The ADA’s Impact on Disability Services and SSA Claims
July is recognized as Disability Pride Month, marking the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), signed into law on July 26, 1990. This landmark legislation prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities and laid the foundation for critical services, including Social Security disability determinations.
ADA’s influence helped modernize how disability services are delivered, and today, the Social Security Administration (SSA) oversees the evaluation of disability claims, a process that relies heavily on medical evidence. As the system continues to evolve, healthcare technologies, especially automation, are central to streamlining these determinations with medical records playing a pivotal role.
Health Information Management and Revenue Cycle Management departments receive a variety of requests from payers, government entities, and other third parties on a daily basis. As a trusted partner to these departments, MRO continues to expand automation capabilities on frequent request types, supporting patients and healthcare organizations alike in accelerating clinical data exchange and improving patient care.
How Clinical Data Automation Supports Disability Needs
The ADA, SSA, and advancements in health information technology all play vital roles in ensuring individuals with disabilities receive the protection and financial assistance they need in a timely manner. While the application process can be complex, automation is helping to reduce barriers and improve turnaround times for requests.
MRO is continuing to advance clinical data exchange by delivering an innovative integration feature that automates SSA disability determination requests. MRO supports SSA’s Medical Evidence Gathering and Analysis through Health IT (MEGAHIT) program, using secure connectivity to streamline the disability application process through automation. This automated process enables SSA to receive requested clinical data quickly and accurately, often eliminating the need for manual requests and utilizing advanced quality control measures.
The automation of SSA disability determination requests provides tremendous benefits for healthcare organizations:
- Faster turnaround times for disability claims, improving patient care.
- Reduced resource strain on healthcare organizations, with up to 40% fewer manually processed requests.
- Improved revenue management by reducing accounts receivable through expedited processing.
By enhancing the speed and accuracy of disability determinations, MRO’s automated SSA request functionality offers a faster path to care and recovery for patients, while also delivering operational efficiencies for healthcare organizations. From HEDIS, CoC, Risk Adjustment and beyond, MRO is proud to continue developing automation capabilities that improve patient care, enhance efficiency and accuracy and reduce burden on healthcare organizations.
