working diagnosis

After the clinician has ruled out as many diagnoses of the entire differential diagnosis as possible, one or more alternative possible diagnoses may remain. At that point treatment will usually be directed toward a selected working diagnosis with the knowledge that failure of the treatment approach will narrow the list, while success will tend to confirm that the working diagnosis is the correct diagnosis.

http://www.behavenet.com/capsules
Search Capsules™ | Terms of Use | Request New Term
Capsules™ Copyright © 1997-2009 BehaveNet®