The delivery of Social Security Administration services by secure video communication began in October of 2003, by connecting the hospital benefits office on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in northern North Dakota with the nearest SSA Office in Minot, North Dakota, some 120 miles away. The following highlights illustrate how video service delivery has grown and changed since then and the financial impact.
· Video Service Delivery (VSD) is operational in five of six states in the Denver SSA Region: Montana (6 sites), North Dakota (7 sites), South Dakota (12 sites), Utah (2 sites), and Wyoming (2 sites).
· 19 rural communities have Video Service Delivery sites, including 9 Indian reservation sites.
· Ten selected Social Security Offices respond to community VSD clients.
· The first VSD site, on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in Belcourt, ND, has produced more than 300 completed applications for SSI and Disability. This translates into more than $3 million in benefits into the community in the form of individual benefits and local hospital medical payments.
· In only 20 months, three VSD sites on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota have produced more than 700 completed applications – for a total cumulative financial return for the Pine Ridge Community of $6.5 million.
· The VSD site in a St. Joseph’s hospital in Dickinson, ND has resulted in benefits to that rural community and hospital of more than $700,000 in its first 18 months of operation.
VIDEO SERVICE DELIVERY SUCCESSES MILESTONES:
· To cut total claims processing time, trials are under way in North Dakota to interconnect a DDS, an SSA Office in Minot, ND, and an IHS Hospital on a single video call.
· The SSA VSD site at Ft. Washakie, WY, assisted citizens with the Drug Card and Medicare Part D process.
· To provide assistance to veterans in underserved areas, SSA used VSD, for the first time ever, as part of an annual VA “Stand Down” in Ft. Yates, ND, where a mobile VA office was set up to provide assistance and help Veterans apply for program benefits. Veterans were able to video conference with Social Security staff to answer questions and apply for benefits on-the-spot.
· Services to Pine Ridge are offered as scheduled appointments and “on-demand” by the SSA Office in Rapid City, SD.
· A video link to the SSA Office in Huron, SD provides a “virtual service window” to the Pierre, SD, from a community VSD site in the Capital University Center.
· Three Montana VSD sites are interlinked to provide rural and reservation citizens with services from each agency at all three locations. The sites include MT Job Services, Human Development Service Center, and the Public Health Services Hospital.
· A Video Service Center has been set-up at the SSA office in Fergus Falls, MN, to take video claims applications at-a-distance from smaller SSA offices in Montana and North Dakota.
· Unlimited capabilities for interconnected VSD among various agencies and their constituencies; for example, an IHS Clinic Director at Ft Totten, ND has expressed his willingness to use an IHS provided video unit to connect with a regional SSA Office.