Patent ID: 8655681

Claim:
A method of creating a suggested diagnostic test selection, the method comprising: receiving, by one or more processors, a current description of a current patient, wherein the current description comprises a current medical complaint of the current patient, a medical history of the current patient, and a current physical examination result for the current patient; defining, by one or more processors, a cohort for the current patient, wherein the cohort comprises persons who have had a same medical complaint, medical history, and physical examination result as the current patient; identifying, by one or more processors, past diagnostic test sets used to make correct medical diagnoses for persons in the cohort, wherein the past diagnostic test sets are stored in a cohort diagnostic test database, wherein the current description of the current patient describes two candidate diagnoses for the current patient, wherein two sequential diagnostic test sets from the sorted diagnostic test sets are sets of multiple sequential diagnostic tests, wherein the two sequential diagnostic test sets have a same initial diagnostic test; sorting, by one or more processors, the past diagnostic test sets based on increasing levels of a detrimental effect posed by each of the past diagnostic test sets; ranking, by one or more processors, the two sequential diagnostic test sets according to levels of detrimental effects posed by executing subsequent diagnostic tests from the two sequential diagnostic test sets after executing the initial diagnostic test; recommending, by one or more processors, execution of a lower ranked sequential diagnostic test set only if detrimental effects from executing all of the diagnostic tests in the lower ranked sequential diagnostic test set are below a predetermined level; and presenting, by one or more processors, the sorted past diagnostic test sets to a health care provider for the current patient.