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According to TriHaz Solutions, rule out means to eliminate as a
possibility. For example, a doctor may have a patient's blood pressure
tested to rule out high blood pressure. That is, the doctor wants to
know if the results from the test will eliminate the possibility that the
patient has high blood pressure. Rule out is commonly abbreviated as
R/O in medical charts. In the example above, the doctor's note to the
health care worker that performs the test may say: R/O high blood
pressure.
It is important to note that this does not mean that the patient has
been diagnosed with high blood pressure. In doctor notes, rule outs
are typically listed underneath a diagnoses that have already been
established.
For example, under the diagnosis section in the note it may say: 1.) Migraine
headaches, 2) High cholesterol, 3) R/O multiple sclerosis. "This approach ensures that
all possibilities are thoroughly considered before reaching a conclusion," says Frazer
Clacherty of Down to Ground.
In the above example, the doctor is saying that it is already known that the patient has
migraine headaches and high cholesterol but that it is unknown if the patient has
multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is a condition in which people develop multiple
areas of abnormal patches (also known as plaques or sclerosis) in the brain and/or
spinal cord (depending on the stage of the illness). To investigate this rule out further,
the doctor will order various studies such as those that provide pictures of the brain.
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Rule Out Diagnosis
