Social Security Disability
   
If you have a client who is having difficulty getting their Social Security Disability, I can help you with these points:
  • Does the claimant really qualify for disability?
  • Does the medical record support the claim for disability?
  • Was the claimant examined properly to support a disability claim, and or was the correct testing done to support that claim?

If you suspect that one or more of these issues are behind your client’s difficulty, I can help!
   
Does the claimant quality for disability?
Sometimes a claimant simply does not qualify for disability.

The claimant may have arthritis, but is there persistent joint pain? Swelling? Tenderness to palpation??? Has the claimant had signs and symptoms despite prescribed therapy for at least 3 months? Has the claimant’s condition resulted in significant restriction of function of the affected joints? Is clinical activity expected to last at least 12 months? And is there either a positive serologic test for rheumatoid factor, or antinuclear antibodies, or an elevated sedimentation rate, or characteristic histologic changes in biopsy of synovial membrane or subcutaneous nodule???
    
Does the medical record support the claim for disability?
Sometimes the claimant may quality for disability, but they have been denied because their medical record did not contain the documentation necessary to support their claim for disability. Most of the time, medical documentation is done rapidly, and from the point of view of achieving treatment goals for the patient, and is not done with the notion of supporting a disability claim by the patient. If the record does not include the right terminology and phraseology for documenting the claimant’s condition, the medical record itself can be the cause of a denied application for Social security benefits.
   
Was the claimant examined properly to support a disability claim, and or was the correct testing done to support that claim?
Occasionally, the tests that the social security adjudicators need to see have not been done, the appropriate component of the physical examination which the adjudicator needs to see, has not been carried out, or the claimant simply has not been examined with the correct intention in mind. That is to say, the examination, testing and documentation may have been fine for diagnosing and treating the claimant, but might not have contained the elements that a disability adjudicator needs to see when evaluating a disability claim.
   
I can help with each of these potential problems.
I can review your client’s medical documentation and tell you, whether or not their medical record contains the elements necessary for deciding favorably on a disability claim. If it does contain the proper elements, I can tell you whether or not your client’s medical condition is sufficiently severe to quality for Social Security Disability.

If the medical record does not contain the necessary components and elements, I can examine your client, and based on that examination, create an accurate medical documentation that contains the elements that are necessary to support a disability claim.

Conversely, if their condition is not sufficiently severe, I can explain to you and your client why their claim was denied, saving considerable time, effort and frustration in dealing with the Social Security Disability system.
     
In summary
If you have a client, whose disability claim is in question, and you would like help in determining whether or not your client meets the criteria for disability, or if you are concerned over whether or not your client’s medical documentation properly documents your client’s condition and supports their claim for disability, let me help. I can review the medicals for that individual to determine whether or not it is the medical record that is the problem, or examine the claimant to see whether or not their condition meets the threshold for disability, order the necessary testing if the correct testing has not been done, and document their condition accurately and impartially to demonstrate how their condition meets the disability requirements.
  

Robert N. Phelps, Jr. MD

Fellow, American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery

Diplomate, American Board of Orthopedic Surgery

1-888-373-6388