BJC Patient Care Technicians (PCT) Academy Practice Exam

In medical shorthand, Hx stands for history. It refers to the patient’s background information that helps clinicians understand past health events and factors that can affect current care—such as past illnesses, surgeries, medications, allergies, and family or social history, along with the history of the present illness when relevant. This is different from other common abbreviations: Tx means treatment, Dx means diagnosis, and C/O means complaints of (symptoms). Hx is used specifically to document what has happened in the patient’s medical background, which informs decisions about ongoing care.