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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  Improving the Social Security Disability Decision Process Released: February 13, 2007

  The Social Security Administration (SSA) uses a time saving screening tool called the Listing of Impairments (Listings) to identify individuals who meet the Social Security definition of disability, but it is concerned with a substantial drop in the percentage of claims granted disability benefits based on the Listings over the past 25 years. At the request of the SSA, the Institute of Medicine formed a committee which issued the report; Improving the Social Security Disability Decision Process, addressing the medical aspects of disability determination and recommending improvements.
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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.