Advocates registered with Appointed Representative Services (ARS) know the advantages of being able to access clients’ file through Electronic Records Express (EXE). They probably also know the frustration of getting bar codes from ODAR hearing offices – and labeling and uploading records. As of December 10, 2016, appointed representatives enrolled with ARS have the capability to upload documents to their client’s electronic folders (eFolders) without a barcode.
SSA is touting the many benefits to using ARS to upload documents, including the following:
- Claimant and destination are populated automatically by the system, reducing the amount of time representatives spend uploading files
- Representatives simply attach their file, select the document type from a dropdown menu, and enter any document-specific information requested by the system (e.g., source, treatment dates)
- Documents are automatically routed to the correct section in the eFolder and labeled with the document-specific information
SSA has produced an ERE “User Guide of Send Individual Responses,” with screen shots and a list of the document types that can be uploaded via ARS. It is available as a pdf at www.ssa.gov.