Social Security taps new health-record highway to cut disability claim times

The Social Security Administration has expanded its use of the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) to obtain electronic health records directly from medical providers, a move intended to speed disability claim adjudication by up to 50 percent. Epic, the nation’s largest EHR vendor, announced that its customers are now linked to SSA via TEFCA, allowing dozens of hospitals and clinics to transmit digital records instantly.

Baptist Health in Jacksonville, Florida, began sharing records at the end of July and has already sent several thousand files, cutting its SSA-related staffing from three employees to essentially half a person. As of August 13, SSA is connected to 84 health-care entities and has issued 60,595 data requests through the network. While TEFCA offers advantages such as a shared directory and reduced legal overhead, the agency will also accept records via other exchanges like Carequality and eHealth Exchange, provided patients consent. Ongoing development with additional Qualified Health Information Networks aims to broaden provider participation beyond Epic’s user base.