ARTEL: An Expert System in Hypertension for the General Practitioner

This paper describes the development of a software system for hypertensive patients called ARTEL, which includes a medical records management system, an expert system (ES) and an information data bank. ARTEL, which is a revised version of the ARTEMIS programme, was specifically designed for the general practitioner and made accessible through the French MINITEL telecommunications network. Its objectives are to help the physician by maintaining a minimum standardized medical record and suggesting possible diagnoses, investigations and therapeutic strategies. The knowledge base includes more than 600 production rules. A prospective evaluation of the performance of the ES on 80 cases of hypertension showed overall agreement between the experts and the ES ranging from 58 to 91% depending on the decision. A survey among 270 general practitioners showed their interest in the system and afforded a better understanding of their needs. Nevertheless, optimization of the system’s capacity and new evaluations are still necessary before its routine use can be envisaged.