Difference Between Dro And Raters

[SolInvictus]

Seasons greetings folks, just have a quick question I need answered to help me tolerate the insane length of time the RO takes to complete the decision phase in a denovo review case. Question; is the DRO pretty much the same person who rates a denovo appeal case or does he or she simply decide on the validity of the vets NOD and then passes the claim on to a different entity to rate and grant percentages? In other words is the DRO decision the final hurdle before notification or do the raters have the final word? As always all thoughtful inputs will be most appreciated.

[jbasser]

A DRO or Decsion Review Officer is a very senior level person who is under the level of the manager but has the power to change any decision made.

A Rater is a person who rates claims. DRO is a couple of grades higher.

J

[SolInvictus]

A DRO or Decsion Review Officer is a very senior level person who is under the level of the manager but has the power to change any decision made.

A Rater is a person who rates claims. DRO is a couple of grades higher.

J

Thanks for coming through so promptly. What you just said was what I needed to know. It basically tells me that if my case is with the raters, then the worst part of the storm is past, it is past the summit of the mountain and the raters are at least on the downward slope. Hopefully a little more endurance and ill have some closure, for better or worse.

[71M10]

The DRO is also a rater, and would be the actual rater on a denovo review.

[SolInvictus]

The DRO is also a rater, and would be the actual rater on a denovo review.

Thanks buddy, I guess that's even better since it would mean less hoops for my case to jump through. Once it's in front of her I can count on it to be decided and rated all by the same person without the need to get into another queue for the rating part. I have a question though, is there a time limit per case for the DRO in a denovo case? I mean i can't imagine them spending more than a few hours per case if it has all the necessary components completed (C&P's, documents, evidence etc). I assume with such a long waiting list of files awaiting adjudication they would want to get through with each case as rapidly as possible. Or is this just wishful thinking on my part?

[john999]

Count on waiting!

[Chuck75]

My past experience (several years ago) with a southeast VARO was that the DROs assigned to a claim were in the supervisory chain of the original rater (RO).

It was rather obvious that the DROs were virtually " rubber stamping" ROs decisions.

The DRO reviews were being completed in a time frame that was too short to be be believable as a true and complete review.

I hope that the current scrutiny, complaints, and review have stopped such things.