Health Disparities in the Medical Record and Disability Determinations

People with disabilities can be any age, face chronic health conditions or mental illness, be racial or ethnic minorities, experience low income or housing insecurity, have limited English proficiency, or a combination of many of these conditions. To better understand the effect of health inequities and the manner in which they affect Social Security Administration's (SSA) disability programs, the National Academies hosted a public workshop in April 2024 that examined the variety of different experiences of individuals with disabilities and the consequences of those experiences on an individual's health status, medical record, and SSA disability determinations.

Table of Contents


Front Matter
1 Introduction
2 Overview, Concepts, and Framing
3 Social Determinants of Health and Their Effects on Care
4 Disparities and Bias in Evaluative Testing and Recording of Medical Information
5 Health Disparities and the Disability Application Process
6 Mitigating the Effect of Health Disparities in the SSA Disability Determination Process
7 The Health Record in Depth
8 The Relationship Between the Medical Record and Health Disparities
9 Approaches to Advancing Medical Records to Address Disparities in Disability Determinations
10 Concluding Remarks
Appendix A: References
Appendix B: Statement of Task
Appendix C: Workshop Agenda
Appendix D: Biographical Sketches of Planning Committee Members and Speakers