What process do healthcare professionals use to evaluate a patient's overall health and functioning?

The process that healthcare professionals utilize to evaluate a patient's overall health and functioning is referred to as assessment. This comprehensive approach involves gathering information about the patient's medical history, physical condition, psychological state, and social circumstances. The assessment process is crucial as it forms the foundation for determining the patient's needs, planning appropriate interventions, and measuring outcomes over time.

During an assessment, various methods may be employed, including interviews, standardized tests, observation, and physical examinations. Overall, this process ensures that care is tailored to the individual's unique situation, thereby supporting patient-centered care.

While diagnosis, evaluation, and examination are important components of the healthcare process, they do not encompass the holistic approach implied by assessment. Diagnosis specifically focuses on identifying a medical condition based on symptoms and test results, evaluation is often used interchangeably with assessment but can imply a narrower focus on outcomes, and examination typically refers to the physical inspection or assessment of the body. Thus, assessment is the most comprehensive term describing the overall evaluation of a patient's health and functioning.