Lockheed to lead $200M SSA claims processing upgrade

Lockheed Martin Corp. has been named prime contractor on the Social Security Administration’s Disability Case Processing System contract, an IT modernization program to improve the quality and speed of processing disability claims nationwide.

The six-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract is valued at $200 million if all options are exercised, according to a Lockheed statement today.

Under the terms of the award, Lockheed Martin will lead a team that includes Iron Data Solutions LLC, of Atlanta, which supports 47 state IT disability case processing systems. Also on the team are Global Commerce and Information Inc., of Baltimore, and MacQuarium Intelligent Communications.

The contract requires creating a processing system that will manage approximately four million cases annually and be flexible enough to accommodate up to 50,000 employees.

Key elements of the new system will include service-oriented architecture principles and methods. The system also will incorporate services that will be available throughout the enterprise.

The goal of the program is to help the SSA transform the processing of disability claims through a highly available, scalable and modern Web-based system that will fully integrate with the central electronic disability process and recent advances in health information technologies, the statement said.

The new system will save the SSA money by eliminating the need to maintain separate systems for 54 state and federal sites. It also will help the agency process disability claims faster and with higher consistency, the announcement said.

Creating a system that enables re-usable services enterprisewide, yet allows for site-specific customization of disability case processing is one of the program’s key objectives. Simplifying systems maintenance and reducing the infrastructure costs are other key objectives.

Lockheed Martin Corp., of Bethesda, Md., ranks No. 1 on Washington Technology’s 2010 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.