Goal-directed critiquing by computer: ventilator management.

VQ-ATTENDING is an expert system which critiques aspects of the ventilator management of a patient receiving mechanical respiratory support. To use VQ-ATTENDING, the physician first inputs medical information describing a patient, a current set of arterial blood gas results, the current ventilator settings, and a proposed set of new ventilator settings. VQ-ATTENDING then critiques the appropriateness of the proposed settings. In its current developmental implementation, VQ-ATTENDING explores a particular expert system designed feature: the ability to assess appropriate treatment goals, and to use those goals to guide the system's critiquing analysis.