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A supportive opinion from your doctor can play a crucial role in strengthening your claim when you apply for Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits. Medical documentation that clearly explains your condition and its impact on your ability to work helps the Social Security Administration better understand your situation. By following a few key best practices, you can work effectively with your physician to ensure their input supports your SSDI application. Those best practices include:
Choose the Right Doctor to Support Your Claim
You should seek medical reports and letters from the physicians involved in your ongoing treatment, rather than obtaining opinion letters from specialists who have only seen you for an initial exam or consultation. Opinions from your long-term doctors tend to carry more weight with the Social Security Administration.
Seek treatment with specialists for your condition. For example, you should see an orthopedist for musculoskeletal conditions, or a neurologist for brain injuries or other neurological conditions. A specialist’s opinion may carry more weight than an opinion from a general practitioner or family physician.
Be Honest and Thorough with Your Doctor
When consulting your physicians, you should remain transparent about your symptoms, limitations, and pain levels. Your honesty can help your doctor understand the nature of your disability. Consider keeping a diary in which you detail how your limitations restrict your functional abilities to help your physician get a picture of your overall condition.
Refrain from exaggerating or overplaying the nature and severity of your symptoms, pain, or limitations, since subjective complaints that do not align with the objective medical data may cause your physician to question your credibility. On the other hand, don’t put on a “brave face” by minimizing the severity of your conditions. Your physician may use what you tell them to conclude that your condition does not limit you as much as it actually does.
Ask for Specific Documentation
You can strengthen your SSDI application by having your doctor complete a Residual Functional Capacity (RFC) evaluation, which details your specific work-related limitations. Your physician should use precise, objective language in your medical records and reports. Rather than simply noting that you “cannot work,” your doctor should describe how your condition affects your ability to perform essential tasks—such as how long you can stand or sit, how much you can lift, or how well you can maintain focus. It’s also important that these assessments remain consistent with the medical evidence in your records.
Because this paperwork plays a major role in the outcome of your case, Grech Law Firm works directly with your treating doctors to request medical records, obtain detailed opinion statements, and secure fully completed RFC forms on your behalf. The firm ensures that your providers understand what the Social Security Administration looks for and that each report includes clear descriptions of how your condition affects tasks such as sitting, standing, lifting, or concentrating. Grech Law Firm also handles the submission of all medical documentation, so you do not have to manage this process on your own.
Maintain a Consistent Treatment Record
Regular visits to your treating physicians and compliance with recommended treatment and rehabilitation can support your disability claim. Conversely, gaps in your treatment records or missed appointments may undermine the credibility of your claims regarding your disability. If you have trouble staying consistent with treatment due to practical difficulties, such as transportation or cost, you might ask your physician to note in your records that the reasons you have missed or delayed treatment were the lack of transportation or financial difficulties.
Other Tips
If you encounter reluctance from your physician, take these steps:
- Ask your doctor if their unwillingness to support your SSDI application stems from their unfamiliarity with Social Security forms, processes, or regulations.
- Offer to provide your doctor with example forms and letters they can use to determine how to complete paperwork for your application, or offer to have your lawyer assist.
- Consider seeking support from other treating providers if a primary physician steadfastly refuses to cooperate with your SSDI application.
Contact an SSD Attorney Today
Having strong medical evidence from your treating physician can make a big difference in your claim’s success. Contact Grech Law Firm today for a free, no-obligation consultation with a compassionate Social Security disability attorney who will coordinate directly with your doctors, gather and submit all required medical documentation, and help ensure your provider’s opinions fully support your SSDI application.