The Importance of Hospital Records in Social Security Disability Claims

There are many types of records created when you are admitted to the hospital. These include the following: admission summary, discharge summary, physician’s progress note, consultant physician reports, surgeon reports, pathology reports, x-ray/radiological evaluations, lab reports, and other special reports such as EKG, EEG, and pulmonary function studies. It is very important to obtain all relevant records since these can provide the objective basis for opinions from physicians supporting your claim for disability benefits. However, hospital records often contain hundreds of pages of nurse’s notes that are not helpful in a disability case and simply run up the costs of pursuing your claim.