Why TIFF?

Social Security is transitioning to the eDIB paperless document management system. The eDIB system is based upon TIFF files. TIFF seems at first glance to be an archaic type of file that has few users. It looks to be a legacy format, something used in the early days of scanning documents, but largely abandoned today. The type of file used by most of the world is the PDF (portable document file) that goes along with Adobe Acrobat software. Is there a rational reason why Social Security went with TIFF?

The PDF Zone has an interesting discussion of PDF versus TIFF, which may help support Social Security's decision. Here are some excerpts:

Deciding whether to go PDF or TIFF with your documents seems like a no-brainer for many users. But there's a time and a place for both document formats. And, increasingly, companies are evaluating whether to switch to using TIFF in their document workflows.

TIFF, or tagged image file format, is a popular format for high-color depth (32-bit) images. ...

For the majority of users who are putting text in their documents, the PDF is hands down a better choice. It is a universally accepted format that any recipient can view using the free Acrobat Reader utility. ...

[PDF] is also a much more secure file format that offers the ability to control factors such as who can read or alter your document.

You can alter a PDF much more easily than a TIFF file. Between the features available in Acrobat, Acrobat Pro and third-party add-ons, you can do several things not possible with TIFFs, such as:

• Add bookmarks, notes and highlighting without altering the original file
• Insert hyperlinks to other documents
• Index a PDF for complex searches. ...

But don't count TIFF out yet. TIFF is a great choice for archiving images, and may be a better choice in the long run than PDF. ...

The major drawback of TIFF is that, because it has been neglected by Adobe, it lacks standardized support for advanced imaging features that have been developed in the last few years. ...

"A TIFF connected to a database with OCR provides the same capability as a PDF with OCR that has been catalogued," says George Thornton, managing partner of On Site E-Discovery. On Site's clients are law firms with hundreds of thousands of pages of documents that need to be scanned into digital format, then OCRed and searched for keywords to provide evidence in a case. These databases can grow into multiple terabytes, so saving space is crucial. "When I have a large document collection I use TIFFs with a database," says Thornton. "For business purposes, I tend to send PDFs."

We have some themes here:

1. Normally, using PDF files is a "no-brainer." It is much more widely used. The Adobe Acrobat software used with PDF files is far more advanced than the TIFF software.
2. TIFF has advantages when one is dealing with photographs.
3. TIFF has advantages (that are unexplained by this article) when used in conjunction with a database, particularly a large database.

The only one of these that might explain Social Security's use of TIFF is the last one, that TIFF has advantages when used with large databases. Clearly, Social Security intends to use its scanned files with very large databases. However, the reasons why TIFF may be better than PDF when used with large databases are unclear. It is also unclear how big an issue database compatibility is.

It is also unclear how much thought was given to the fact that Social Security's document imaging system will never stand in isolation as most document imaging systems do. Social Security's imaging system has to interact extensively with the outside world. Claimants and their attorneys must be able to view records. Social Security must be able to receive medical and other records from outside the agency that are already scanned in PDF. Eventually, claimants and their attorneys are likely to be able to view their files over the internet, which will be difficult with TIFF files. And there has to be the question of whether TIFF really has any future.

Going with TIFF was a crucial decision for Social Security, which has implications for decades to come. If the decision to go with TIFF was a mistake, the transition to PDF is going to be terribly expensive. The TIFF decision deserves attention from Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and Congress. It may seem boring, technical and confusing, but, in the end, it was probably the most consequential decision made by former Commissioner Barnhart. As far as I know, no one who was not directly involved has taken an in depth look at the choice of TIFF.

New Fee Regulations

The Social Security Administration has published innocous final regulations on fees for attorneys and others who represent Social Security claimants. The new regulations implement the temporary extension of fee withholding to SSI benefits and to certain non-attorney representatives of Social Security claimants. The new regulations do nothing more than state what is already in the statutes.

China Grove Man Goes To Jail For Social Security Fraud

From the Salisbury, NC Post:

A China Grove man was sentenced recently to 18 months in federal prison for defrauding the Social Security Administration of $45,000 in benefits.

Alan Motley Sr., 49, was sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Greensboro.

In addition to prison time, a judge sentenced Motley to two years of supervised release, assessed a court fee of $200 and ordered him to pay $45,186.40 in restitution to the Social Security Administration. ...

Federal officials believed Motley was working while also receiving Social Security disability benefits. He concealed his employment by working under his son's Social Security number, according to Ozella Bundy, Public Affairs officer for the Social Security Administration in Greensboro.

Baucus Denounces Biggs Recess Appointment

From the New York Times:

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, denounced Bush for making Andrew Biggs, a leading proponent of privatizing the Social Security retirement program, deputy commissioner of Social Security.

``Prospects for getting real Social Security reform anytime soon just took a big hit,'' Baucus said. ``This administration is clearly not serious about leaving behind the failed schemes of the past and moving on to constructive discussions about the future of Social Security.''

Andrew Biggs Gets Recess Appointment As Deputy Commissioner

A few days after Commissioner Astrue appointed Andrew Biggs to a position as Deputy Commissioner for Policy, a position which does not require Senate confirmation, President Bush has used the Congressional recess to give Biggs a recess appointment as the number two position at Social Security, Deputy Commissioner, according to Dow Jones Market Watch. The Deputy Commissioner slot normally requires Senate confirmation. The Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee had earlier made it clear that Biggs' nomination to become Deputy Commissioner would not be go forward. With a recess appointment Biggs can serve as Deputy Commissioner of Social Security until the end of the current Congressional session.

This recess appointment can only complicate Commissioner Astrue's life. Biggs's only interest in the Social Security Administration has appeared to be in dismantling the agency in favor of private accounts. It puts Biggs in a position to try to use the resources of the Social Security Administration to push privatization. Commissioner Astrue will have the constant worry that Biggs is going to do something that will cause embarrassment.

It seems unlikely that Astrue had much warning that this was coming, since he appointed Biggs to a position that did not require confirmation just a few days ago.

Astrue's patience may be tested in coming months -- and there are many signs that Michael Astrue is not a patient man.

Federal Register Alert

Below is a description of an item that Social Security will publish in tomorrow's Federal Register. My guess is that this only concerns the extension of withholding of fees to certain non-attorneys and to SSI and is likely to be non-controversial, but we shall see.

RULES

Social security benefits and supplementary security income:

Federal old age, survivors, and disability insurance and aged, blind, and disabled--

Attorney Fee Payment System extended, eligible non-attorney representatives fee withholding and payment procedures, and past-due benefits definition, E7-06383 [SAA 2006-0097]

SSA Continues To Seach For Panacea

I have posted earlier about Social Security's preposterous efforts to obtain software that will magically reorganize disability claims files scanned under the new eDIB sytem. The software would have to eliminate duplicate copies of medical records, separate the documents by medical provider and organize the records in chronological order. I regard this quest as hopeless, because it is well beyond what is currently possible with computer technology.

There have been some questions in response to Social Security's "Request For Information" (RFI) on this subject and Social Security has posted answers to those questions. One of the answers suggests that Social Security has already wasted money on this wild goose chase. An aptly named company got that busisess. Here is the exchange:

In 2004, Panacea Consulting was awarded a contract for the Social Security Administration's requirement for document scanning services to support the Agency's initiative to improve the disability claims process. This contract required document analysis, document separation, classification, and metadata extraction after scanning documents for FO's, DDS's and hearing offices. How does this RFI relate to the documents being scanned for this contract? The Panacea contract is no longer in place. The current scanning Blanked Purchase Agreement (BPA) is with Lockheed Martin (LM). The objective of this BPA is for the contractor to digitally image paper medical and non-medical evidence and provide related activities, including data transmission and electronic and paper document control. There is no correlation between this RFI and the documents being scanned under the BPA.

OPM Meets All Goal -- According To Their Press Release

According to a press release from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), they:

...met the agency's goals for the month of March. The goals, as outlined in OPM's Strategic and Operational Plan, are a part of the agency's efforts to ensure the American public can count on the federal workforce to produce the high quality work products expected.

OPM's list of goals did not include completing work on a new register for Administrative Law Judges, but did include encrypting their Blackberries.