Informatics Research on Mental Health Functioning – Decision Support for the SSA Disability Program

• Published in: Psychiatric services (Washington, D.C.) Vol. 74; no. 1; pp. 56 - 62
• Main Authors: Goldman, Howard H, Porcino, Julia, Divita, Guy, Zirikly, Ayah, Desmet, Bart, Sacco, Maryanne, Marfeo, Elizabeth, McDonough, Christine, Rasch, Elizabeth, Chan, Leighton
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 02.06.2022
• ISSN: 1075-2730; 1557-9700
• DOI: 10.1176/appi.ps.202200056

The disability determination process of the Social Security Administration (SSA) disability program requires assessing work-related functioning for individual claimants alleging disability due to mental impairment. This task is particularly challenging because the determination process involves the review of a very large file of information, including objective medical evidence and self-reports from claimants, families and former employers. To improve this decision-making process SSA entered into an interagency agreement with the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Section of the Rehabilitation Medicine Department of the Clinical Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) intended to use data science and informatics to develop decision-support tools. This collaborative effort over the past decade has led to developing a Work Disability - Functional Assessment Battery and to testing an approach to applying Natural Language Processing to the review of claimants’ files for information on mental health functioning. This informatics research collaboration holds promise for improving the process of disability determination for individuals with mental impairments making claims at the SSA.