The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a new effort to utilize computer networks to speed up the approval process for Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits. And while this program is still being rolled out, initial reports are that it has already saved time and money for patients and healthcare providers.
The program, called MEGAHIT (Medical Evidence Gathering and Analysis through Health Information Technology), allows the SSA to more quickly gather the medical records it needs to process disability claims .
Every year, the SSA makes 15 million requests for medical records from some 500,000 healthcare providers nationwide. Unfortunately, most of these records are sent using conventional means-mailing or faxing forms back and forth. The new technology features a standardized form both for the authorization of the request and for the transmission of the electronic health records, allowing the information to be sent in seconds rather than in days or weeks.
The money to implement the program came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), generally known as the stimulus program. While the Medicare and Medicaid programs received billions to implement electronic health records (EHRs), the Social Security Administration is spending a more modest sum of $17.4 million to implement this program with fifteen partner health care providers across the country.
Those costs may eventually increase, however, as the program is currently being rolled out slowly. The initial trials have been with large health care providers, but it may be some time before the thousands of smaller medical practices across the country are outfitted with the technology necessary to implement the program.
For patients, the benefits of the new program will include faster determinations of their disability claims, quicker access to their benefits, and earlier access to medical insurance coverage. Healthcare providers expect to see a reduction in the administrative costs associated with submitting records, as well as reductions in emergency room visits as patients will have earlier access to medical coverage.
Currently none of the hospitals, clinics, and other providers in the program are located in Texas, but when the program expands to this state, Texans can expect shorter processing times for their disability benefits.
