20 C.F.R. § 404.1502 General definitions and terms for this subpart.
Title 20 - Employees' Benefits
As used in the subpart— Acceptable medical source refers to one of the sources described in §404.1513(a) who provides evidence about your impairments. It includes treating sources, nontreating sources, and nonexamining sources. Commissioner means the Commissioner of Social Security or his or her authorized designee. Medical sources refers to acceptable medical sources, or other health care providers who are not acceptable medical sources. Nonexamining source means a physician, psychologist, or other acceptable medical source who has not examined you but provides a medical or other opinion in your case. At the administrative law judge hearing and Appeals Council levels of the administrative review process, and at the Federal reviewing official, administrative law judge, and Decision Review Board levels of the administrative review process in claims adjudicated under the procedures in part 405 of this chapter, it includes State agency medical and psychological consultants, other program physicians and psychologists, and medical experts or psychological experts we consult. See §404.1527. Nontreating source means a physician, psychologist, or other acceptable medical source who has examined you but does not have, or did not have, an ongoing treatment relationship with you. The term includes an acceptable medical source who is a consultative examiner for us, when the consultative examiner is not your treating source. See §404.1527. State agency means that agency of a State which has been designated by the State to carry out the disability or blindness determination function. Treating source means your own physician, psychologist, or other acceptable medical source who provides you, or has provided you, with medical treatment or evaluation and who has, or has had, an ongoing treatment relationship with you. Generally, we will consider that you have an ongoing treatment relationship with an acceptable medical source when the medical evidence establishes that you see, or have seen, the source with a frequency consistent with accepted medical practice for the type of treatment and/or evaluation required for your medical condition(s). We may consider an acceptable medical source who has treated or evaluated you only a few times or only after long intervals (e.g., twice a year) to be your treating source if the nature and frequency of the treatment or evaluation is typical for your condition(s). We will not consider an acceptable medical source to be your treating source if your relationship with the source is not based on your medical need for treatment or evaluation, but solely on your need to obtain a report in support of your claim for disability. In such a case, we will consider the acceptable medical source to be a nontreating source. We or us refers to either the Social Security Administration or the State agency making the disability or blindness determination. You or your means, as appropriate, the person who applies for benefits or for a period of disability, the person for whom an application is filed, or the person who is receiving benefits based on disability or blindness. [56 FR 36954, Aug. 1, 1991, as amended at 62 FR 38451, July 18, 1997; 65 FR 11875, Mar. 7, 2000; 71 FR 16443, Mar. 31, 2006]
Title 20: Employees' Benefits
PART 404—FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY INSURANCE (1950– )
Subpart P—Determining Disability and Blindness
General
§ 404.1502 General definitions and terms for this subpart.
