In some Social Security disability hearings, the administrative law judge may chose to call a doctor to testify about impairments. Many times this will happen in a case where the person seeking disability did not see a doctor before their date last insured.
Under Social Security’s guidelines, the Notice of Hearing should include a note on if a medical expert will be called as a witness. This can be found in the “Remarks” section of the hearing notice. Typically medical experts appear via telephone instead of in-person.
In the hearing, the representative should be permitted to ask the doctor questions about their qualifications and their conclusions. Additionally, the doctor should be present (in-person or telephonically) to hear the hearing testimony or the administrative law judge should summarize the testimony after the fact.