Improved AAC Evaluation Writing Tool

From trial to purchase, the AAC Funding Portal offers a secure, step-by-step process to fund a speech-generating device (SGD) through health insurance. With your suggestions for this important tool, we are excited to share the newest features and updates to improve your experience.

Improved Quality of AAC Evaluation Writing Tool

The AAC Evaluation within our writing tool was reviewed by our clinical, legal, and technology teams to bring you numerous improvements to the report and overall online experience. We revised and reorganized the AAC Evaluation to strengthen the justification for your client’s SGD throughout the report, making it quicker and easier for you to complete. With these changes, we hope there will be an increase in approved applications in a shorter time so that more individuals can have a voice with AAC.

Which Version of the AAC Evaluation Will You Have?

• New purchase, trial, and repair applications will have access to the updated AAC Evaluation
• Trial applications without an evaluation that move to a purchase application will also see the updated AAC Evaluation
• All other previously opened applications will have the older AAC Evaluation

Want to switch to the new AAC Evaluation? Let your PRC-Saltillo AAC Consultant or Funding Specialist know, and they can switch it for you.

AAC Evaluation Sections

You will notice five more sections of the evaluation. Some are new. Others were part of a previous section that are now separated into shorter portions. New sections include:

• Current Equipment
• Device Accessories
• Trial Information and Evaluation Data (optional depending on insurance)
• Device Justification
• Plan of Care

Evaluation Report Formatting

The formatting within the AAC Evaluation received improvements to increase readability for you and the funding source. Specific examples include:

• Client name and date of birth automatically appear at the top of every page of the report
• Improved clarity about what is printed in the report
• Instructions are now displayed with a blue background
• Example text added in various sections to help therapists understand the intention of the question
• Option to include a chart in your report, such as a cognitive abilities chart, by filling in prompts
• Print preview feature added to review report before signing

Auto-Population of Selected Equipment into the AAC Evaluation

In addition to the Client Information populating into the AAC Evaluation, the Equipment Selection information will also now auto-populate. This will help ensure your evaluation matches the equipment you are requesting and save you time.

Additional Funding Application Updates

In addition to updating the AAC Evaluation within our writing tool, the following updates have been made to improve the digital funding application process.

Equipment Selection

Selections can now be unselected in the equipment selection section. Additional accessory and mount section now have a “skip” and “skip-to-end” option available if the items are not needed.

Warning Prompts

To prevent inaccurate or incomplete information, notifications will appear in red if:

• date entered in current equipment section is less than five years
• customer selects that device is still under warranty
• a section is missing information in a required field

Reminder Notifications

Additional email reminders have been added:

• to communicate inactivity on an application
• to encourage participation from a pending contributor

Our team continually looks for opportunities to improve this online tool that was launched in Spring 2023. We are thankful for your suggestions and partnership in your client’s AAC journey. If you have additional ideas for improvement, please use the online feedback form. For more information about AAC Funding Portal update 1.9/1.10, contact funding@prc-saltillo.com or your local consultant.