A recent report from the agency’s IG found that as of May, applicants received approval and benefits faster when their medical information was submitted through NHIN compared with all other disability cases. SSA plans to broaden its use of NHIN and to publish a request for proposals later this month to do that. The agency expects to award its first contract in January 2010, the report said. SSA wants to automate more of its disability processes. Each year SSA makes more than 15 million patient-authorized requests for medical information from providers who have treated them. Most of the time to decide disability claims is spent waiting for medical records. It typically takes weeks and months to gather the required information, the agency has said. In February, SSA began requesting and receiving electronic health records from several Virginia-based hospitals associated with MedVirginia, a central Virginia health information exchange. SSA is linked to MedVirginia via the federal CONNECT gateway, a tool that enables agencies to access the NHIN.

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