Most doctors will provide medical records for Social Security decision makers to review. These are often not enough for a fair decision because they do not address any functional limitations and may not address severity of symptoms.
Doctors may not decide who is disabled and who is not because this is reserved for the Commissioner of Social Security.
I usually ask doctors of my clients to complete a form, such as HA-1151-BK, which asks for the doctor's opinion on specific functional limitations.
What can you do if your doctor hesitates or refuses to complete a Social Security form for you?
1) Try to speak to the doctor personally, which probably involves an appointment with him.
2) Explain that you are not asking for a special examination or a statement about whether or not you are disabled.
3) Offer to pay a reasonable fee because the form does take a few extra minutes of the doctor's time.
Over many years of practice, I've found that doctors often believe Form HA-1151 requires them to perform some kind of special, extended physical examination that their office is not equipped to do. This is not the case. No special examination is asked for. The doctor is being asked for a professional opinion based on his/her treating relationship with the patient over a period of time (20 CFR 4041527). This opinion is to be based on the accumulated objective medical evidence already in the patient's file.
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