helpful tips - Cogeco
helpful tips - Cogeco
helpful tips - Cogeco
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Some <strong>helpful</strong> <strong>tips</strong> for Physicians in filling out ODSP applications<br />
from Hamilton’s Community Legal Clinics / www.hamiltonlegalclinics.ca<br />
Has your patient applied for<br />
Ontario Disability Support<br />
Program benefits<br />
The completion of the ODSP medical forms can be timeconsuming<br />
and some of the questions seem ambiguous; but<br />
your patient may be denied financial assistance if the report<br />
is incomplete or does not fully explain the medical condition<br />
and its implications for the patient. Below are some <strong>tips</strong> to keep in mind:<br />
✙ The Health Status Report and Activities of Daily Living form must be completed<br />
within three months of the date on which your patient received them.<br />
✙ Forms completed in the patient’s presence are more accurate. The patient may<br />
have difficulty doing activities, such as bathing, housework, etc., that have never<br />
been mentioned during previous visits.<br />
✙ Submitting a full and complete package, when the initial application is made,<br />
may avoid the need for one or more reapplication(s) or a lengthy appeal process,<br />
which is presently taking upwards of two years to work through the system.<br />
THE ACT’S DEFINITION OF A DISABLED PERSON:<br />
An application for benefits under the Ontario Disability Support Program<br />
Act is decided on the following terms. A person's medical conditions are<br />
evaluated in accordance with the following definition of a "disabled<br />
person":<br />
A person is a person with a disability for the purposes of this legislation<br />
if,<br />
a) the person has a substantial physical or mental impairment that is<br />
continuous or recurrent and expected to last one year or more;<br />
b) the direct and cumulative effect of the impairment on the person's<br />
ability to attend to his or her personal care, function in the
community and function in a workplace, results in substantial<br />
restriction in one or more of these activities of daily living; and<br />
c) the impairment and its likely duration and the restriction in the<br />
person's activities of daily living have been verified by a person<br />
with the prescribed qualifications.<br />
THE HEALTH STATUS REPORT:<br />
✙ All medical conditions should be listed even if seemingly<br />
irrelevant to the current diagnosis, e.g. hearing impairment,<br />
even if the condition would not, in itself, affect the ability to<br />
work<br />
✙ If any conditions, whether mental health and/or physical, are not listed on the Health<br />
Status Report, the patient will not be able to raise them at a hearing.<br />
✙ It is critical to attach all test results and consultation reports from specialists.<br />
THE ACTIVITIES OF DAILY LIVING (ADL) FORM :<br />
After reviewing the conditions listed in the Health Status Report, the<br />
Disability Adjudication Unit (D.A.U.) medical adjudicator then reviews the<br />
ratings in the ADL form. It has been our experience that the D.A.U. will<br />
not accept that there is a substantial impact on the patient’s activities of<br />
daily living unless there are some ratings of Class 3 or 4.<br />
INTELLECTUAL & EMOTIONAL WELLNESS SCALE:<br />
If the patient has mental health problems, the “Intellectual and Emotional Wellness<br />
Scale”, on page 6 of the “Health Status Report” must be completed. Again, it has been<br />
our experience that mental health impairments will not be accepted as substantial,<br />
unless the scale indicates some ratings of Class 3 or 4.<br />
It has also been our experience that, when adjudicating mental<br />
health conditions, the DAU will not grant the application, if there<br />
are no psychiatric reports or counseling notes attached to the<br />
Health Status Report and Activities of Daily Living form.<br />
If you have concerns or questions about the ODSP medical forms, you may find it <strong>helpful</strong> to call<br />
your local legal clinic.<br />
DUNDURN<br />
COMMUNITY LEGAL<br />
HAMILTON MOUNTAIN<br />
LEGAL & COMMUNITY<br />
McQUESTEN<br />
LEGAL & COMMUNITY
SERVICES<br />
110 King Street West<br />
Hamilton, Ontario, L8N<br />
3Y3<br />
Telephone: (905)527-<br />
4572<br />
SERVICES<br />
550 Fennell Avenue,<br />
Hamilton, Ontario, L8V<br />
4S9<br />
Telephone: (905) 575-<br />
9590<br />
SERVICES<br />
1440 Main Street East<br />
Hamilton, Ontario, L8K<br />
6M3<br />
Telephone: (905) 545-<br />
0442<br />
Hamilton’s Community Legal Clinics are nonprofit organizations funded by Legal Aid Ontario