Social Security & Health Information Technology

Since 2008, the Social Security Administration has been actively involved in the development and implementation of health information technology (health IT). On these pages you can:

• Discover why health IT matters to Social Security and the public
• Learn about Social Security’s current and future health IT partners
• Explore partnering with Social Security on a health IT exchange
• Read about health IT news items and frequently asked questions
• Obtain additional information and resources to leverage when planning your health IT initiatives

Social Security is more than retirement. The Social Security Administration provides disability insurance through the Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs. We request over 15 million medical records from almost 500,000 providers to help make decisions on about three million disability claims annually. This makes us one of the largest disability insurers in the world. We are currently leveraging health IT to address the growing workloads associated with disability claims.

The manual process of gathering medical records can be labor-intensive and time-consuming for both the medical community and for us. Obtaining medical records electronically plays a key role in streamlining the process of obtaining medical information.

Health IT centers on the secure exchange of electronic medical records and the implementation of automated decision support tools. This ability enhances the speed and effectiveness of our disability decision-making processes and ultimately improves service for the public.

Using an electronic exchange of medical records to support disability decisions benefits everyone in the Social Security disability claims process - medical providers, insurers, patients, and government agencies.

Potential benefits for the public include:

• Faster disability claim determinations
• Quicker access to monthly cash benefits
• Earlier access to medical insurance coverage
• Less burden to secure and provide medical records
• Earlier access to other social service benefits
• More comprehensive medical records

Potential benefits for health care providers include:

• Reduction of administrative cost associated with medical record submission
• Reduced uncompensated care - faster disability determinations may provide patients with access to Medicare or Medicaid benefits
• Automated payment processing replaces existing manual processing efforts
• Increased revenue associated with medical record request responses due to automation
• Improved patient satisfaction
• Reduction in Emergency Room visits due to earlier medical coverage