Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

November/December 1998

Disability Redesign - It’s Time To Make Decisions
by Patricia Mazgajewski and Michele Namenek, NY DDS ESADE

SUE DAVIS AND SUE ROECKER (SSA DPRT), provided NADE attendees at the National Conference with a lively, entertaining, and informative presentation on the status of Redesign. After capturing the attention of the audience by rounding up and jailing members of three NADE gangs, Marshall Davis and Deputy Roecker released these prisoners only after audience members provided correct answers to Redesign Trivia questions. Along with solvency and SSI program issues, evaluating and making decisions on Redesign is high on the priority list for SSA Commissioner Apfel. Redesign pilots and projects were established in 1994 in an effort to provide our customers with “world class service”. The process has been difficult: “the terrain has been rocky” and the ride has been “bumpy” at times. The data continues to come in on the Full Process Model (FPM), Single Decision Maker (SDM) and the Adjudicative Officer (AO) pilots as well as on the Disability Claims Manager (DCM) pilots. Results, so far, demonstrate improvement in the areas of quality and productivity in eight states where the SDM was tested as a stand alone project. The name of this project is a misnomer as the process revises the role of DDS and Medical Review Physicians to improve the process, capitalizing on the expertise of both. Data from the FPM reveals allowances are running at the rate of about 36-37 percent with an accuracy rate of 95-96 percent. About 50 percent of the claimants take advantage of the pre-decision interview (PDI). Conducting the interview requires more time. Process time is longer at the initial step as anticipated. Despite the effectiveness of PDI, there is still an increase at the appeals level. Data used to evaluate the AO project note an allowance rate of 17 percent. AOs do a good job preparing cases for hearings and allowing ALJs to focus more attention on hearing and deciding cases. Data has just started to come in on the DCM project. The ultimate vision for this project is to provide a single point of contact for claimants utilizing an initial disability claim specialist for both medial and non medical development. Other components of Redesign under evaluation are: the effectiveness of and adherence to Process Unification rules and guidelines, and how rationales fit in the effect of eliminating the reconsideration step from the disability appeals process. SSA is currently conducting a review of ALJ allowances and a pilot for rationale writing is underway. Technological support and continued pursuit of a system that provides uniform review and feedback to all decision makers remains a goal. According to Sue Davis and Sue Roecker, in order to make decisions, we need to look at the whole picture, quit beating “dead horses”, implement effective programs and revise or develop positive alternatives to replace those projects which do not appear to be feasible. Questions regarding the feasibility of the DCM project and the effectiveness of the AO project still remain unanswered. Data is still coming in on the FPM and is currently being evaluated. (Is it user friendly? Does it foster better efficiency? Are cases allowed earlier in the process?) Next steps include obtaining data analysis from PWA and QQA regarding the FPM and developing an options package for possible decisions. More meetings will be held in November with all the stakeholders. Be on the lookout for preliminary decisions coming soon. At the conclusion of their presentation, Davis announced that Sue Roecker is leaving DPRT for an assignment in the Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program.