Medical Records and Your Social Security Disability Claim

 Posted on February 24, 2010 in Social Security Disability

Medical records play an extremely vital role in an individual's Social Security disability claim. The Social Security Administration (SSA) will do everything they can to discover whether a claimant has any medical conditions that prevent him or her from performing substantial gainful activity. SSA will determine the severity of a claimant's conditions based on different types of medical records. Different medical records that are submitted in a disability benefits application include but are not limited to: your test results; any medications the person is on or has taken; the contact information for any doctors, clinics, or hospitals that you have visited; and any information that your doctors, clinics, or hospitals can provide. Below are three tips with medical records that will help you with you Social Security disability benefits claim.

(1) Be Prepared

Once you decide to apply for Social Security disability benefits, the SSA is going to need all of your medical records to process your claim. The more records that you can provide them with, the faster they will be able to make a decision on your claim. One of the biggest factors contributing to application delay is when the SSA has to request medical records from your medical providers. These medical record requests can significantly delay an application. For this reason, it is imperative that you have taken all of the necessary steps to be as prepared as possible when you sit down and decide to apply for disability benefits.

(2) Be Thorough

During the course of a disability benefits claim, an individual will be asked by the SSA numerous times to list and describe his or her pain and conditions. The SSA will require a claimant to discuss this information in different forms, over the phone, and at a hearing if the case reaches that point. Since medical information is so important to a claimant's case, it is vital to be as thorough as possible when responding to these inquiries. It is not enough for a claimant to say "I feel pain" or "my arm sometimes hurts" for example. In order give yourself the best opportunity to argue your case in the light most favorable, describe to the SSA in great detail how your condition(s) have played a detrimental role in your everyday life.

(3) Be Inquisitive

Even if you are both prepared and thorough with your medical records, that will often times not be enough to insure that you have done everything possible to help your disability benefits claim. Knowing what information your doctors, clinics, or hospitals are sending to the SSA on your behalf is just as important as having the information sent out. Often times your doctor, for example, will write the SSA stating that you are capable of doing activities that you cannot do. If you are not aware of what your doctor sent over to the SSA, you will have no way of correcting the doctor's report before a disability determination is made.

Medical records play a major role in determining whether a claimant will ultimately receive Social Security disability benefits from the SSA. For this reason, be prepared, be thorough, and be inquisitive throughout the disability application process.