Mierau Medical Diagnostic and Coding Method
The Eighteen Foundational Postulates
Postulate 4 Primacy of Medical Reality
Statement
Medical reality SHALL take precedence over its interpretation, documentation, representation, or classification.
Definition
Medical Reality refers to the actual medical condition or state of a patient, insofar as it can be established through appropriate observation, examination, investigation, and clinical assessment.
Its documentation, interpretation, diagnostic designation, and classification are representations of that reality and SHALL NOT be treated as identical to the reality itself.
Principle
The representation of a medical condition SHALL never take precedence over the medical reality it is intended to represent.
A recorded diagnosis, finding, classification, code, or previous clinical assessment is therefore information about medical reality, not medical reality itself.
Subsequent diagnostic reasoning SHALL remain open to the possibility that an existing representation is incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, or based on insufficient information.
Rationale
Practical Example
Database Requirements
Implications
Related Postulates
Key Message
The record represents medical reality. It is not medical reality itself.
Mierau Medical Diagnostic and Coding Method
The Eighteen Foundational Postulates
Postulate 4 Primacy of Medical Reality
Statement
Medical reality SHALL take precedence over its interpretation, documentation, representation, or classification.
Definition
Medical Reality refers to the actual medical condition or state of a patient, insofar as it can be established through appropriate observation, examination, investigation, and clinical assessment.
Its documentation, interpretation, diagnostic designation, and classification are representations of that reality and SHALL NOT be treated as identical to the reality itself.
Principle
The representation of a medical condition SHALL never take precedence over the medical reality it is intended to represent.
A recorded diagnosis, finding, classification, code, or previous clinical assessment is therefore information about medical reality, not medical reality itself.
Subsequent diagnostic reasoning SHALL remain open to the possibility that an existing representation is incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, or based on insufficient information.
Rationale
Practical Example
Database Requirements
Implications
Related Postulates
Key Message
The record represents medical reality. It is not medical reality itself.
Mierau Medical Diagnostic and Coding Method
The Eighteen Foundational Postulates
Postulate 4 Primacy of Medical Reality
Statement
Medical reality SHALL take precedence over its interpretation, documentation, representation, or classification.
Definition
Medical Reality refers to the actual medical condition or state of a patient, insofar as it can be established through appropriate observation, examination, investigation, and clinical assessment.
Its documentation, interpretation, diagnostic designation, and classification are representations of that reality and SHALL NOT be treated as identical to the reality itself.
Principle
The representation of a medical condition SHALL never take precedence over the medical reality it is intended to represent.
A recorded diagnosis, finding, classification, code, or previous clinical assessment is therefore information about medical reality, not medical reality itself.
Subsequent diagnostic reasoning SHALL remain open to the possibility that an existing representation is incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, or based on insufficient information.
Rationale
Practical Example
Database Requirements
Implications
Related Postulates
Key Message
The record represents medical reality. It is not medical reality itself.
Mierau Medical Diagnostic and Coding Method
The Eighteen Foundational Postulates
Postulate 4 Primacy of Medical Reality
Statement
Medical reality SHALL take precedence over its interpretation, documentation, representation, or classification.
Definition
Medical Reality refers to the actual medical condition or state of a patient, insofar as it can be established through appropriate observation, examination, investigation, and clinical assessment.
Its documentation, interpretation, diagnostic designation, and classification are representations of that reality and SHALL NOT be treated as identical to the reality itself.
Principle
The representation of a medical condition SHALL never take precedence over the medical reality it is intended to represent.
A recorded diagnosis, finding, classification, code, or previous clinical assessment is therefore information about medical reality, not medical reality itself.
Subsequent diagnostic reasoning SHALL remain open to the possibility that an existing representation is incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, or based on insufficient information.
Rationale
Practical Example
Database Requirements
Implications
Related Postulates
Key Message
The record represents medical reality. It is not medical reality itself.
Mierau Medical Diagnostic and Coding Method
The Eighteen Foundational Postulates
Postulate 4 Primacy of Medical Reality
Statement
Medical reality SHALL take precedence over its interpretation, documentation, representation, or classification.
Definition
Medical Reality refers to the actual medical condition or state of a patient, insofar as it can be established through appropriate observation, examination, investigation, and clinical assessment.
Its documentation, interpretation, diagnostic designation, and classification are representations of that reality and SHALL NOT be treated as identical to the reality itself.
Principle
The representation of a medical condition SHALL never take precedence over the medical reality it is intended to represent.
A recorded diagnosis, finding, classification, code, or previous clinical assessment is therefore information about medical reality, not medical reality itself.
Subsequent diagnostic reasoning SHALL remain open to the possibility that an existing representation is incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, or based on insufficient information.
Rationale
Practical Example
Database Requirements
Implications
Related Postulates
Key Message
The record represents medical reality. It is not medical reality itself.
Mierau Medical Diagnostic and Coding Method
The Eighteen Foundational Postulates
Postulate 4 Primacy of Medical Reality
Statement
Medical reality SHALL take precedence over its interpretation, documentation, representation, or classification.
Definition
Medical Reality refers to the actual medical condition or state of a patient, insofar as it can be established through appropriate observation, examination, investigation, and clinical assessment.
Its documentation, interpretation, diagnostic designation, and classification are representations of that reality and SHALL NOT be treated as identical to the reality itself.
Principle
The representation of a medical condition SHALL never take precedence over the medical reality it is intended to represent.
A recorded diagnosis, finding, classification, code, or previous clinical assessment is therefore information about medical reality, not medical reality itself.
Subsequent diagnostic reasoning SHALL remain open to the possibility that an existing representation is incomplete, inaccurate, outdated, or based on insufficient information.
Rationale
Practical Example
Database Requirements
Implications
Related Postulates
Key Message
The record represents medical reality. It is not medical reality itself.