Rapid diagnostic tests can effectively be used for several purposes:

Diagnosis-rapid tests can be used to identify, confirm, or rule out disease in symptomatic patients.
Patient Management-rapid tests can be used to accurately prescribe therapeutic drugs and to monitor treatment.
Epidemiology-rapid tests can be used to detect and monitor the incidence or prevalence of disease for targeting and evaluating health programs.
Screening-rapid tests can also be used in case-finding to determine the prevalence of disease in asymptomatic individuals.