A list of possible conditions that could be causing a patient’s symptoms.
A differential diagnosis is a systemic process that helps clinicians make correct and timely diagnoses and avoid harm from missing or delaying a diagnosis or making an incorrect diagnosis. A good differential diagnosis can guide clinicians in deciding when to order tests and how to discuss their uncertainty with a patient. In some health care systems, clinicians lack sufficient time to perform all steps that may be needed for a differential diagnosis: carefully taking a patient’s history, researching alternative conditions, and consulting with colleagues who may offer contrasting ideas. Some electronic health records have features that are meant to support differential diagnoses, such as trigger tools that flag patients who are at risk of serious diseases.