A programmable hearing aid including means for receiving and transmitting data wirelessly from and to a portable module being in proximity to said hearing aid. Said portable module has means for transmitting audio signals, fitting data or special instructions to the hearing aid processor and including means for receiving data transmitted from said hearing aid, including data representing a monitoring of real-time signal processing parameters in the hearing aid. A preferred embodiment of the hearing aid/portable module combination utilizes Miller-coded direct sequence spread-spectrum radio signal transmitters and receivers for transmitting and receiving data between the heading aid and the portable module. This enables remote controlling or monitoring of, transmitting audio to, or programming of a hearing aid without the need for external connectors.