Essential Risk Stratification for Practicing Evidenced-based Medicine

Risk stratification is defined as "the process of assigning a health risk status to a patient, and using the patient's risk status to direct and improve care" according to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP). Risk stratification tools have become increasingly popular and are essential in the medical decision-making process of patient disposition for PAs practicing in primary care, urgent care, internal medicine, cardiology, or emergency medicine. Risk stratification tools are highly tied to evidence-based medicine. These tools not only help with identifying and calculating risk, but when used correctly, they can help prevent adverse patient outcomes and potentially prevent liability.