About the Division of Disability Determinations

The Division of Disability Determinations is responsible for making decisions regarding the medical eligibility of Florida citizens applying for disability benefits under the federal Social Security and Supplemental Security Income programs, and the state Medically Needy program. It is also responsible for conducting reviews of existing beneficiaries under the federal programs and determining continuing eligibility. 
  
Applications for disability benefits are filed at the claimant's local Social Security field office when the claimant is seeking disability benefits under the Social Security Act or at a local office of the Department of Children and Families when benefits are being sought under the Medically Needy program. In both cases the application is forwarded to the Division of Disability Determinations for a determination of medical eligibility. The claim is then returned to either the Social Security Administration or the Department of Children and Families for a final determination of non-medical eligibility and effectuation of any benefits due the claimant.

• Internal claim review
• Federal review data analysis
• Disability Quality Branch claim rebuttal
• Special studies when indicated
• Area office liaison with adjudicators concerning adjudicative policies

Bureau of Medical Disability Program Operations

This unit is responsible for directing and coordinating the case processing activities in eight area offices, seven administering the federal program and one administering the state program, to ensure an effective and efficient workflow process that enables the division to meet federally and state mandated production, cost  and quality goals. Program Operations constitutes the largest segment of the division, representing 85% of total division staffing.

The unit oversees claims receipts, development and controls distribution; orders medical evidence of record and consultative examinations ; allocates and monitors budget between operational units to correlate funds with assigned workloads; establishes and maintains staffing patterns to accommodate allocated budgeted constraints, claims receipts, and federal/state full time equivalent mandates; provides all local office training of examiner and medical consultants; manages medical consultant contacts; provides management information reports for planning, evaluation, and state and federal reporting purposes; and serves as the communication link throughout the operational units between SSA, the Department and other state managers, and operational staff.  In addition, this bureau oversees the administrative appeals hearings process for the state and supervises the activities of the Professional Relations Officers.

Bureau of Medical Disability Administrative Services

This unit is responsible for the provision of administrative support functions through several sections:

• Budget - management of all state and federal budget activities for the division;
• Facilities Management - procurement/leasing of facilities and equipment; liaison with companies providing facilities management and equipment maintenance and repair services;
• Finance and Accounting - accountability for and reporting of the expenditure of funds; processing of all vouchers for the division, including the purchase of medical records and claimant/employee travel; inventory accountability and control;
• Personnel - processing of all personnel activities for the division;
• Security and Safety - coordination and management of security and disaster recovery functions

Bureau of Medical Disability Information Services

The unit is responsible for supporting the mission of  the Division of Disability Determinations through the optimal utilization of technology.

This unit is responsible for the administrative oversight and management of all information technology functions to include the Local Area Network, Wide Area Network, servers, workstations, printers, iSeries, Helpdesk, IronData Application, application development, web publishing, systems security, access control, and all other overall system related tasks in the support of the processing of disability cases.

This unit formulates policies and procedures for all information technology related activities of the Division of Disability Determinations as required by both the State of Florida, Florida Department of Health and the Social Security Administration from which our policies and funding are based. This unit interacts with the Social Security Administration, other State Disability Determination Services, and designated hardware and software vendors to ensure a high level of service in order to meet the mission of the Division of Disability Determinations.

Bureau of Medical Disability Program Services

This unit is responsible for coordinating the division’s policies and procedures dissemination as well as for coordinating and providing training activities.
 
Clarifies and disseminates federal policy governing the disability programs; formalizes division policy and procedures in written form; maintains master copies of all policy materials; provides centralized training for newly hired or promoted adjudicators; conducts and/or coordinates general staff training on Social Security Administration policies; arranges authorization for all state funded or provided external training for staff; coordinates the activities of trainers in the area offices; prepares training packets for use throughout the division; and assists the Social Security Administration as requested by providing staff for short-term detail to work with and advise regional or national federal components of  the Social Security Administration.

Responsible for those activities involving external parties for whom the division provides services or information, or who provide services to the division.
 
Provides oversight of the division’s professional relations program and consultative examination vendor panel; assists the Professional Relations Officers in Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Tallahassee and Tampa; handles media contacts; responds to subpoenas; responds to inquiries from members of Congress and other elected officials regarding claims or general programmatic information; and processes requests for consultative examinations from administrative law judges in the Social Security Administration’s Office of Hearings and Appeals.