Library & Tools

Here is some helpful information if you are having trouble filling out and saving the SSA forms for the SOAR Online Course.

What do medical providers need to know about SOAR and the Medical Summary Report?

Throughout the SOAR Online Course there are several videos for you to view. Here are a few options for viewing these videos, as well as some troubleshooting tips.

The first area of mental functioning – Understand, Remember, or Apply Information – focuses on the abilities to learn, recall, and use information to perform work activities. This article contains key criteria that DDS will assess, tips on gathering information, and examples of functional descriptions.

The Listings are SSA’s categorized lists of illnesses and conditions and the specific severity criteria – symptoms, duration, and impairments – of each illness/condition that must be met for a person to be considered disabled by the illness/condition. It is helpful for case managers to become familiar with these requirements.

After completing the SOAR Online Course, case workers implementing the SOAR model with SSI/SSDI applications should complete the following steps as part of a standard SOAR workflow. This process is a collaborative effort between the SOAR provider, the Social Security Administration (SSA), and Disability Determination Services (DDS) that enables SOAR case workers to complete the SSI/SSDI application process efficiently and effectively.

On this webinar, held on August 15, 2024, the SAMHSA SOAR TA Center shared tips for writing effective MSRs.

On this webinar, held on August 28, 2019, participants learned tips and tools on how to write quality Medical Summary Reports (MSR).

This webinar, held on March 8, 2023, spotlighted successful collaborations between SOAR practitioners and medical providers.

Because SOAR is built on collaborations as well as training, the first step in starting a SOAR program is to bring key community partners together to agree upon and establish a SOAR Process and create a SOAR action plan. The SAMHSA SOAR TA Center can assist you every step of the way.