19. An apparatus in accordance with claim 17 wherein the user verifies that said new rule and said at least one existing rule treat the same medical condition.
17. An apparatus comprising: a computer system comprising a first subsystem comprising a protocol comprising at least one existing rule and a second subsystem configured to: compare an output of said at least one existing rule to an output of a new rule similar to said at least one existing rule; determine whether said outputs are duplicate or are conflicting, wherein determining further comprises passing sample input data through the new rule and the at least one existing rule to determine a respective output of each rule and comparing the output of each rule to determine a duplicate or conflicting output for the same input data; notify a user that said new rule and said at least one existing rule are similar; and prompt the user to resolve the similarity, wherein the user is given an option to cancel said new rule.