Getting medical reports from your doctor to support your Alabama disability claim
Experienced Alabama disability attorneys know that your doctor’s opinion about your condition and how it affects your ability to function can be some of the most persuasive evidence in your case. In fact, the Social Security Administration may be required to adopt your doctor’s opinion as its own if the opinion meets certain requirements. See How your doctor’s opinion can help you win your Alabama disability case.
However, obtaining and presenting a useful opinion from your treating doctor can be a challenge. The most effective way is probably by live testimony at your hearing. But most doctors are just too busy to appear in person at a Social Security disability hearing. It is also expensive to pay them to appear. Therefore, in most cases, a doctor’s opinion is submitted in the form of a written report. Your Alabama disability attorney can educate your doctor and work with him or her to obtain the best possible report.
What a medical report should address
A good medical report from your treating doctor should include all the following information:
- Your medical history;
- Your doctor’s clinical findings (such as the results of physical or mental status examinations);
- Laboratory findings (such as blood test results and x-rays);
- Your doctor’s diagnosis (a statement of the disease or injury from which you suffer based on its signs and symptoms);
- The treatment your doctor prescribed,
- Your response to the treatment,
- Your prognosis (a statement of the doctor’s prediction of the probable course and outcome of your illness or injury); and
- A statement about what you can still do despite your impairment.
Statements about what you can still do
In stating what you can still do, your treating doctor should describe the following kinds of physical and mental capabilities. However, your doctor is not limited to addressing these abilities. Your doctor can also include any other abilities or limitations that may be relevant to your Alabama Social Security disability claim.
Physical impairments. If you suffer from physical impairments, your doctor’s medical report should contain his or her opinion about your remaining ability to do work-related activities such as sitting, standing, walking, lifting, carrying, handling objects, hearing, speaking, and traveling.
Mental impairments. If you have mental impairments, your doctor’s medical report should contain his or her opinion about your ability to understand, to carry out and remember instructions, and to respond appropriately to supervision, coworkers, and work pressures in a work setting.
An Alabama disability attorney can help
A well done medical report can be invaluable to your case. But good medical reports can be difficult to obtain for several reasons.
Doctors often don’t know much about the disability evaluation process and don’t understand what to put in the report. They often repeat facts already in your file rather than focusing on the contested issues.
The best reports are time-consuming for the doctor to prepare. And when you ask a doctor to prepare an extensive report, the doctor may delay or even avoid doing it.
A skilled Alabama disability attorney can use several techniques to obtain a good medical report from your doctor. An attorney can prepare a letter asking the doctor to answer specific questions designed to elicit information on the contested issues in your case. Alternatively, an attorney can send the doctor a printed medical opinion form that the attorney has customized for your particular impairment. The form can streamline the process and save the doctor time because the doctor can answer many questions by simply checking a box.
If you live in Jefferson, Etowah, Blount, or St. Clair County Alabama, you are not already represented by a disability attorney, and you want my evaluation, briefly describe your claim using the form to the right.
Social Security Disability Lawyer
Alabama Disability Lawyer
