Healthcare Providers Can Help Social Security Improve the Disability Process

The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced today a renewed emphasis on expanding opportunities for organizations to join the agency’s Health Information Technology (Health IT) program. Health IT allows SSA to use electronic data exchanges to obtain medical records directly from the provider, resulting in faster disability determinations for people applying for benefits.

Faster allowances means putting much needed benefits in the hands of people in critical need. Additionally, expanding Health IT helps save taxpayer money, as each year SSA receives over 3 million new applications for disability benefits and spends over $500 million dollars to collect medical records for applicants. Health care organization partners benefit through cost reduction, streamlined operations, and providing better customer service to their patients.

“I’ve directed the reinvigoration of the Health IT initiative, as it benefits everyone involved – SSA, our customers, health care providers, and American taxpayers,” said Lee Dudek, Acting Commissioner of Social Security. “We are committed to more effectively and efficiently obtaining medical records through this program. I thank those healthcare providers that exchange information with us through Health IT and encourage other providers to partner with us.”

Health IT enhances the quality and efficiency of the Social Security disability determination process, reducing costs and offering a variety of benefits to customers. The program facilitates the exchange of up-to-date information directly from a person’s sources of care, potentially reducing the need for costly SSA consultative examinations. Receiving medical records sooner enables SSA to make determinations more quickly. On average, the agency identifies allowances 50 percent faster when processing applications with Health IT records.

SSA has successfully used Health IT to obtain medical records for decades, but the portion of information obtained through the process has stalled over the years. The renewed campaign includes partnering with the Department of Health and Human Services; expanding marketing and outreach to healthcare organizations, and leveraging automation to improve the onboarding process.

Current SSA partners include a variety of Health Information Exchanges (HIEs), vendor networks, hospitals, and other qualified health care organizations. The agency has 266 partner organizations covering all 50 states, with about 46,000 participating providers. For the full list of Health IT Partners, visit Health IT Partners.

To learn more about Health IT, including how organizations can partner with SSA, please visit Health Information Technology (HIT).