KANSAS CITY, Mo., Feb. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cerner Corporation
(NASDAQ: CERN), a global healthcare technology company, announced a
new agreement with the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA),
to help simplify patient disability benefits claims through secure,
clinical electronic health record (EHR) retrieval from health
systems.
The new agreement between Cerner and the SSA aims to speed the
transfer of relevant, patient-directed medical records from the
health system to the SSA, potentially cutting transfer times from
weeks or months to seconds or
minutes.
Each year, the SSA requests more than 15 million medical
records from healthcare providers to help make decisions on more
than 4 million disability claims. Currently, most of the medical
records SSA receives are in the form of faxed or mailed scanned
images, a cumbersome process and the most frequent source of delay
in the disability determination process.
"Cerner is proud to help the federal government better support
those in need by getting them the benefits they are entitled to
more quickly and efficiently," said Sam
Lambson, vice president of interoperability, Cerner. "SSA's
work with Cerner will help streamline the process and is an
important example of how systems that connect to each other can
help improve our health and quality of life."
Some people with disabilities have lower levels of self-reported
health and quality of life than those who do not have a
disability. Faster disability decisions can help alleviate
socioeconomic challenges for families through quicker access to
monthly cash benefits. It can also mean fewer consultative medical
examinations plus earlier access to medical insurance coverage and
other social service benefits.
Cerner and SSA's collaboration to automate data aims to ease
administrative burdens, reduce costs and labor and eliminate the
mailing of paper records. It also creates other potential benefits
for healthcare providers:
- Reduce uncompensated care since faster disability
determinations may result in patients having quicker access to
Medicare and Medicaid benefits
- Automate payments from SSA
- Improve patient satisfaction
Cerner will pilot the solution with three of its clients in the
months ahead and plans to expand the offering to additional clients
who elect to participate.
Cerner is committed to working in the federal space as a health
technology provider. Cerner is currently supporting the Department
of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Defense and the
U.S. Coast Guard to modernize their EHR systems.
About Cerner
Cerner's health technologies connect
people and information systems at thousands of contracted provider
facilities worldwide dedicated to creating smarter and better care
for individuals and communities. Recognized globally for
innovation, Cerner assists clinicians in making care decisions and
assists organizations in managing the health of their populations.
The company also offers a connected clinical and financial
ecosystem to help manage day-to-day revenue functions, as well as a
wide range of services to support clinical, financial and
operational needs, focused on people. For more information,
visit Cerner.com, Cerner Perspectives, connect
on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or join
the discussion on Cerner's podcast Perspectives on Health &
Tech. Nasdaq: CERN. Healthcare is too important to stay the
same.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cerner-and-social-security-administration-to-improve-disability-insurance-claims-process-for-patients-301484905.html
SOURCE Cerner Corp.