What is an RFC form?

An RFC is a Residual Functional Capacity form. And its purpose is to do exactly what its name implies: rate the residual (i.e. leftover) functional capacity of a claimant after taking into account the claimant's mental or physical disability.

RFC forms are used mainly at DDS (disability determination services). In fact, no case can be finalized and closed by a Disability Examiner without the completion of the appropriate RFC forms.

What is the process for completing an RFC form?

Simply this: when a disability examiner is ready to make a decision on a claimant's case, the examiner does a write-up. In the write-up, the examiner explains the reasoning behind his or her decision (basically why he or she thinks the case should be approved or denied).

However, the examiner's write-up is not enough to close a case. The examiner must then take the case to a DDS medical or psychological consultant (usually right down the hall) and have that individual complete an RFC form.

On an RFC form, a DDS physician or psychologist will---after reading a claimant's medical evidence---rate a claimant's residual functional capacity, or, in other words, a claimant's ability to engage in normal daily activities, after taking into account the individual's condition.

For this reason, physical RFC forms completed by DDS physicians will make reference to how long a claimant can sit, stand, walk, crouch, and stoop.

The physical RFC will also give the medical consultant's opinion regarding how much a claimant can lift (in pounds) on an occasional or frequent basis, and how well that claimant can grasp, manipulate, and reach overhead.

Similarly, a Mental RFC form, completed by a DDS psychologist or psychiatrist, will make reference to a claimant's mental symptoms (e.g., poor memory, decreased energy, illogical thinking, etc.)

The mental RFC will also indicate a claimant's ability to persist in the areas of concentration and attention, as well as a claimant's ability to interact socially in work settings, assimilate new information, and successfully engage in SRRT's (simple, routine, repetitive tasks).

Unfortunately, RFC forms completed by DDS doctors are rarely of any benefit to claimants. At DDS, RFC forms are used to facilitate denials significantly more often than approvals.

Despite this, though, RFC forms can be extremely helpful to claimants at the time of a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge.

Why the difference?

Because at the time of a hearing, a claimant can present an RFC form to a judge that has been completed by a personal physician, or Treating Physician, rather than a DDS medical or psychological consultant.

The "Treating Physician" rule

A claimant's personal physician, or treating physician, is viewed in this light by the social security administration: the treating physician, having a physician-patient relationship, providing hands-on medical care, and having first-hand knowledge of a claimant's medical condition and prognosis, is in a better and more informed position to render an opinion relative to a determination of disability.

Judges, Treating Physicians, and RFC forms

Administrative Law Judges give substantial weight to the opinions of treating physicians, particularly when those opinions are properly documented and are consistent with a claimant's medical evidence.

RFC forms, of course, are ideal for this purpose.

Many claimants may think to themselves: "Well, if the medical evidence is strong anyway, why should I need an RFC filled out by my doctor, or psychologist or psychiatrist?

Because: 1. Judges are not doctors and 2. medical records very rarely draw conclusions regarding a patient's ability to work, or not.

An RFC form filled out by a treating physician, on the other hand, can definitively state why a claimant's various medical problems make a return to work impossible.

The rationale for RFC forms

RFC forms, essentially, make an Administrative Law Judge's job easier.

RFC forms allow a claimant to present an interpretation of the medical evidence, as opposed to simply presenting the medical evidence.

An RFC form is, far and away, superior to a short statement or letter written on behalf of a claimant by a doctor. Such statements rarely, if ever, help to win a case.

An RFC form, by contrast, can be instrumental in winning a disability case, mainly by allowing a doctor to specifically comment on a claimant's limitations (in strength, range of motion, mobility, etc).