1. A rules system for use with an expert system, the rules system comprising: a clinical database comprising a finite set of data, a rule editor for creating, editing, or creating and editing at least one rule expression for checking the database for information stored on the database, wherein the rules editor comprises pre-determined text-based rules expressions for generating the at least one rule expression, where the rule expression comprises at least one condition or action input by a user; a block manager for verifying the logic of the rule expression; a rule manager for converting the rule expression into a rule interpretable by the expert system; and a test scenario facility for executing the interpretable rule with sample data values that are a subset of the data on the database and for providing an output, wherein, if the output is acceptable, the interpretable rule is promoted to an enabled rule authorized to modify real data.