From the American Medical Association News today: The Social Security Administration says it has already demonstrated the business value of a national health information exchange through the test run it’s doing in collaboration with MedVirginia, a regional health information exchange in central Virginia.

The two started exchanging data in February to expedite disability benefit approvals. By using the data exchange to receive medical records that can help determine eligibility for disability benefits, the SSA says the approval process has been reduced to an average of 32 days from 83 days.

A handful of cases were determined within a day of being received, said Jim Borland, special adviser for health IT for the SSA.

“That just doesn’t happen,” he said. See more here

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Social Security has apparently been using the records exchange protocols described in this article for over a year. The program can receive electronic records frommedical providers – unquestionably this has been a huge bottleneck. Our offices can wait months for records after they are requested, so any inprovements along this line are welcome.

Fox News reports: The Social Security Administration (SSA) today announced a first-of-a-kind electronic records exchange system to help speed the process of granting disability benefits for millions of Americans. Through the use of new software and services, the SSA shaved the amount of time to process requests for medical records needed to evaluate disability benefits from months to minutes.

The project, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Nationwide Health Information Network began just 14 months ago and represents the first health information exchange between a regional health information organization and a U.S. federal agency. The new system uses IBM’s not only reduces processing times, but hopes to also improve claims accuracy and reduce costs. See full story here:

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