Submitting Medical Records

Timing can be everything. When applying for Social Security Disability (“SSD”) benefits, it can make a critical difference when medical records and reports are submitted. I represent an electrician whose SSD application illustrates this point.

I obtained reports from the electrician’s orthopedist, physical therapist, and neurosurgeon. The orthopedist and physical therapist treated the claimant more frequently than the neurosurgeon. While the reports of the orthopedist and physical therapist were good, the report of the neurosurgeon was great. Since there was no question regarding the diagnosis, only the severity of the claimant’s condition, I only submitted the neurosurgeon’s report.

The claimant never saw a Social Security Administration (“SSA”) doctor, and his other doctors confirmed that they never provided any records to the SSA. The SSD application was approved yesterday in just two months' times based solely on the records and report from the neurosurgeon.

While the reports and records from the orthopedist and physical therapist were good, had they been submitted they would have watered down the strength of the neurosurgeon’s opinion. Therefore, while I have little doubt that the electrician’s application would have eventually been approved, I suspect that it would have been denied initially if all of the medical evidence would have been submitted simultaneously.