SOAP
Abbreviation with 2 meanings
| Stands for | Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 2 |
| Categories | Medical, Technology & Computing |
SOAP has two meanings. It stands for Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan (medical documentation) or Simple Object Access Protocol (programming).
Meanings of SOAP at a glance
| # | SOAP stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan | Medical › Medical Documentation |
| 2 | Simple Object Access Protocol | Technology & Computing › Programming |
1. Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan
Medical · Medical Documentation Abbreviations
Four-part structure for clinical progress notes: what the patient reports, measurable findings such as vital signs, exam and test results, the clinician's interpretation, and the next steps. It is the most widely taught note format in medicine, nursing and therapy.
Example: SOAP note: S denies chest pain; O BP 132/80, lungs clear; A improving CHF; P continue diuretic.
Introduced by physician Lawrence Weed in the 1960s as part of the problem-oriented medical record, which organizes notes by problem instead of by source. Many clinicians now write the assessment and plan first (an "APSO" note) so the key conclusions are seen immediately. Extended versions include SOAPIE and SOAPIER.
2. Simple Object Access Protocol
Technology & Computing · Programming Abbreviations
An XML-based messaging protocol for exchanging structured data between systems, typically over HTTP, with a formal contract described in WSDL. It remains common in banking, insurance, government and other enterprise integrations.
Example: The airline's booking system only exposes a SOAP endpoint, so we generate a client from the WSDL.
Designed in 1998 by Dave Winer, Don Box, Bob Atkinson and Mohsen Al-Ghosein for Microsoft, and later standardized by the W3C. Version 1.2 dropped the expansion, so SOAP is officially just a name. Its WS-* family of security and transaction standards suited enterprises, but its verbosity pushed most public APIs toward REST and JSON.
Related abbreviations
More medical documentation abbreviations
- ROS – Review of systems
- RTC – Return to clinic
- SBAR – Situation, Background, Assessment, Recommendation
- SH – Social history
- SOAPIE – Subjective, Objective, Assessment, Plan, Intervention, Evaluation
- SOB – Shortness of breath
- Sx – Symptoms
- TO – Telephone order
See all 79 medical documentation abbreviations →
More programming abbreviations
- sed – Stream editor
- SemVer – Semantic Versioning
- SO – Stack Overflow
- SOA – Service-oriented architecture
- SoC – Separation of concerns
- SOLID – Single responsibility, open-closed, Liskov substitution, interface…
- SQL – Structured Query Language
- SRP – Single-responsibility principle
See all 154 programming abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.