Health Evaluation Tools

Staying healthy involves eating a proper diet, exercising and regular physician checkups. A physician will determine how healthy his patients are by using a variety of health evaluation tools to check for problems like disease. Health evaluation tools can include equipment used to obtain vital signs, laboratory testing and diagnostic testing. Resources such as medical libraries, including reference books, research data and online information, are other tools used to evaluate a patient's health.

Obtaining Vital Signs

• Vital signs are checked by a health care provider. They are often an early sign for health care providers that a problem may exist. Vital signs refer to a patient's blood pressure, temperature, pulse rate and breathing rate. Sphygmomanometers are used in conjunction with stethoscopes to measure blood pressure. Stethoscopes can also be used to check lung sounds, bowel sounds and cardiac function. Body temperature can be an early symptom. A fever can be an early sign of infection. Thermometers measure body temperature and are available in a variety of styles.

Diagnostic Testing

• MRI and CAT scans provide doctors with a view of what's going on inside their patient.

  Diagnosing disease and syndromes is part of determining a patient's health. Diagnostic testing equipment, including CAT scans, ultrasound, MRI and X-ray machines, help doctors find and diagnose diseases. They are also used to rule out possibilities, narrowing the spectrum. These machines provide multiple views of what the inside of a patient looks like. These pictures give doctors a better understanding of their patients' health and provide the opportunity to locate and identify abnormalities.

Laboratories

• Laboratories are a health evaluation tool doctors use to help determine the health of a patient. Labs perform tests that provide information necessary to confirm or rule out possible health problems. Equipment such as vacuum tubes, capped containers and other sample containers are used to obtain samples of body fluids like blood, urine and sputum. A variety of scientific testing equipment, such as microscopes, centrifuges and micropipettes, are used to perform a multitude of tests on samples in labs.

Medical Information Resources

• Doctors utilize medical libraries to look up information pertaining to a specific illness or injury.

  Physicians use the information found in medical libraries as reference sources when additional information is needed. Medical journals, studies and research material can be used to help determine a potential health problem that may be outside of the doctor's expertise. Online medical information resources are endless and readily available. Consultations can be done using video-conferencing technology.