Special initiatives at Disability Determination Services (DDS)

The Disability Determination Services strives to make quick and accurate decisions.

Health Information Technology (HIT)

HIT is the comprehensive management of medical information and its secure exchange between health care consumers and providers.  The Social Security Administration (SSA) is using HIT to improve the disability process for the DDS and claimants by requesting and receiving medical evidence from providers in minutes rather than weeks.  HIT’s goal is to provide the knowledge, skills, and tools to enable medical information to be collected, managed, used, and shared efficiently.   We have partnered with Beth Israel Hospital. The request for medical records is sent electronically from the Social Security Administration district office directly to Beth Israel and is instantly responded to.  When the case arrives at the Disability Determination Services (DDS), it will have those medical records already in the file. 

Compassionate Allowances (CAL)

SSA implemented the Compassionate Allowances (CAL) initiative in October 2008 to expedite the processing of disability claims for applicants whose medical conditions are so severe that their conditions qualify under the Listing of Impairments based on minimal objective medical information. The initiative allows SSA to electronically target and make speedy decisions for the most obviously disabled individuals.

Quick Disability Determination (QDD)

Quick Disability Determination (QDD) cases are initial Electronic Disability Collect System (EDCS) cases that are electronically-identified as having a high potential that the claimant is disabled, evidence of the claimant's allegations can be easily and quickly obtained, and the case can be processed quickly in the Disability Determination Services (DDS).

Military Casualty/Wounded Warrior (MC/WW) cases

The procedures to expedite MC/WW cases apply to any member of a military service whose military casualty results in their alleging a disabling condition, (i.e., physical or mental impairment) and with the following criteria being met:

• Casualty must have occurred on or after Oct. 1, 2001 regardless of how or where it occurred (United States or on foreign soil), and
• Member must have been on active duty status