[Significance of medical data in work disability evaluation]

Research has shown that insurance doctors in assessing a claim mainly use information provided by the client, whose medical data are not checked with the attending physician, unless a refusal of or a reduction in the disability allowance is to be expected. Additionally, further medical investigations are hardly ever requested. After a year of absence company doctors hardly ever provide any information to the attending physicians, who in turn take just as little initiative with respect to employment disability. The significance of proper medical data for the claim assessment is limited; the majority of chronically ill individuals work and allowances are not given merely because of abnormalities or disorders. Medical data only become significant with reference to a problem analysis. This is often lacking; there is too little skepticism and too much compliance, which fits in with the conflict reducing function of being disabled for employment purposes. Providing more doctors so that more time and attention is available is not enough. Radical measures are needed to reduce the influx of claimants and to simplify the assessment process. Yet above all, greater responsibility should be given to the client and a different vision on employment and illness is also needed.