doctor speaking about disability claim with patient

Importance of Your Doctor in Your Disability Claim

By Michelle Shvarts
Principal Attorney

Do you need to file for Social Security Disability benefits? A well-qualified support team can be essential in helping you successfully navigate this process. Your doctor will play a particularly significant role in your disability claim. While most people may be aware of the prominent role medical records will have in the process, the importance of your doctor can be often underestimated. Here, we will discuss the vital role your doctor can play in your disability claim.

Importance of Your Doctor in Your Disability Claim

Having a doctor that is supportive in your journey of seeking Social Security Disability benefits can make a world of a difference. Not only will the medical records generated by your treating doctor be provided to the Social Security Administration as documentation supporting your disabling condition, but statements provided by your doctor can carry great weight in supporting your disability claim.

In order to successfully pursue disability benefits, you should see your doctor as recommended. Work with your doctor to help ensure that he or she properly documents any and all restrictions and limitations caused by your medical condition. The absence of medical documentation or the wrong kind of medical documentation can jeopardize your receipt of disability benefits.

Statements and opinions from your doctor can carry a great deal of weight in supporting your disability benefits application. The SSA should give deference to the opinion of your doctor that you are unable to work due to the limits placed on you by your illness or injury. Sometimes, objective medical findings do not paint a clear picture of the extent of a patient’s disability. A written statement from your doctor can provide insight as well as a perspective that medical records simply cannot encapsulate.

Statements from your physician can speak to the severity of your disability as well as the extent of it and how long it can be expected to last. Furthermore, statements can detail how your condition impacts your ability to perform activities of daily living as well as how you are progressing with your medical treatments. The statements can also detail how your medical condition prevents you from performing job duties that would be integral in retaining substantially gainful work. All of these things are critical to a claim for Social Security disability benefits and they can all be provided by your doctor.

Riverside Social Security Disability Attorney

At Disability Advocates Group, we are here to be part of your professional support network as you pursue Social Security disability benefits. We can answer your questions and provide you with guidance through this often frustrating and convoluted journey. Contact us today.

About the Author
Ms. Shvarts is the managing attorney for Disability Advocates Group. She opened Disability Advocates Group to assist individuals who became disabled and unable to work to obtain the benefits they need and deserve.  Ms. Shvarts and the rest of the team at Disability Advocates Group are dedicated to assisting individuals obtain Social Security Disability Benefits (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits.