedicated service they deserve. We’re excited for what the future holds, but we will never forget where we came from and the hard work it took to get where we are.