The Decision Identification and Classification Taxonomy for Use in Medicine (DICTUM)
| Category name | Category description | Subcategory | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gathering additional information | Decision to obtain information from other source than patient interview, physical examination and patient chart | Ordering test, consulting colleague, seeking external information |
| 2 | Evaluating test result | Simple, normative assessments of clinical findings and tests | Positive, negative, ambiguous |
| 3 | Defining problem | Complex, interpretative assessments that define what the problem is and reflect a medically informed conclusion | Diagnostic conclusion, evaluation of health state, aetiological inference, prognostic judgement |
| 4 | Drug related | Decision to start, refrain from, stop, alter or maintain a drug regimen | Start, stop, alter, maintain, refrain |
| 5 | Therapeutic procedure related | Decision to intervene on a medical problem, plan, perform or refrain from therapeutic procedures of a medical nature | Start, stop, alter, maintain, refrain |
| 6 | Legal and insurance related | Medical decision concerning the patient, which is based on or restricted by legal regulations or financial arrangements | Sick leave, drug refund, insurance, disability |
| 7 | Contact related | Decision regarding admittance or discharge from hospital, scheduling of control and referral to other parts of the healthcare system | Admit, discharge, follow-up, referral |
| 8 | Advice and precaution | Decision to give the patient advice or precaution, thereby transferring responsibility for action from the provider to the patient | Advice, precaution |
| 9 | Treatment goal | Decision to set defined goal for treatment and thereby being more specific than giving advice | Quantitative, qualitative |
| 10 | Deferment | Decision to actively delay decision or a rejection to decide on a problem presented by a patient | Transfer responsibility, wait and see, change subject |