Abstract

MONCADA, Antonio  and  CUBA, María Sofía. Clinical decision making in primary care. Rev Med Hered [online]. 2013, vol.24, n.4, pp.319-323. ISSN 1729-214X.

The primary care physician needs to be highly qualified in making medical decisions. In making these decisions, he uses all scientific available evidence in an efficient and methodic process, which is called clinical decision-making in primary care. During this process, the uncertainty arises around the probability that a patient has a particular disease ranging from 0 to 1. According to the range of uncertainty in which we found ourselves, we can take three possible paths: treat the patient, study the patient further, or do nothing. There are three models in clinical decision-making; the most important one is the hypothetical-deductive model. Finally, we conclude that physicians not necessarily have to reach a diagnosis, but they must reach a high enough level of certainty to act.

Keywords : Primary health care; decisions; uncertainty.

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