Preferred provider organization
A preferred provider organization is a subscription-based medical care arrangement. A membership allows a substantial discount below the regularly charged rates of the designated professionals partnered with the organization. Preferred provider organizations themselves earn money by charging an access fee to the insurance company for the use of their network (unlike the usual insurance with premiums and corresponding payments paid either in full or partially by the insurance provider to the medical doctor). They negotiate with providers to set fee schedules, and handle disputes between insurers and providers. PPOs can also contract with one another to strengthen their position in certain geographic areas without forming new relationships directly with providers. This will be mutually beneficial in theory, as be billed at a reduced rate when its insureds utilize the services of the "preferred" provider and the provider will see an increase in its business as almost all insureds in the organization will use only providers who are members. PPOs have gained popularity because, although they tend to have slightly higher premiums than HMOs and other more restrictive plans, they offer patients more flexibility overall.
EPPO Code
Plants are identified by a five-letter code, other organisms by a six-letter one. In many cases the codes are mnemonic abbreviations of the scientific name of the organism, derived from the first three or four letters of the genus and the first two letters of the species. For example, corn, or maize ("Zea mays"), was assigned the code "ZEAMA"; the code for potato late blight ("Phytophthora infestans") is "PHYTIN". The unique and constant code for each organism provides a shorthand method of recording specie. The EPPO code avoids many of the problems caused by revisions to scientific names and taxonomy which often result in different synonyms being in use for the same species. When the taxonomy changes, the EPPO code stays the same. The EPPO system is used by governmental organizations, conservation agencies, and researchers.