Consultive Exam
 

Hey all,
New here and hoping for some insight, I applied for disability online about a month ago, I was contacted yesterday by the claim handler at DDS asking if I would be willing to go to a exam they schedule, of course I say yes and that's it, Well I did some reading and see that most times when they request this it's because your medical records are sparse or that your treating doctor has not responded in a timely manner, Well I just had an appointment this week with my doctor and she had asked me if I had applied yet(her sugestion that I apply), I thought it funny that DDS has not requested my medical records from her yet, anyway So I called the claim handler back and asked her if she had requested my records from my treating doctor and she said No, But that she would do so now. Is it me but should'nt she had done that before even thinking about a exam with there doctor, also from my reading is it not true that the prefered source for an exam your current treating doctor, and is it correct that I can request my doctor do the exam? Sorry for long post, any help or insight would be appreciated Thanks

you have to have one of there doctors do the exam,,, and remember this,, your dealing with a Govt. Agency,, do you really expect anything to go right?,, did your doc send in the evaluation forms from SSA,, they should have sent her something,, all of my doctors got evaluation forms to fill out,, and remember,, ANYTHING that changes call your caseworker and let them know so that its on record,,, I called mine everytime a prescription changed and the reason why,, flood them with paperwork

Thank you for the info and insight, I will update with them, and yes I don't expect things to go smoothly dealing with a government agency

that information is not correct. you do not have to have one of their doctors do the evaluation. you can have your doctor do it if they are willing to.

yes I was wrong,, here is a good link to check out on this subject

http://www.hcvadvocate.org/hepatitis/hepC/SS_CE.htm

In reality, the best way to do it is for you to send your medical records with your application, also any doctor's letters that support your limitations is a good idea. Consultive exams are always negative. They are so cursory as to be useless.
Respectflloy, Trudi

Thanks for the replies and info

You DO NOT have to see their assigned doctor, if you can find or already have a treating doctor who will do the exam. SS does not like to use your doctor for any exams (to get current info on u) but they must allow you to use your own. What they complain abt is that your doctor will not answer the ?'s they need answered in the way they want them answered. Get a Medical Source Statement form (mental &/or physical) & have the Dr fill it out or use as guideline in their report. If you can't pay for the exam but your Dr will do it tell the disability examiner this & they must consider them as a source.

Re: gov. agency
 

I understand your problems dealing with dissability. I went ahead and went to all the doctors they wanted me to. I didn't care. I wanted and needed the dissability so badly I would indeed jump hoops. I had no health insurance and fell apart. In the end I did get the needed help but it was a very long process. The judge I saw at the end of the senerio was fantastic. It is just all the process leading up to it which is terrible. These government agiencies do not know what they are doing sometimes. The left hand does not know what the right hand is doing. I write everything down and give them all the information they want. I keep copies of all communication too. Good luck with your journey. Ginnie

Thank you everyone for your replies, I will definatley be getting a medical source statement from my doctor and also requesting that my doctor do the exam, Is it normal for them to schedule a exam before they even request my records and information from my doctors? It seems premature to me, when they could get all the info they need or want from my doctor.

Why don't you get copies of your records and read them. Then you'll know what is in them. It may or may not be as detailed as you think it is.

It depends on a few things. They may have requested your records but not gotten them in a timely manner (for them) & so set up the exam. Or they may have requested the records & set up an exam just in case they did not get the records b4 the exam date. The examiner has a certain amount of days w/in which to start processes, also bec of the volume of SS applications coming in at this time setting up the exam almost initially after they get the application helps them in their handling of the claim. Also depending on the dates you gave for the medical services you have had if it has been almost a year they will need to set an exam if u don't have your own DR to go back to bec they have to have current med info. SS tries to discourage examiners from setting up alot of exams bec of the cost & each SS region has it's own budget for these exams. They get dinged if they go over. Also each supervisor in the regions is trying to make their "unit " look the best because that effects their bonus. It is a vicious game & has only gotten worse since the recession. Hope this helps.

Flaguy. I would suggest the same thing Janke did, it's best to get your records and review them first. Sometimes they put other peoples records in with yours, and sometimes your records are not up to date, so it's best to check them out first before SS gets them. When you go to the doctor they make you sign up like a new patient so make sure you mention everything from the first time you were hurt. No matter how insignificant it may seem to you, it may be very significant to them. Bring all your records, such as MRI's and medications, surgeries you have had even if you had them as a child still mention them. If you can't bend don't do it, if it hurts to sit let them know. Don't try to be to nice, I know that sounds rude, but you are sick and they expect you to act like it.

I very, very rarely request an exam without having all the medical records in file. For one thing, it's far better to get records from your treating source than from an exam. For another, it's far cheaper.

However, a few things could have happened here.

During your interview, when you provided a list of doctors, did you remember to include all of your doctors? You may have been so overwhelmed during the interview that you forgot this one, and if it's not on the list, we have no way of knowing that you see them. In fact, to be honest a majority of my claimants forget to mention one or more doctors until later in their case.

Did you start seeing a new doctor and forget to give us that information? We need updates :)

Also, in many offices, requests for medical records can get lost. It is not the doctor personally who handles them in most cases. In fact, very rarely does a doctor see an actual request in my experience. It's the medical records department who handles them.

So in answer to your question, no, it is not common for this to happen. But it does happen.