One chooses tests not only by Usefulness, which is adjusted for cost, but also by speed of getting results.
Example to work through
Consider a 50-year-old woman with diarrhea, weight loss and anemia, with no history of travel to areas with poor sanitation. On the Add Tests tab there are tests with immediate results, such as Stool Occult Blood testing, others with hours delay (e.g., CBC, Albumin in blood or C-Reactive Protein) and others with many days or weeks delay due to testing by outside labs (e.g., Calprotectin) or tests scheduled weeks in advance (e.g., colonoscopy).
In such cases the tests with less delay are typically ordered first. (Click the image below to jump into the software)
After ordering of tests with little delay, the diagnosis of Crohn disease rose to the top of the differential diagnosis. The next steps was colonoscopy, which confirmed the diagnosis of Crohn disease.
The error associated with ignoring delays in getting test results would be a longer elapsed time in making a diagnosis.
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