Discussion on Rational Mind and Heuristics in Medical Diagnostic Decision Making

The medical diagnostic label is the most important process in patient management. Diagnostic decisions are not easy but very crucial. The diagnosis is a vital part in patient care as it not only affects the patient but the society at large. The decision process involves the thinking process of the caregiver which operates differently in emergencies and outpatient clinic. The heuristics aspect of the mind is more efficient in dealing with emergencies and the slower analyzing mind in outpatient setting. The heuristic approach is useful in rapid decisions and management of emergencies whereas the slower stepwise approach in outpatient treatment will help in reducing investigations, medical errors and cost of care. A properly equipped and trained system1 needs to play a dominant role in the emergency setting. The activated and time consuming system2 needs to be more involved in the outpatient setting .The combination of system1 and system can probably give the most likely diagnosis in both outpatient and emergency setting. The article also gives an evidence based template for predicting the disease process based on positive and negative likelihood ratios.