Your doctor knows more than you think

I have to admit – having worked for Mr. Davis for the last two years I have learned quite a bit about the medical field, and loads more about the Social Security disability process. I certainly know I haven’t heard it all yet (Kimberly Cole in our office probably has), but not too much surprises me at this point… except – what can end up in a client’s medical records. People don’t realize that a lot of the off-hand remarks they make to a doctor can often end up as part of their permanent record and in some instances could be detrimental to their claim.

Now, this is not in any way meant to say you should not be honest with any of your providers; quite the opposite; you need to be more honest with them than anyone else to be sure you are getting adequate care. But the thing to keep in mind is, if you tell your doctor you have been selling your hydrocodone pills to buy street drugs, it’s more than likely the judge will see that in your medical records and if we don’t catch it soon enough ourselves, it could definitely be a problem for your disability claim. That is an extreme (albeit true) example, but it’s something that we should know about as soon as possible so that we can effectively avoid spending time at your hearing explaining why you are caring for your grandchildren full-time, or golfing four times per week, instead of talking about why you are unable to work. Some examples of things that are important for us to be aware of (and that we discover in medical records!) include: any illicit drug and/or alcohol use; caring for pets/children on a regular basis; sports or other physical activities you regularly participate in; traveling/vacations (recently or upcoming); any classes (including online school, or a community class), or any attempts at going back to work. If you aren’t sure whether something may be an issue, it’s best to let us know up front, and we can determine if it will be something that needs to be addressed. Remember that we are here to help you win, and the best way to do that is for you to be honest with us from the beginning so we can do our best for you.