Prognosis in healthcare

Abstract

Predicting what might happen in the future to individuals, based on experience and available information, has always been a prominent part of medical practice and healthcare. This chapter describes the history of prognosis in healthcare. Prognosis had a central place in medical practice in times before scientific diagnosis and effective treatments, and predicting the likely course of an individual’s illness from experience and observation was a valued quality. As the science of diagnosis developed, prognosis lost its importance in medical education and practice. With the advent of effective treatments and with rapid acceleration of access to data—from genetics to physiology, psychology to social status—to inform outcome prediction in sick people and guide treatment decisions, prognosis is again at the centre of healthcare. Modern prognosis research provides an evidence base for prediction in practice.