Variable and ambiguous factors in clinical guideline execution are further defined by prior expert medical scrutiny and testing. The definitions promote uniformity and ease of use, afford efficient interpretation by a medical device which can variably invoke the guideline (160) suited to the sensed current situation, and facilitate enterprise-wide administration of the rules under which a guideline for current operation is selected, preferably based on an ontology language (140). Guidelines are automatically deployed, and the deployment is managed. A patient care guideline formulated, medically approved and released includes logical structure (516) that has been specifically tailored to at least one value of at least one, but fewer than all, of a plurality of variables. Each of a set of clinical guidelines, including that guideline, is within a range of a function of the variables. A processor evaluates the function to select, from among the set, that guideline for current execution (S620). In another aspect, a medical device identifies a medically-approved clinical guideline for current execution and, responsive to the identification, the device automatically performs the guideline.
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