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Print Edition StoriesFriday, August 14, 2009
Policy Tracker
Social Security to award $24M in health IT contracts
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The Social Security Administration plans to award $24 million in contracts for the use of electronic medical records in its disability programs.
Health-care providers and health information exchanges who win the contracts will send patients’ medical records to Social Security electronically, with the patients’ permission. This will make processing disability applications much more efficient, according to the agency.
That’s important because applications for disability benefits are booming due to the recession. The agency expects to receive 3.3 million disability applications in fiscal 2010, a 27 percent increase over fiscal 2008.
“This technology will greatly improve the speed and consistency of our disability decisions,” said Social Security Commissioner Michael Astrue.
The contracts were funded by the economic stimulus bill.
— Kent Hoover, ACBJ Wire Service
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