Of Algorithms and mice and men (and social security disability and ssi)

I just made a post on SSA connect (if you're not familiar with it, the SSA connect forum at http://www.ssaconnect.com is without a doubt the most excellent social security disability forum online, and perhaps the only true forum of its kind on the web) responding to someone who seemed to have the notion that the "predictive model"---referenced in the "final rule" for SSA's new approach to disability adjudication---might be fairly successful.

It's way too early to tell what's going to happen with Barnhart's new set of "improvements". Luckily, for all concerned, they're applying the changes in limited fashion (the boston region only, which is mainly new england, beginning in august of this year). I suppose I felt the need to comment due to the other posters faith in algorithms.

I am probably an oddity in this sense among individuals who are familiar with disability adjudication (I am a former adult medicaid caseworker, a former social services intake caseworker, a former food stamp caseworker, and a former disability examiner for Disability Determination services). Not only am I familiar with how the social security disability system works---and, conversely, does not---I am also, as a webmaster, very familiar with the ins and outs of certain types of algorithms. Specifically speaking, the google search algo and the msn search algo (don't ask about yahoo--that creature has been broken for a looonnnnnggggg time).

And over the last few years, this is what I've learned. Algorithms don't cut it. They really don't. And the google algo is a good example of that. Yes, google is the most efficient SE (search engine) out there when it comes to delivering relevant results. But (and this is a BIG but), just because a website is relevant doesn't mean that google will present that site among its most relevant results.

In actuality, a webmaster cannot simply create a "relevant site" and hope that the site will actually "show up" in the rankings in google. Sad but true. Instead, the webmaster must create what is, hopefully, a wonderful and helpful site, and then work his or her ass off making sure that Google and Msn U-N-D-E-R-S-T-A-N-D that the site is relevant to a particular search phrase or topic.

Getting a search engine to understand a site's relevancy is often referred to as search engine optimization. Which in many circles is something of a dirty word since the phrase has largely become associated with gimmicks, cheats, schemes, and outright theft. However, for those who employ honest optimization techniques, this optimization involves quite a bit of hard work.

I think at this point I am definitely rambling and becoming somewhat tangential. However, my main point was this. If the social security administration really thinks that a "predictive model" will cut it for early identification of cases involving the "obviously disabled"------then they are barking up the wrong tree.

Why? Because minds far greater in sophistication and intelligence than their own---the google engineers---haven't entirely been able to do it yet. And perhaps never will (though, in all candor, google has come far nearer to the goal than anyone thus far).

What SSA is missing is this: you can't rely simply on models. You need people. And in the case of the new approach to disability adjudication, what they really needed to do was simply hire more examiners and more CRs in the field offices. This nonsense about getting rid of recon and replacing it with federal review and then effectively creating a whole new layer of bureaucracy with the FRO's (I am assuming that the FRO's will need plenty of staff to review initial denials, particularly since they don't want to appear as total jagoffs to the ALJ's who will be required respond to every denial issued by a Federal Reviewing Official) is simply that: nonsense. It's also pie-in-the-sky, smoke and mirrors, and a number of other appellations. They simply should have gotten RID of recon and left it at that.

Oh, by the way, back to the search engine thing, because it does entail a lot of hard work, I find myself in the position every other month or so of having to contact some lawfirm somewhere (that didn't want to do the work) to inquire as to why they've stolen content from my website (Social Security Disability Secrets).

And it is for this very reason that I've had to secure a copyright registration for my site and, furthermore, have it updated every 2 weeks (that's a lot of filing for copyright, but it's well worth it). So, I guess I'm an oddity in three ways: 1. familiar with disability adjudication, 2. familiar with search engine algorithms, and 3. very familiar with the digital millenium copyright act and the in-house procedcures used by all the major search engines to address instances of infringement.






Additional information on Social Security Disability at www.disabilitysecrets.com











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Getting a Disability Lawyer - Information for Disability Claims ?
Apply for SSI
Disability lawyer - when to get one
Social Security Disability SSI Massachusetts

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