3 ms·
It is definitely relevant because again, at a fundamental level, the mainstay Clio-and-others don't have a great way to track what are essentially staging vs. p
by MWil 5y ago
It is definitely relevant because again, at a fundamental level, the mainstay Clio-and-others don't have a great way to track what are essentially staging vs. production of the evidence in the claims file.
Getting medical records from private provider X is really:
- Should they exist because treatment was provided in the past?
- Do they still exist in reality (some private providers have very harsh retention policies - shred after 7-10 years)
- Did they get the request?
- Did they respond correctly to the request?
- Does the response contain helpful information for any claim?
- Has it been submitted?
- Has it been submitted but not acknowledged?
- Has it been acknowledged but not for the probative value we judged it internally?
Like - that's just a very SMALL part of the daily process of tracking that goes on everyday for every client.
The claims file contains some n# of pdfs when I become rep. I do work in the background to review those explicit contents, make implicit judgments, and work further in the background on the creation/requesting of evidence to be staged for possible inclusion/submission to the VA. In the meantime, VA is further adding to the claims file with every letter/memo/exam/set of VA medical records.
VSOs are overly burdened and sometimes ill-fit for certain parts of the process, but they have always only truly excelled at filing new, initial claims or new claims for increases - not appeals or anything requiring nuance. Attorneys have really only been involved in the process in a major way for less than 15 years versus over generations of the VSOs but attorneys assisting veterans now outnumbers help from VSOs for the first time within the last year. Our average odds are also higher for success - it's something like 12% do it yourself, 22% VSO, 32% with help from an attorney. I can't recall exactly but it's in the annual reports of the VBA and BVA.