The Specialized Advisory and Assistance Service (SAAS) of the Social Security Administration has prepared a report on Social Security's trial use of an automated electronic records retrieval system to obtain medical records on Social Security disability claimants in Virginia. I had not previously heard of SAAS. Can anyone enlighten me on them?
The report was not released by Social Security but by MedVirginia, the Health Information Exchange, or HIE, that Social Security is working with. MedVirginia's press release has the title "Social Security Administration Study: $2 Million Return from HIE." The $2 million return that MedVirginia is talking about is not for Social Security but for Virginia hospitals which tells you where MedVirginia is coming from.
The report was not released by Social Security but by MedVirginia, the Health Information Exchange, or HIE, that Social Security is working with. MedVirginia's press release has the title "Social Security Administration Study: $2 Million Return from HIE." The $2 million return that MedVirginia is talking about is not for Social Security but for Virginia hospitals which tells you where MedVirginia is coming from.
The executive summary for the report is the worst that I have ever read. It is far too long and far too wordy. My eyes glazed over as I read sentences such as, "The overarching technical success was the transmission of semantically interoperable live health information via the NHIN." Why do academics write so poorly? Is that a requirement to get a Ph.D.?
Hidden away in the report is the fact that the "mean case processing time" for the cases transmitted across the HIE was 59 days while the comparable state average was approximately 84 days. I am not sure what this number represents since the report also states that only "anecdotal evidence suggests that some disability determination decisions may have been made faster with this electronic process." Fifty-nine days as opposed to 84 days sounds like more than anecdotal evidence. Maybe the 59 days number does not mean as much as it seems to mean.
One intriguing tidbit from the report is that some of the development for the project was outsourced to Dubai creating time zone problems for all involved.
I have to wonder after reading this report what SAAS is and why was a private contractor releasing this report instead of Social Security? Also, why would the contractor be so crass as to tout the profit potential of HIE for health care providers in this sort of press release? That is serious tone deafness.
One intriguing tidbit from the report is that some of the development for the project was outsourced to Dubai creating time zone problems for all involved.
I have to wonder after reading this report what SAAS is and why was a private contractor releasing this report instead of Social Security? Also, why would the contractor be so crass as to tout the profit potential of HIE for health care providers in this sort of press release? That is serious tone deafness.
1 comment:
SAAS is not part of SSA. It's a special service *purchased by* the agency.
Last June, GSA rewrote the acquisition rules for federal agencies. As a result, the word "consultant" has been removed from Subpart 537.2 of the GSA Manual, in favor of "advisory and assistance services."
If anyone's interested, though I can't imagine why, here's the relevant GSA order and updated GSAM:
https://www.acquisition.gov/gsam/GSAMChange29_Looseleaf.pdf
https://www.acquisition.gov/gsam/current/html/Part537.html
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