FAQ

The Mental Status Exam must be performed by an "Acceptable Medical Source" (AMS) in order to establish a "medically determinable physical or mental impairment."

Acceptable Medical Sources include physicians, psychologists, advanced practice nurse practitioners (APRN), or physician assistants (PA).  Further, the APRN category includes: Certified Nurse Midwife, Nurse Practitioner, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, and Clinical Nurse Specialist. Audiologists are also acceptable medical sources for hearing-related disorders.

Licensed Clinical Social Workers (LCSWs) are not included.

Great question! While we do typically advise to collect all records, 500 pages is understandably a lot! Not all applicants will have this many, but if you are seeing that certain hospitals/providers tend to send significant amounts (particularly if they aren't helpful for the application), you could ask for: Inpatient hospitalization records, discharge summaries, outpatient/emergency records, and psychiatric examinations/mental status exams. Those are all pretty key for the application. When you submit the records to DDS, I'd recommend adding a note that these were all that you requested, so that it doesn't look like you just weren't sending everything you have.

Generally speaking, medical providers are not legally bound to provide records to a third party. They are not required to provide records to DDS, either. However, HIPAA regulations require healthcare providers to provide individuals copies of their own records: 

"The Privacy Rule generally requires HIPAA covered entities (health plans and most health care providers) to provide individuals, upon request, with access to the protected health information (PHI) about them in one or more “designated record sets” maintained by or for the covered entity.”

We hear from most SOAR providers that they are able to get medical records from most sources. Some states have special laws that cover access to records for disability applications. We also do our best to build relationships with commonly used providers and the medical records departments to try to improve those relationships, and clarify and expedite processes.

Yes, you should file a SOAR-assisted application because even if you don’t have access to the medical evidence, DDS will request directly from prior treating sources and/or schedule appropriate Consultative Examinations (CE) to obtain diagnoses. Remember, SSA needs a diagnosis to make a disability determination. Remember, to write in the “Remarks Section” on SSA forms, about your efforts to obtain medical information so that DDS will know what they need to do to medically develop the claim.

HIPAA requires medical providers to release the patient's records within 30 days after the request is received (https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-professionals/privacy/guidance/access/ind…). Some states have laws that require the release of medical records in fewer than 30 days.

Yes, you can find samples of completed SSA forms here.

You can type "This is a SOAR application" in the Remarks section.  You should also indicate whether the applicant is experiencing homelessness and any other clarifying remarks. 

If you forget to enter “SOAR” in the remarks sections of SSA forms, they may not be directed to the SOAR liaison at your local SSA office (if one has been identified). However, there are other ways you can indicate that the application was completed using the SOAR model, even after you have submitted the online disability report:

1. Ensure that SOAR is written in the remarks section of the SSA-8000 (SSI application) that you deliver to your local SSA office;
2. When you deliver the paper SSA forms to the local SSA office, notify the claims representative that you are using the SOAR process;
3. Call the SOAR liaison at your local SSA office (if one has been identified) and notify him/her that you have submitted an application using the SOAR process.

Not all SSA offices have a SOAR liaison or know about the SOAR process. Remember that the most important part of the SOAR model is providing a complete, high-quality application with medical records and a Medical Summary Report (MSR). These elements, rather than the SOAR label on forms, will ensure that the application is processed efficiently by SSA and DDS.

SOAR is a model developed to help those who are experiencing or at-risk for homelessness, so they don’t need to fit the literal definition of homeless. At-risk for homelessness can include those who are in transitional housing, couch-surfing, exiting jails/institutions without somewhere to live, and those in permanent supportive housing who are entirely supported by grant funding.

Our Definitions of Homelessness page has further clarification on the definitions used by SOAR and SSA.

The expectation is that providers involved with SOAR do not charge persons applying for SSA disability benefits for their services. We work closely with providers to identify alternative sources of funding for their programs. All 50 states and the District of Columbia have identified various methods to fund SOAR activities that do not involve charging the applicant or collecting a fee from the applicant’s back pay. Resources related to SOAR funding and sustainability can be found in the SOAR Library.