The Social Security Administration (SSA) www.ssa.gov has just launched a new health IT initiative with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) www.va.gov enabling all Social Security disability case processing sites to receive medical records electronically from all VA facilities.
Social Security requests nearly 15 million medical records annually from healthcare providers and organizations to make medical decisions on about three million disability claims. Medical documentation is essential to make a disability determinations.
According to Dr. David Shulkin, Under Secretary for Health at the VA reports, “Currently, when eligible veterans apply for social security disability insurance benefits the average wait time for Social Security to receive paper records from the VA can take months. The new partnership will enable SSA and the VA to share the veteran’s health information electronically in minutes.”
The new health IT program was tested at all Social Security locations around the country. The information being exchanged is now being processed through the eHealth Exchange nationally to all Social Security disability case processing sites.
This partnership adds the VA to Social Security’s more than 50 other health IT partners, including the Department of Defense and is used in approximately 7,000 facilities across the U.S. SSA’s goal is to continue to expand partnerships with many more healthcare organizations and federal agencies.