FAQ About Getting Your Doctor’s Opinion on Your New York Social Security Disability Claim, Part 1
A qualified and experienced New York disability attorney will ask your treating doctor to fill out a medical data and assessment (opinion) form and will explain how he can best provide assistance. Doctors sometimes ask what information the Social Security Administration requires: what questions they must answer, and in what detail; how they should describe your limitations; if they should expressly recommend functional capacity findings; and if they are required to have special expertise to effectively address particular medical issues. This article will answer all of these questions.
What is the question the doctor is ultimately trying to answer?
To what extent can the claimant sustain work-related activity eight hours a day, five days a week, and fifty weeks a year?
Why does a claimant’s physician need to give an opinion about a Social Security disability claim?
The perspective that the treating physician brings to the claim is considered by Social Security as to be uniquely knowledgeable,, since individual examination reports with objective medical findings cannot convey so much information with so much depth.
What information should the doctor submit to the Social Security Administration?
The doctor should submit information concerning the extent, severity, nature, and duration of a patient’s impairments. Also, he or she should include opinions and observations on how well a patient can function, in light of his impairments.
Should the doctor refer the patient for a functional capacity evaluation?
Not usually. SSA never asks a claimant to undergo functional capacity evaluation; and , such functional capacity evaluations are usually so short, as not to not properly answer the main questions.
Does a physician need special expertise in order to give an opinion as to a patient’s work capacity?
The treating doctor’s longitudinal knowledge of the patient’s condition is what is being sought. The SSA recognizes that a doctor who has been treating a patient for a prolonged period has particularly valuable contributions to make in helping to determine his patient’s capacity for work. To ensure that your doctor is properly informed by a qualified New York Social Security attorney, call Herbert Forsmith at (212) 809-1772 or (845) 278-2896. Continue to Part 2.
