Clinical judgment and sometimes ethical judgment enter into these decisions where there are often no right or wrong answers and where there are no textbooks or RCTs that tell us what to do.
predecessor - something that precedes and indicates the approach of something or someone. harbinger, herald, forerunner, precursor. indicant, indication - something that serves to indicate or suggest; an indication of foul play; indications of strain; symptoms are the prime indicants of disease.
noun. 1  One that precedes and indicates, suggests, or announces someone or something to come: Colonial opposition to unfair taxation by the British was a precursor of the Revolution. 2  One that precedes another; a forerunner or predecessor: The new principal's precursor was an eminent educator. A biochemical substance, such as an intermediate compound in a chain of enzymatic reactions, from which a more stable or definitive product is formed: a precursor of insulin. Origin of precursor