Certain legally imposed ‘health and safety duties’ have to be ca ried out in this way. It means that a particular risk can be balanced against the time, trouble, cost and physical difficulty of taking measures to avoid the risk. If the cost and effort are disproportionate to the risk, the parties can run the risk without taking the alternative steps. The greater the risk, the greater must be the effort before it is considered disproportionate. If both the consequences and extent of risk are small, insistence on great expense would not be reasonable. Compare with all practicable steps’ meaning ‘capable of accomplishment regardless of cost but dependent on state of knowledge at time.’ See PROPERLY MAINTAINED.
Insurance Encyclopedia
SOAP
One of a standard style of charting (documenting) procedures for progress notes in patient’s medical records; the acronym means subjective, objective, assessment, plan. Subjective = statements of symptoms and chief complaints (CC) in the patient’s own words, which is the reason for the encounter. Objective = facts and findings from the physical examination, x-rays, laboratory, and other diagnostic tests. Assessment = evaluation of subjective and objective findings, which is medical decision-making by putting all the facts together to obtain a diagnosis. Plan of treatment = documentation of a strategy for care to be put into action and list of recommendations, instructions, further testing, and medication. Also see CHEDDAR .
Social Cost of Risk
Risk creates a social cost by retarding economic progress. The cost of risk is apart from the cost of replacing destroyed or damaged property, and is usually unrecognizable except upon close analysis.
Social health maintenance organization (Health Insurance)
A Health and Human Services funded funded project, which combines adult day care, transcription, and acute and long-term care.
social health maintenance organization (SHMO)
Special type of health plan that provides the full range of Medicare benefits offered by standard Medicare HMOs, plus other services that include prescription drug and chronic care benefits, respite care, and short-term nursing home care; homemaker, personal care services, and medical transportation; and eyeglasses, hearing aids, and dental benefits.
social history (SH)
Age-appropriate review of a patient’s past and current activities (e.g., marital status, employment history, sexual history, level of education, smoking, diet intake, alcohol use). Depending on the category of evaluation and management (E/M) service, documented review of two or all three past, family, and/or social history (PFSH) is required. For comprehensive assessments, all three areas are required.
Social Insurance
All Insurance required by law for substantial numbers of the general population, administered or closely supervised by the government, and supported primarily by earmarked contributions, with a benefit structure that usually redistributes income to achieve some social object, not private equity.
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Legally mandated insurance that provides basic economic security for a population. It mostly provides coverage for loss of income due to illness, old age, and unemployment. In the United States, social security can be considered a form of social insurance.
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MEDICAL, US: Type of insurance plan that is compulsory under an employee benefit plan. By law, participants have certain benefits. It is administered by a federal or state government agency.
Social insurance supplement policy
1. Additional medical insurance coverage to protect against losses when the insured wage earner’s income is interrupted or terminated because of illness or accident and the loss is not covered by workers’ compensation, disability income benefits, or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI). 2. Insurance plan that complements the benefits from a specified government health insurance program.
Social Risk
Causing loss of reputation or damage to self esteem.
Social Security
Concept in which an individual works, the worker pays taxes into the system, and when the worker retires or becomes disabled, the worker, his or her spouse, and his or her dependent children receive monthly benefits based on the reported earnings. Also, the worker’s survivors can collect benefits if the worker dies.
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A general term used to refer to the programs mandated by the Social Security Act of 1935. With the amendments made to the act since then, it is now sometimes called Old Age, Survivors, Disability, and Health Insurance. Through social security, programs that provide assistance to certain segmentds of the public are administrated, such as Public Assistance.