SOCIAL SECURITY DOCTOR EXAM? IS THIS A GOOD SIGN?

You've applied for Social Security disability and they have scheduled you for a medical examination.  Is this a good sign?

 About one-third of claimants are sent to a doctor for an examination.  Social Security may send you to a general practice doctor if you allege a physical disability or to a psychologist if you allege a mental impairment.  Sometimes, they will schedule an exam with both types of doctors.

 Will this exam help you get benefits?  Obviously, it depends on what the doctor finds and reports during his or her exam?

 I will say that in most cases exams by Social Security doctors do not help the claimant to get approved.  There may be several reasons why this is true:
  1. The exam will be by a doctor you've never seen before.
  2. The exam will be brief and rather superficial.
  3. The exam was ordered because there was not sufficient medical evidence from your own doctor(s).  Therefore, Social Security did not have enough evidence to approve your claim.  Otherwise, they would not have ordered this exam.
  4. The consultative doctor is paid by Social Security and may feel and obligation to make them happy; he or she certainly has no obligation to you.
  5. Doctors really don't get to make the decision about who is disabled.  They only provide data or information.
  6. These examinations usually do not include any diagnostic tests and will not typically call for an MRI, CT scan or other expensive tests.
So, I don't really see a consultative examination by a Social Security doctor has a good sign.  I much prefer to build the case on information from a doctor who has treated the claimant over a long period of time.  The treating doctor has known the claimant for a much longer period of time, has examined and treated the patient longer and knows more about him or her.  

 If you are being sent to a consultative exam by Social Security, you need to understand that this is being done because they don't feel they have a lot of evidence to work with.  A question you should have is this:  Did you get all of my records from all of my treating doctors?  If not, you should contact each of your doctors and insist that they send your records to Social Security.

 Should you attend the Social Security exam?  Yes, by all means.  Failure to attend the exam will probably get you denied.  That will also hurt you in future appeals because you appear to be uncooperative.  So, do attend the exam and cooperate with the doctor to the best of your ability.

 However, question why you are being sent for a consultative exam?  Should there be more records from your own doctors?  If so, where are those records?  The records from your own doctors are much more likely to help your case.  Try to get those records sent to Social Security.

 Finally, ask your own doctor to complete a Medical Source Statement and send it to Social Security.  This is a detailed form that explains your restrictions in terms of your functional capacity.  It will probably be the most important and helpful piece of evidence in your entire case.

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