Only federal quality reviewers can make POR determinations. An adjudicating component
cannot use POR in deciding whether to request required medical or vocational documentation
or as the basis for a rebuttal of a cited deficiency. For additional information regarding
evidence requirements, see DI 22505.001.
The consideration or application of POR is solely at the discretion of the federal
quality reviewer.
Under the POR policy, if a disability determination is not documented per SSA disability
program policy, but the evidence is sufficient for the federal quality reviewer to
determine that the missing documentation is unlikely to reverse the disability determination or change the length of the period of disability, the federal quality reviewer may classify
the missing documentation as a medical or vocational documentation TCA, as defined
in GN 04440.232A.3, and not return the case to the adjudicating component for further development and
correction.
When a case does not contain complete medical documentation per SSA disability program policy, the federal quality reviewer must send the case to the regional office medical contractor (MC) or psychological contractor
(PC) for review prior to making a POR determination.
The regional office MC or PC either indicates the evidence is insufficient to determine
the severity of any alleged impairment(s) or prepares a conditional severity rating
(CSR) (usually a residual functional capacity (RFC)) based on the existing evidence
in file.
The regional office MC or PC may prepare a CSR when the medical evidence in file is
insufficient to rate the overall severity of all of the claimant's allegations, but
is sufficient to prepare an assessment of the severity of one or more medically determinable
impairments (MDI).
The regional office MCs or PCs may also offer opinions on the potential effect of
missing documentation on impairment severity or RFC.
However, these opinions are not binding on the federal quality reviewer. Federal quality
reviewers should exercise caution when using a CSR to support a POR determination
when the disability determination is unfavorable or less than fully favorable.
In unfavorable or less than fully favorable determinations, there is a statutory requirement
that adjudicators must "consider all evidence available in such individual's case
record, and must develop a complete medical history of at least the preceding twelve
months for any case in which a determination is made that the individual is not under
a disability." See Section 223(d)(5)(B) of the Social Security Act.
Federal quality reviewers must return 12-month medical evidence of record (MER) TCAs, which are limited to unfavorable or
less than fully favorable determinations, to the adjudicating component for additional
development and correction. For additional information, see Non-substantive Technical
Corrective Action (TCA) GN 04440.232A.1.
Adjudicators and federal quality reviewers are reminded that in some cases, such as
those involving traumatic or acute illnesses or injuries, 12 months of evidence may
not be available.
If the federal quality reviewer determines that the missing documentation is likely to
reverse the disability determination or change the length of the period of disability, or if the federal quality reviewer
is unable to determine whether the missing documentation may reverse the disability
determination or change the length of the period of disability, the federal quality
reviewer must cite a group I or group II documentation deficiency and return the case
to the adjudicating component for further development and correction.