About Reports

IOM reports provide objective and straightforward advice to decision makers and the public. This site includes IOM reports published after 1998. All reports from the IOM and the National Academies, including those published before 1998, are available from the National Academies Press.

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  The Social Security Administration's Disability Decision Process: A Framework for Research, Second Interim Report Released: December 21, 2005

  In July 2005, the Social Security Administration (SSA) proposed a new approach to assessing claims for disability benefits, which includes establishment of a national network of medical and psychological experts to evaluate cases. SSA asked the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies to offer guidance on the medical expertise required to evaluate medical records quickly and accurately. In Improving the Social Security Disability Decision Process: Interim Report, an IOM committee offers recommendations on the credentials that medical and psychological personnel who review case records should have, the training they need, and the compensation necessary to attract them.
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  Review of the Disability Evaluation Study Design: Third Interim Report Released: January 14, 2003
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  Measuring Functional Capacity and Work Requirements: Summary of a Workshop Released: January 14, 2003
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  Survey Measurement of Work Disability: Summary of a Workshop Released: January 14, 2003

  Survey Measurement of Work Disability is a summary of workshop which includes commissioned papers examining conceptual and methodological issues relating to the measurement of work disability in the Social Security Administration's Disability Evaluation Study. These papers discuss the meaning of the term disability and its measurement in some detail. In addition to the papers, the report includes a summary of the discussion at the workshop as well as a long term research agenda to address the gaps in survey methods and measurement of work disability as identified by participants.
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  The Dynamics of Disability: Measuring and Monitoring Disability for Social Security Programs Released: January 7, 2003

  The Dynamics of Disability provides expert analysis and recommendations in key areas: understanding the current social, economic, and physical environmental factors in determining eligibility for disability benefits; developing and implementing a monitoring system to measure and track trends in work disability; improving the process for making decisions on disability claims; building Social Security's capacity for conducting needed research.