The National Association of Disability Examiners (NADE), a voluntary organization of the personnel who make initial and reconsideration determinations on disability claims for the Social Security Administration, has released its Winter 2021 Newsletter. Among other things it discusses a video conference held in September, particularly a presentation on IMAGEN, which is:
... a tool for reviewing evidence. It has a search engine for specific types of data like pathology reports, diagnoses and listing level labs. It recognizes synonyms, acronyms and abbreviations. It can suggest listings for analysis. In a case with thousands of pages, it can scan for whatever you ask it to. It’s been rolled out in 17 states so far. ...
When claimant medical and related evidence is received, IMAGEN transforms the evidence in real-time, into machine-readable text that enables enhanced search capabilities and intelligent analysis of medical record content. The medical evidence is analyzed to identify key clinical findings using a robust clinical vocabulary specialized for SSA's disability adjudication needs. This enables the identification of severe medical impairments (step 2 of sequential evaluation) which are then mapped directly to SSA's established diagnosis codes and SSA's Disability Listings (step 3 of sequential evaluation). Specific dated encounters and reports are also identified in the evidence, allowing the user to organize the evidence by section types (inpatient, out-patient), report types (MRI, Pathology, Post-operative, etc.), and chronologically. In upcoming releases, IMAGEN will be able to identify content in the medical record that relates directly to the claim-ant's physical function and mobility, as used in steps 4 and 5 of the disability sequential evaluation. IMAGEN currently supports Initial and Reconsideration level disability claims. ...
IMAGEN has a cadre of representatives from multiple components, including ODP, ODD, DDS, OHO, and OQR that provide feedback, which allows the IMAGEN team to continue to refine and improve IMAGEN's user interface, predictive analytics and other features. ...
15 comments:
Show me!
With apologies, Mr. Lennon...
Imagine there's no office
It's easy if you try
No phones get answered
Letters? No reply
Imagine all the people
Waitin' just to hear
Ahh
Imagine calls get answered
It isn't hard to do
No wait for prompt service
and no cessations too
Imagine all the people
Lovin' SSAAAA
You -oo
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday they will hear us
N'Congress will let SSA get it done
Imagine 1696s getting processed
I wonder if you can
No need for fax or callin'
Retro and fees paid, oh man
Imagine boss and union
Shar-ring like they can-annn
You may say I'm a dreamer
But we're more than one or two
I hope someday you'll hear us
And get that we're CUSTOMERS TOO
No matter how advanced these machines/programs are, they will never process these claims properly. As it stands, DDS manages to sweep issues under the proverbial carpet. Imagine when Imagen offers further sweeping aid. The money should be spent on people who are then given the proper time and resources to process these claims correctly without being harassed for paying claims. Imagine that!
Further confirmation that this blog and most of its readers don’t want factual evidence or findings in case development. They just want someone to “feel bad” for the claimant’s situation and find in their favor.
The human element is what makes the process so lengthy and unpredictable. Remover that element and get a more consistent product.
This will be the same for the FO’s in the future as well. Letting AI determine the non-medical aspects. This is where it’s all headed.
This seems like a waste of time and money. They would have been better served revising the 3369 to get the information we actually need. Or create a system where we would actually be able to evaluate strength rather than the ridiculous 5/5 system we are required to use
Anyone on have direct experience with this software? This sounds similar to e-discovery software. But as far as I can tell, IMAGEN is not an e-discovery software company. They are a startup that specializes in AI medical imaging analysis, which is very different from what this software purports to do.
Our software increases the diagnostic accuracy of our physician users through advanced machine learning methods which analyze the content of medical images and identify, localize, and categorize important findings within them. The software has been rigorously evaluated in clinical testing for the FDA and in the scientific literature, showing significantly improved diagnostic accuracy for every physician user.
I don’t think there’s anything here other than a tool to help compile the important findings in medical records. Scanning a thousand or more pages can get things overlooked. This appears to compile it more quickly and more thoroughly.
It’s not replacing anything that I can tell.
2:36 ("remove the human element") is satire, right?
If humans have difficulty understanding (or, sometimes, believing) the pain and suffering of other humans...how do you expect a computer to understand? It's not about "feeling bad," but understanding what someone can really do...not what they can do once a week or twice a week, but every day for years.
Tim, I understand what you're saying...but that's also how we have what we have now.
You're banking on empathy and I think that's something this country os running really short on.
I'm not reading a record just for key numbers. I'm also looking for consistency of allegations between statements to doctors and hearing testimony. Gruber and Neagle at OHO think this is unskilled work. It isn't. No computer can do that job for me. The same way that the Appeals Council decision-reading AI software (INSIGHT) being given to OHO, didn't end remands.
11:53 PM. What you may be looking at is the ability and willingness of a doctor to document the complaints of a patient, not necessarily an accurate, let alone consistent, account of complaints. Sometimes you will tell a doctor 5-7 symptoms and maybe 2-3 get documented. Another doctor might give a vague diagnosis that gives you no idea of the symptoms, let alone the severity. You complain that the medications aren't working, but the doctors think it must just be you. Years later, you finally get a diagnosis from a different doctor that matches what your symptoms are...but, SSA denies you because your statements don't match the previous diagnosis and that's the one the ALJ decides to use...not the new diagnosis. Doesn't matter what system you use if the doctors aren't good record keepers. Punishing the disabled because of the doctors available in an area...Does karma really exist?
Yes. The problem is not that we cannot find descriptions of gait and strength. The problem is that these ar often not consistent even in the same paragraph. Finding the evidence in the file showing a cancer listing say might be met is not a problem. I do not see what this IMOGEN would add. Also DCPS already has a search engine that allows you to put in words such as metastatic, dialysis, hct, scans , FEV1 etc that would allow you to wade more quickly through documents to determine whether specific listings are met
Maybe it will work by compiling the information in say 1000 pages of records and then categorizing those finding in an index that allows the examiner to go directly to those particular pages to further develop the information?
I don’t see how that would be negative. If it’s anything like all of the other tools SSA provides, it’s just that, a tool. For instance, for redeterminations, we are required to run a tool called RZ Whiz. You just have to run it though, you’re not required to use it. And that’s the story for a lot of tools provided by SSA. It’s also why things are done so inconsistently as well. Sometimes technicians refuse to use these tools and get things wrong.
I agree the tool would not be negative. It is just that the time and money could be better spent on something else. Private industry might be a real help in clarifying vocational issues for example. There are a few major employers in the country in each industry who have set forth job descriptions and qualifications for each of their jobs. Their knowledge and data bases and that of companies that find candidates for jobs and place people in jobs could probably be of tremendous help to us with a few adjustments in their software rather than us awaiting an update of the DOT. On the other hand, if we receive the records we usually have no problems finding which cancer listing someone might meet
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