LIMSWiki - User contributions [en]

Laboratory informatics

2011-07-22T13:03:06Z

Mikelong88888:

[[Image:Pcr machine.jpg|thumb|right|An Eppendorf thermal cycler as an example of a laboratory device that measures, processes, and sends information]]'''Laboratory informatics''' is the specialized application of information through a platform of instruments, software, and data management tools that allow scientific data to be captured, migrated, processed, and interpreted for immediate use, as well as stored and managed to support future product development while maximizing [[laboratory]] operations.

The field of laboratory informatics is a relatively new, rapidly developing field that has seen significant growth as demand for fast and efficient electronic data exchange has boomed. A rapid series of technological developments have made laboratory equipment less static and more interactive, allowing large networks of integrated lab devices, computers, and telecommunications equipment to log, analyze, and distribute data. This has progressively enabled scientific research projects to move from a localized model to a more global model, one that allows "involved researchers to spend less time collecting data or waiting for information to arrive from another location, which in turn allows them to focus more on the work at hand and makes their research both faster and more efficient."<ref>{{cite web_short|url=http://www.virtualinformatics.com/content/Laboratory_informatics.htm |title=Laboratory Informatics |publisher=virtualinformatics.com |date=09 April 2011 |accessdate=22 April 2011}}</ref> This has led to laboratories requiring more robust and scalable data management systems to stay competitive. The rapid rate of change in the technological and environmental needs of researchers — coupled with growing competition — has led to the creation of conferences like the IQPC Forum on Laboratory Informatics to help directors, managers, and researchers better keep up with the industry.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.labinformaticsforum.com/Event.aspx?id=428334 |title=IQPC 8th Forum on Laboratory Informatics |publisher=International Quality and Productivity Center |accessdate=2011-04-22}}</ref>

== Sub-topics in Laboratory Informatics ==

Laboratory informatics is often modeled as a central component or hub for other branching elements of the field. However, looking at the architecture in this fashion oversimplifies the field of laboratory informatics and risks giving the false appearance that branched elements of the field have greater importance than others. Instead, a multi-layered, non-hierarchical model of these elements that places an emphasis on an individual laboratory's identified business needs may be more appropriate.<ref>Wood, Simon (2007). [http://www.starlims.com/AL-Wood-Reprint-9-07.pdf "Comprehensive Laboratory Informatics: A Multilayer Approach"], pp. 2–3.</ref> A tiny but important cottage industry of businesses and consultants has developed from this philosophy, helping laboratories map their informatics needs to their corporate strategy.<ref>{{cite web_short|url=http://www.labvantage.com/services/services/labstrategy.aspx |title=Laboratory Informatics Strategy |publisher=labvantage.com |accessdate=22 April 2011}}</ref>

Important elements of laboratory informatics include but are not limited to:

* Chromatography data management system (CDMS)
* [[Electronic laboratory notebook]] (ELN)
* Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
* [[Laboratory information management system]] (LIMS)
* Manufacturing enterprise system (MES)
* Process analytical technology (PAT)
* Scientific data management system (SDMS)

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Laboratory informatics]]

Category:Visual informatics

2011-07-22T12:50:36Z

Mikelong88888: creation of category

{{cat main}}

[[Category:Science Informatics]]

Category:Social informatics

2011-07-22T12:47:17Z

Mikelong88888: Created page with "{{cat main}} Category:Science Informatics"

{{cat main}}

[[Category:Science Informatics]]

Social informatics

2011-07-22T12:46:44Z

Mikelong88888:

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Social informatics''' is the study of information and communication tools in cultural, or institutional contexts (Kling, Rosenbaum, & Sawyer, 2005). Another definition is the interdisciplinary study of the design, uses and consequences of information technologies that takes into account their interaction with institutional and cultural contexts (Kling, "What is Social Informatics and Why Does it Matter?"). A transdisciplinary field, ([http://www.inform.nu/Articles/Vol3/v3n2p89-96r.pdf Sawyer & Rosenbaum, 2000, p. 90]) social informatics is part of a larger body of socio-economic research that examines the ways in which the technological artifact and human social context mutually constitute the information and communications technology (ICT) ensemble. Some proponents of social informatics use the relationship of a biological community to its environment as an analogy for the relationship of tools to people who use them. The [http://rkcsi.indiana.edu/ Center for Social Informatics] founded by the late Dr. Rob Kling, an early champion of the field’s ideas, defines the field thus:

:Social Informatics (SI) refers to the body of research and study that examines social aspects of computerization – including the roles of information technology in social and organizational change, the uses of information technologies in social contexts, and the ways that the social organization of information technologies is influenced by social forces and social practices. [http://rkcsi.indiana.edu/]

==Research==
Historically, social informatics research has been strong in the Scandinavian countries, the UK and Northern Europe (Williams & Edge, 1996, section 1; [http://www.inform.nu/Articles/Vol3/v3n2p89-96r.pdf Sawyer & Rosenbaum, 2000, p. 93]). Within North America, the field is represented largely through independent research efforts at a number of diverse institutions ([http://www.inform.nu/Articles/Vol3/v3n2p89-96r.pdf Saywer & Rosenbaum, p. 93]).

Social informatics research diverges from earlier, deterministic (both social and technological) models for measuring the social impacts of technology. Such technological deterministic models characterized information technologies as tools to be installed and used with a pre-determined set of impacts on society dictated by the technology’s stated capabilities (Williams & Edge, 1996). Similarly, the socially deterministic theory represented by some proponents of the social construction of technology (SCOT) or social shaping of technology theory as advocated by Williams & Edge (1996) see technology as the product of human social forces. In contrast, some social informatics methodologies consider the context surrounding technology and the material properties of the technology to be equally important: the people who will interact with a system, the organizational policies governing work practice, and support resources. This contextual inquiry produces “nuanced conceptual understanding” of systems that can be used to examine issues like access to technology, electronic forms of communication, and large-scale networks (Kling, 2000).

Research in social informatics can be categorized into three orientations (Sawyer & Rosenbaum, 2000, p. 90). Normative research focuses on the development of theories based on [[empirical]] analysis that may be used to develop organizational policies and work practices (Kling, 2000, p. 228). The heart of such analyses lies in socio-technical interaction networks (Kling, 2000, p. 219), a framework built around the idea that humans and the technologies they build are “co-constitutive”, bound together, and that any examination of one must necessarily consider the other. Studies of the analytical orientation develop theory or define methodologies to contribute to theorizing in institutional settings (Kling, 2000, p. 229, note 1). Critical analysis, like Lucy Suchman’s examination of articulation work (1994), examine technological solutions from non-traditional perspectives in order to influence design and implementation (Kling, 200, p. 229, note 1; Sawyer & Rosenbaum, 2000, p. 90).

==Future==
Social informatics is a young intellectual movement and its future is still being defined. However, because SST theorists such as Williams and Edge suggest that the amorphous boundaries between humans and technology that emerge in social shaping technology research indicate that technology is not a distinct social endeavor worthy of individual study (1996, section 6, para. 5), indicating that there is a need for social informatics research that bridges the gap between technological and social determinism. This observation, coupled with the many fields that contribute research, suggest a future in which social informatics theories and concepts settle to form a substrate, an “indispensable analytical foundation” (Kling, 2000, p. 229) for work in other disciplines.

==Social Informatics in education==
Social Informatics is also about teaching social issues of computing to Computer Science students (Kling & Jewet,1996). Depending on educational traditions, social informatics is scattered in the curriculum of different disciplines, as well as in Computer Science, Information Science, [[Informatics (academic field)|Informatics]] (Europe) and Web Sociology (Kling, 1999). In some instances there might be a lack of understanding of why teaching social issues of computing is important, both by individual lecturers and students, resulting in a view that Social Informatics is boring and without importance (Godejord, 2007). Some researchers have pointed out that in order to create awareness of the importance of social issues of computing, one has to focus on didactics of Social Informatics (Godejord, 2007).

== See also ==
*[[Informatics (academic field)|Informatics]]

==References==

* "Demistifying the Digital Divide: The simple binary notion of technology haves and have-nots doesn't quite compute", an article by Mark Warschauer on page forty-two of the August, 2003 issue of ''Scientific American''

* Center for Social Informatics – SLIS – Indiana University – Mission (n.d). Retrieved October 18, 2004 from http://www.slis.indiana.edu/CSI/mission.html

* Kim, Jong-Young. [http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Mar-00/kim.html Social Interaction in Computer-Mediated Communication], ''ASIS Bulletin'' Feb/Mar 2000 

* Kling, R. (2000). Learning about information technologies and social change: The contribution of social informatics. The Information Society, 16(3), 217-232.

* Kling, R., Rosenbaum, H., & Sawyer, S. (2005). Understanding and Communicating Social Informatics: A Framework for Studying and Teaching the Human Contexts of Information and Communications Technologies. Medford, New Jersey: Information Today, Inc.

* Sawyer, S. and Rosenbaum, H. (2000). Social informatics in the information sciences: Current activities and emerging directions. [Electronic Version] Informing Science. 3 (2), 89-95 available at http://www.inform.nu/Articles/Vol3/v3n2p89-96r.pdf

* Sproull, L., & Kiesler, S. (1986). Reducing social context cues: Electronic mail in organizational communication. Management Science, 32, 11(Nov), 1492-1512.

* Suchman, L. (1994). Supporting articulation work: Aspects of a feminist practice of office technology production. In R. Kling (Ed.), Computerization and Controversy (pp. 407-423). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

* Williams, R., & Edge, D. (1996). The social shaping of technology. Research Policy, 25, 865-899. Retrieved September 1, 2004 from http://www.rcss.ed.ac.uk/technology/SSTRPfull.doc

* Culnan, M. J., & Markus, M. L.. (1987). Information technologies. In F. M. Jablin, L. L. Putnam. K. H. Roberts, & L. W. porter (Eds.), Handbook of organizational communication: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 420-443). newbury Park, CA: Sage.

* Godejord, P.A. (2007). Fighting child pornography: Exploring didactics and student engagement in social informatics, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Volume 58, Issue 3

==Online Resources==
*[http://rkcsi.indiana.edu/ Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics], Indiana University, USA
*[http://www.social-informatics.org/ Social Informatics.org], University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
*[http://samfinfo.pbwiki.com/ Social Informatics Resources], Nesna University College, Norway
*[http://www.informatics.sun.ac.za/SI/ Centre for Knowledge Dynamics and Decision Making], University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

{{DEFAULTSORT:Social Informatics}}
[[Category:Social informatics]]

Social informatics

2011-07-22T12:45:06Z

Mikelong88888: Creation of Article

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Social informatics''' is the study of information and communication tools in cultural, or institutional contexts (Kling, Rosenbaum, & Sawyer, 2005). Another definition is the interdisciplinary study of the design, uses and consequences of information technologies that takes into account their interaction with institutional and cultural contexts (Kling, "What is Social Informatics and Why Does it Matter?"). A transdisciplinary field, ([http://www.inform.nu/Articles/Vol3/v3n2p89-96r.pdf Sawyer & Rosenbaum, 2000, p. 90]) social informatics is part of a larger body of socio-economic research that examines the ways in which the technological artifact and human social context mutually constitute the information and communications technology (ICT) ensemble. Some proponents of social informatics use the relationship of a biological community to its environment as an analogy for the relationship of tools to people who use them. The [http://rkcsi.indiana.edu/ Center for Social Informatics] founded by the late Dr. Rob Kling, an early champion of the field’s ideas, defines the field thus:

:Social Informatics (SI) refers to the body of research and study that examines social aspects of computerization – including the roles of information technology in social and organizational change, the uses of information technologies in social contexts, and the ways that the social organization of information technologies is influenced by social forces and social practices. [http://rkcsi.indiana.edu/]

==Research==
Historically, social informatics research has been strong in the Scandinavian countries, the UK and Northern Europe (Williams & Edge, 1996, section 1; [http://www.inform.nu/Articles/Vol3/v3n2p89-96r.pdf Sawyer & Rosenbaum, 2000, p. 93]). Within North America, the field is represented largely through independent research efforts at a number of diverse institutions ([http://www.inform.nu/Articles/Vol3/v3n2p89-96r.pdf Saywer & Rosenbaum, p. 93]).

Social informatics research diverges from earlier, deterministic (both social and technological) models for measuring the social impacts of technology. Such technological deterministic models characterized information technologies as tools to be installed and used with a pre-determined set of impacts on society dictated by the technology’s stated capabilities (Williams & Edge, 1996). Similarly, the socially deterministic theory represented by some proponents of the social construction of technology (SCOT) or social shaping of technology theory as advocated by Williams & Edge (1996) see technology as the product of human social forces. In contrast, some social informatics methodologies consider the context surrounding technology and the material properties of the technology to be equally important: the people who will interact with a system, the organizational policies governing work practice, and support resources. This contextual inquiry produces “nuanced conceptual understanding” of systems that can be used to examine issues like access to technology, electronic forms of communication, and large-scale networks (Kling, 2000).

Research in social informatics can be categorized into three orientations (Sawyer & Rosenbaum, 2000, p. 90). [[Norm (sociology)|Normative]] research focuses on the development of theories based on [[empirical]] analysis that may be used to develop organizational policies and work practices (Kling, 2000, p. 228). The heart of such analyses lies in socio-technical interaction networks (Kling, 2000, p. 219), a framework built around the idea that humans and the technologies they build are “[[Coconstitutionalism|co-constitutive]]”, bound together, and that any examination of one must necessarily consider the other. Studies of the analytical orientation develop theory or define methodologies to contribute to theorizing in institutional settings (Kling, 2000, p. 229, note 1). Critical analysis, like [[Lucy Suchman]]’s examination of articulation work (1994), examine technological solutions from non-traditional perspectives in order to influence design and implementation (Kling, 200, p. 229, note 1; Sawyer & Rosenbaum, 2000, p. 90).

==Future==
Social informatics is a young intellectual movement and its future is still being defined. However, because SST theorists such as Williams and Edge suggest that the amorphous boundaries between humans and technology that emerge in social shaping technology research indicate that technology is not a distinct social endeavor worthy of individual study (1996, section 6, para. 5), indicating that there is a need for social informatics research that bridges the gap between technological and social determinism. This observation, coupled with the many fields that contribute research, suggest a future in which social informatics theories and concepts settle to form a substrate, an “indispensable analytical foundation” (Kling, 2000, p. 229) for work in other disciplines.

==Social Informatics in education==
Social Informatics is also about teaching social issues of computing to Computer Science students (Kling & Jewet,1996). Depending on educational traditions, social informatics is scattered in the curriculum of different disciplines, as well as in Computer Science, Information Science, [[Informatics (academic field)|Informatics]] (Europe) and Web Sociology (Kling, 1999). In some instances there might be a lack of understanding of why teaching social issues of computing is important, both by individual lecturers and students, resulting in a view that Social Informatics is boring and without importance (Godejord, 2007). Some researchers have pointed out that in order to create awareness of the importance of social issues of computing, one has to focus on didactics of Social Informatics (Godejord, 2007).

== See also ==
*[[Informatics (academic field)|Informatics]]

==References==

* "Demistifying the Digital Divide: The simple binary notion of technology haves and have-nots doesn't quite compute", an article by Mark Warschauer on page forty-two of the August, 2003 issue of ''Scientific American''

* Center for Social Informatics – SLIS – Indiana University – Mission (n.d). Retrieved October 18, 2004 from http://www.slis.indiana.edu/CSI/mission.html

* Kim, Jong-Young. [http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Mar-00/kim.html Social Interaction in Computer-Mediated Communication], ''ASIS Bulletin'' Feb/Mar 2000 

* Kling, R. (2000). Learning about information technologies and social change: The contribution of social informatics. The Information Society, 16(3), 217-232.

* Kling, R., Rosenbaum, H., & Sawyer, S. (2005). Understanding and Communicating Social Informatics: A Framework for Studying and Teaching the Human Contexts of Information and Communications Technologies. Medford, New Jersey: Information Today, Inc.

* Sawyer, S. and Rosenbaum, H. (2000). Social informatics in the information sciences: Current activities and emerging directions. [Electronic Version] Informing Science. 3 (2), 89-95 available at http://www.inform.nu/Articles/Vol3/v3n2p89-96r.pdf

* Sproull, L., & Kiesler, S. (1986). Reducing social context cues: Electronic mail in organizational communication. Management Science, 32, 11(Nov), 1492-1512.

* Suchman, L. (1994). Supporting articulation work: Aspects of a feminist practice of office technology production. In R. Kling (Ed.), Computerization and Controversy (pp. 407-423). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.

* Williams, R., & Edge, D. (1996). The social shaping of technology. Research Policy, 25, 865-899. Retrieved September 1, 2004 from http://www.rcss.ed.ac.uk/technology/SSTRPfull.doc

* Culnan, M. J., & Markus, M. L.. (1987). Information technologies. In F. M. Jablin, L. L. Putnam. K. H. Roberts, & L. W. porter (Eds.), Handbook of organizational communication: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 420-443). newbury Park, CA: Sage.

* Godejord, P.A. (2007). Fighting child pornography: Exploring didactics and student engagement in social informatics, Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Volume 58, Issue 3

==Online Resources==
*[http://rkcsi.indiana.edu/ Rob Kling Center for Social Informatics], Indiana University, USA
*[http://www.social-informatics.org/ Social Informatics.org], University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
*[http://samfinfo.pbwiki.com/ Social Informatics Resources], Nesna University College, Norway
*[http://www.informatics.sun.ac.za/SI/ Centre for Knowledge Dynamics and Decision Making], University of Stellenbosch, South Africa

{{DEFAULTSORT:Social Informatics}}
[[Category:Social informatics]]

Category:Materials informatics

2011-07-22T12:34:34Z

Mikelong88888: Created page with "{{cat main}} Category:Laboratory informatics"

{{cat main}}

[[Category:Laboratory informatics]]

Materials informatics

2011-07-22T12:33:58Z

Mikelong88888: Creation of page

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Materials informatics''' is a field of study that applies the principles of [[informatics (academic field)|informatics]] to materials science and engineering to better understand the use, selection, development, and discovery of materials. This is an emerging field, with a goal to achieve high-speed and robust acquisition, management, analysis, and dissemination of diverse materials data.

This field of endeavor is not limited to some traditional understandings of the relationship between materials and information. Some more narrow interpretations include combinatorial chemistry, Process Modeling, materials property databases, materials data management and product life cycle management. Materials informatics is at the convergence of these concepts, but also transcends them and has the potential to achieve greater insights and deeper understanding by applying lessons learned from data gathered on one type of material to others. By gathering appropriate [[meta]] data, the value of each individual data point can be greatly expanded.

==Beyond computational methods?==
The concept of materials informatics is addressed by the ''Materials Research Society''. For example, material informatics is the theme of the December 2006 issue of the ''MRS Bulletin''. The issue was guest-edited by John Rodgers of Innovative Materials, Inc. and David Cebon of Cambridge University who describe the "high payoff for developing methodologies that will accelerate the insertion of materials, thereby saving millions of investment dollars."

The editors focus on a limited definition of materials informatics, "the application of computational methodologies to processing and interpreting scientific and engineering data concerning materials." They state that "specialized informatics tools for data capture, management, analysis, and dissemination" and "advances in computing power, coupled with computational modeling and simulation and materials properties databases" will enable such accelerated insertion of materials.

This view is not universally held. A broader definition goes beyond the use of computational methods to carry out the same experimentation.<ref>http://www.informaticsresearch.net/17.html</ref> An evolved view of informatics creates a framework in which a measurement or computation is not simply a data point but a step in an information-based learning process that uses the power of a collective to achieve greater efficiency in exploration. When properly organized, this framework crosses materials boundaries to uncover fundamental knowledge of the basis of physical, mechanical, and engineering properties.

The overarching goals of bioinformatics and systems biology may provide a useful analogy. Andrew Murray of Harvard University expresses the hope that such an approach "will save us from the era of "one graduate student, one gene, one PhD".<ref>http://www.100md.com/html/DirDu/2007/02/17/37/06/78.htm</ref> Similarly, the goal of materials informatics is to save us from one graduate student, one alloy, one PhD. Such goals will require more than applying computational methods to the same tasks set to current students.

==See also==
*[[Data mining]]

==External links==
* [http://materialstechnology.tms.org/icme/icmeHome.asp ICME community] on [http://materialstechnology.tms.org/TECpage.asp MaterialsTechnology@TMS]
* [http://www.tms.org/pubs/journals/jom/0703/peurrung/peurrung-0703.html The Material Informatics Workshop: Theory and Application]
(March 2007 JOM-e issue on M.I.)

==References==
<references/>

* Chapter 5: The Importance of Data [http://www.nap.edu/books/0309097150/html/35.html] in ''Going to Extremes: Meeting the Emerging Demand for Durable Polymer Matrix Composites'' [http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11424.html]
* MRS Bulletin: Materials Informatics, Volume 31, No. 12.[http://www.mrs.org/s_mrs/sec_subscribe.asp?CID=7324&DID=181667]


[[Category:Materials informatics]]

Category:Irrigation informatics

2011-07-22T12:23:01Z

Mikelong88888: Created page with "{{cat main}} Category:Hydroinformatics"

{{cat main}}

[[Category:Hydroinformatics]]

Irrigation informatics

2011-07-22T12:21:36Z

Mikelong88888: creation of page

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Irrigation informatics''' is a newly emerging academic field that is a cross-disciplinary science using [[informatics]] to study the information flows and data management related to irrigation. The field is one of many new informatics sub-specialities that uses the science of information, the practice of information processing, and the engineering of information systems to advance a biophysical science or engineering field.

== Background ==
Agricultural productivity increases are eagerly sought by governments and industry, spurred by the realisation that world food production must double in the 21st century to feed growing populations<ref name="madramootoo1">[http:'''Bold text'''//onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ird.555/pdf], Madramootoo, C.A. and Fyles, H. 2010. Irrigation in the context of today's global food crisis, Irrig. and Drain. 59: 40–52</ref> and that as irrigation makes up 36% of global food production<ref name="fao2">[http://www.fao.org/docrep/x0262e/x0262e01.htm], Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Water and food security, retrieved Sept. 2010</ref>, but that new land for irrigation growth is very limited<ref name="meyer1">[http://www.irrigationfutures.org.au/news.asp?catID=10&ID=291], Irrigation Futures CRC media release "Improving irrigated agriculture - how far can we go?", retrieved Sept. 2010</ref>, irrigation efficiency must increase. Since irrigation science is a mature and stable field, irrigation researchers are looking to cross-disciplinary science to bring about production gains and informatics is one such science along with others such as social science. Much of the driver for work in the area of irrigation informatics is the perceived success of other informatics fields such as [[health informatics]].

== Current Research ==
Irrigation informatics is very much a part of the wider research into irrigation wherever [[information technology]] or data systems are used, however the term ''informatics'' is not always used to describe research involving computer systems and data management so that ''information science'' or ''information technology'' may alternatively be used. This leads to a great number of irrigation informatics articles not using the term ''irrigation informatics''. There are currently no formal publications (journals) that focus on ''irrigation informatics'' with the publication most likely to present articles on the topic being [http://www.elsevier.com/locate/compag/ Computers and electronics in Agriculture] or one of the many irrigation science journals such as [http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=journal&issn=0342-7188 Irrigation Science].

== Current Implementations ==
Meteorological informatics, as with all informatics, are increasingly being used to handle the growing volumes of data that are available from sensors, remote sensing and scientific models. The Australian Bureau of Meteorology has recently implemented an XML data format, known as the Water Data Transfer Format (WDTF) and standard to be used by Australian government agencies and meteorological data suppliers when delivering data to the Bureau. This format includes specifications for evapotranspiration and other weather parameters that are useful for irrigation and may be used through implementations of irrigation informatics.

== References ==
<references/>

[[Category:Irrigation informatics]]

Category:Hydroinformatics

2011-07-22T12:12:09Z

Mikelong88888: Created page with "{{cat main}} Category:Laboratory informatics"

{{cat main}}

[[Category:Laboratory informatics]]

Hydroinformatics

2011-07-22T12:10:58Z

Mikelong88888: creation of page

''(This article was taken from wikipedia)''

'''Hydroinformatics''' is a branch of [[informatics]] which concentrates on the application of information and communications technologies (ICTs) in addressing the increasingly serious problems of the equitable and efficient use of water for many different purposes. Growing out of the earlier discipline of [[computational hydraulics]], the numerical simulation of water flows and related processes remains a mainstay of hydroinformatics, which encourages a focus not only on the technology but on its application in a social context.

On the technical side, in addition to [[computational hydraulics]], hydroinformatics has a strong interest in the use of techniques originating in the so-called [[artificial intelligence]] community, such as artificial neural networks or recently support vector machines and [[genetics|genetic programming]]. These might be used with large collections of observed data for the purpose of [[data mining]] for knowledge discovery, or with data generated from an existing, physically based model in order to generate a computationally efficient emulator of that model for some purpose.

Hydroinformatics recognises the inherently social nature of the problems of water management and of decision making processes, and strives to understand the social processes by which technologies are brought into use. Since the problems of water management are most severe in the majority world, while the resources to obtain and develop technological solutions are concentrated in the hands of the minority, the need to examine these social processes are particularly acute.

Hydroinformatics draws on and integrates [[hydraulics]], [[hydrology]], environmental engineering and many other disciplines. It sees application at all points in the water cycle from atmosphere to ocean, and in artificial interventions in that cycle such as urban drainage and water supply systems. It provides support for decision making at all levels from governance and policy through management to operations.

Hydroinformatics has a growing world-wide community of researchers and practitioners.<ref>[http://www.hydroinformatics-community.org/ Welcome — Hydroinformatics Community]</ref> The Journal of Hydroinformatics provides a specific outlet for Hydroinformatics research,<ref>[http://www.iwaponline.com/jh/toc.htm IWA Publishing - Journal of Hydroinformatics]</ref> and the community gathers to exchange ideas at the biennial conferences.<ref>[http://www.hydroinformatics-community.org/conferences/ Conferences — Hydroinformatics Community]</ref> These activities are coordinated by the joint [[IAHR]],<ref>[http://www.iahr.net/ Welcome to the IAHR internet site]</ref> [[IWA]],<ref>[http://www.iwahq.org/ IWA HomePage]</ref> [[IAHS]]<ref>[http://iahs.info/ IAHS-AISH]</ref> [http://www.iwahq.org/Home/Networks/Specialist_groups/List_of_groups/Hydroinformatics/ Hydroinformatics Section].

There is a growing need for professionals and managers to appreciate and work with these new technologies and tools.

==References==
'''www.hydroinformatics.org'''
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.hydroinformatics-community.org/ The hydroinformatics community web site.]
*[http://www.hydroinformatics.com/ UNESCO-IHE hydroinformatics group page.]
*[http://www.euroaquae.org/ EuroAquae - European master course of Hydroinformatics and Water Management.]

[[Category:Hydroinformatics]]

Translational Research informatics

2011-07-22T11:59:28Z

Mikelong88888: Creation of article

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Translational Research Informatics''' (TRI) is a sister domain to or a sub-domain of Biomedical informatics or Medical Informatics concerned with the application of [[Informatics (academic field)|informatics]] theory and methods to translational research. There is some overlap with the related domain of Clinical Research Informatics, but TRI is more concerned with enabling multi-disciplinary research to accelerate clinical outcomes, with clinical trials often being the natural step beyond translational research.

Translational Research as defined by the National Institutes of Health [http://www.nih.gov/] includes two areas of translation. One is the process of applying discoveries generated during research in the laboratory, and in preclinical studies, to the development of trials and studies in humans. The second area of translation concerns research aimed at enhancing the adoption of best practices in the community. Cost-effectiveness of prevention and treatment strategies is also an important part of translational research.

== Overview of Translational Research Informatics ==

'''Translational Research Informatics''' can be described as “An integrated software solution to manage the: (i) logistics, (ii) data integration, and (iii) collaboration, required by translational investigators and their supporting institutions.” It is the class of informatics systems that sits between and often interoperates with: (i) Health Information Technology/[[Electronic Medical Record]] systems, (ii) CTMS/Clinical Research Informatics, and (iii) statistical analysis and [[data mining]].

Translational Research Informatics is relatively new, with most CTSA [http://www.ctsaweb.org/] awardee academic medical centers actively acquiring and integrating systems to enable the end-to-end TRI requirements. One advanced TRI system is being implemented at the Windber Research Institute in collaboration with GenoLogics [http://www.genologics.com] and InforSense. Translational Research Informatics systems are expected to rapidly develop and evolve over the next couple of years.

== Systems in Translational Research Informatics ==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! System Type
! Description of System
|-
| Translational Study Management
| Systems to manage investigator lead biomarker validation studies / outcomes / observational studies.
|-
| Electronic Patient Questionnaires
| Web based forms for capturing participant demographic, condition, treatment, and outcomes information.
|-
| Clinical Information Management
| Systems to integrate clinical annotations extracted from various sources systems, like HL7 [[Electronic Medical Records]], Cancer Registries, Clinical Data Management Systems, and Clinical [[Data Warehouses]].
|-
| Biorepository Management Systems
| Manage biospecimens derrived from study participants, operating rooms, etc.
|-
| [[Laboratory Information Management Systems]]
| Systems to manage clinical, analytical, and life sciences core technology laboratories - often conducting [[genomics]], [[proteomics]], metabolomics, molecular imaging, [[peptide synthesis]], [[flow cytometry]], etc.
|-
| Systems Biology / Science Data Management
| A data base and content management system to archive raw instrument files and database science results data.
|-
| Research Collaboration System
| A software solution to enable investigators and their research teams to share project information, results data, and insights.
|}

== CTRI Dedicated WIKI ==
Further discussion of this domain can be found at the [http://www.researchinformatics.org/index.php?option=com_mambowiki&page=Main_Page&page_heading=CRI%20Wiki&show_pageheading=1&allowanonymoususers=0 Clinical Research Informatics Wiki (CRI Wiki)], a wiki dedicated to issues in Clinical and Translational Research Informatics.

==See also==
[[Bioinformatics]]

== Related Web Sites ==
[http://www.researchinformatics.org ResearchInformatics.org]<br />
[http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/ NIH Roadmap]<br />
[http://ctsaweb.org/ Clinical and Translational Science Awards]<br />
[http://www.amia.org American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)]<br />

[[Category:Translational Research informatics]]

Public Health informatics

2011-07-21T20:52:39Z

Mikelong88888: Creation of Article

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Public Health Informatics''' has been defined as the systematic application of information and [[computer science]] and technology to public health practice, research, and learning. It is one of the subdomains of Biomedical Informatics.

==United States==

In the United States, public health informatics is practiced by individuals in public health agencies at the federal and state levels and in the larger local health jurisdictions. Additionally, research and training in public health informatics takes place at a variety of academic institutions.

At the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia, the [http://www.cdc.gov/osels/ph_informatics_technology/index.html Public Health Informatics and Technology Program Office (PHITPO)] focuses on advancing the state of information science and applies digital information technologies to aid in the detection and management of diseases and syndromes in individuals and populations. The three sub-units within PHITPO include Informatics Practice, Policy and Coordination; Informatics Solutions and Operations; and Informatics Research and Development.

The bulk of the work of public health informatics in the United States, as with public health generally, takes place at the state and local level, in the state departments of health and the county or parish departments of health. At a state health department the activities may include: collection and storage of ''vital statistics'' (birth and death records); collection of reports of communicable disease cases from doctors, hospitals, and laboratories, used for infectious disease surveillance; display of infectious disease statistics and trends; collection of child immunization and lead screening information; daily collection and analysis of emergency room data to detect early evidence of biological threats; collection of hospital capacity information to allow for planning of responses in case of emergencies. Each of these activities presents its own information processing challenge.

===Collection of public health data===

Before the advent of the internet, public health data in the United States, like other healthcare and business data, were collected on paper forms and stored centrally at the relevant public health agency. If the data were to be computerized they required a distinct data entry process, were stored in the various file formats of the day and analyzed by mainframe computers using standard batch processing.

(TODO: describe CDC-provided DOS/desktop-based systems like TIMSS (TB), STDMIS (Sexually transmitted diseases); Epi-Info for epidemiology investigations; and others )

Since the beginning of the World Wide Web, public health agencies with sufficient information technology resources have been transitioning to web-based collection of public health data, and, more recently, to automated messaging of the same information. In the years roughly 2000 to 2005 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, under its [http://www.cdc.gov/nedss/ National Electronic Disease Surveillance System] (NEDSS), built and provided free to states a comprehensive web and message-based reporting system called the [http://www.cdc.gov/nedss/ NEDSS Base System] (NBS). Due to the funding being limited and it not being wise to have fiefdom-based systems, only a few states and larger counties have built their own versions of electronic disease surveillance systems, such as Pennsylvania's [https://www.nedss.state.pa.us/nedss/ PA-NEDSS]. These do not provide timely full intestate notification services causing an increase in disease rates versus the NEDSS federal product.

To promote interoperability, the CDC has encouraged the adoption in public health data exchange of several standard vocabularies and messaging formats from the health care world. The most prominent of these are: the Health Level 7 (HL7) standards for health care messaging; the LOINC system for encoding laboratory test and result information; and the Systematized Nomenclature of Medicine (SNOMED) vocabulary of health care concepts.

Since about 2005, the CDC has promoted the idea of the Public Health Information Network to facilitate the transmission of data from various partners in the health care industry and elsewhere (hospitals, clinical and environmental laboratories, doctors' practices, pharmacies) to local health agencies, then to state health agencies, and then to the CDC. At each stage the entity must be capable of receiving the data, storing it, aggregating it appropriately, and transmitting it to the next level. A typical example would be infectious disease data, which hospitals, labs, and doctors are legally required to report to local health agencies; local health agencies must report to their state public health department; and which the states must report in aggregate form to the CDC. Among other uses, the CDC publishes the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) based on these data acquired systematically from across the United States.

Major issues in the collection of public health data are: awareness of the need to report data; lack of resources of either the reporter or collector; lack of interoperability of data interchange formats, which can be at the purely syntactic or at the semantic level; variation in reporting requirements across the states, territories, and localities.

===Storage of public health data===

Storage of public health data shares the same [[data management]] issues as other industries. And like other industries, the details of how these issues play out are affected by the nature of the data being managed.

Due to the complexity and variability of public health data, like health care data generally, the issue of [[data modeling]] presents a particular challenge. While a generation ago flat data sets for statistical analysis were the norm, today's requirements of interoperability and integrated sets of data across the public health enterprise require more sophistication. The relational database is increasingly the norm in public health informatics. Designers and implementers of the many sets of data required for various public health purposes must find a workable balance between very complex and abstract data models such as HL7's Reference Information Model (RIM) or CDC's [http://www.cdc.gov/phin/library/documents/pdf/PHIN_LDM_User_Guide_v1.0.pdf Public Health Logical Data Model], and simplistic, ad hoc models that untrained public health practitioners come up with and feel capable of working with.

Due to the variability of the incoming data to public health jurisdictions, data quality assurance is also a major issue.

===Analysis of public health data===

The need to extract usable public health information from the mass of data available requires the public health informaticist to become familiar with a range of analysis tools, ranging from business intelligence tools to produce routine or ad hoc reports, to sophisticated statistical analysis tools such as SAS and PSPP/SPSS, to Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to expose the geographical dimension of public health trends.

===Applications in health surveillance and epidemiology===

* SAPPHIRE (Health care) or ''Situational Awareness and Preparedness for Public Health Incidences and Reasoning Engines'' is a semantics-based health information system capable of tracking and evaluating situations and occurrences that may affect public health.

==References==

<references/>
* Public Health Informatics and Information Systems by D.A. Ross, A.R. Hinman, K. Saarlas, and W.H. Foege (Hardcover - Oct 16, 2002) ISBN 0-387-95474-0
* [http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=962532 A Vision for More Effective Public Health Information Technology] on SSRN
* Olmeda, Christopher J. (2000). Information Technology in Systems of Care. Delfin Press. ISBN 978-0-9821442-0-6
* http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/596_info.html on FDA
* [http://phpartners.org/health_stats.html Health Data Tools and Statistics]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Public Health Informatics}}
[[Category:Public Health informatics]]

Science Informatics

2011-07-21T20:46:09Z

Mikelong88888:

'''Science Informatics''' is a branch of [[Informatics]] that deals with information that is related to a scientific field.{{Citation needed}} Types of '''Science Informatics''' are shown as follows:

* [[Archival informatics]]
* [[Computer Science informatics]]
* [[Education informatics]]
* [[Laboratory informatics]]
** [[Bioinformatics]]
*** [[Bioimage informatics]]
*** [[Biodiversity informatics]]
*** [[Evolutionary informatics]]
*** [[Genome informatics]]
*** [[Molecular informatics]]
*** [[Neuroinformatics]]
** [[Chemical informatics]]
*** [[Drug informatics]]
*** [[Molecular informatics]]
** [[Earth Science informatics]]
*** [[Conservation Science informatics]]
*** [[Geoinformatics]]
*** [[Space Science informatics]]
** [[Engineering Informatics]]
** [[Environmental informatics]]
*** [[Ecoinformatics]]
*** [[Forest informatics]]
** [[Forensic Science informatics]]
** [[Health informatics]]
*** [[Consumer health informatics]]
*** [[Disease informatics]]
*** [[Imaging informatics]]
*** [[Public Health informatics]]
*** [[Translational Research informatics]]
** [[Hydroinformatics]]
*** [[Irrigation informatics]]
** [[Manufacturing Science informatics]]
** [[Materials informatics]]
* [[Life Science informatics]]
* [[Social informatics]]
* [[Visual informatics]]
[[Category:Science Informatics]]

Category:Imaging informatics

2011-07-21T20:45:01Z

Mikelong88888: Created page with "{{cat main}} Category:Health informatics"

{{cat main}}

[[Category:Health informatics]]

Imaging informatics

2011-07-21T20:44:17Z

Mikelong88888:

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

==Introduction==
'''Imaging Informatics''', also known as Radiology Informatics or Medical Imaging Informatics, is a subspecialty of [[Health informatics|Biomedical Informatics]] that aims to improve the efficiency, accuracy, usability and reliability of medical imaging services within the healthcare enterprise.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Branstetter | first = B | year = 2007 | title = Basics of Imaging Informatics | journal = Radiology | volume = 243 | pages = 656–67 | doi = 10.1148/radiol.2433060243 | pmid = 17431128 | issue = 3}}</ref> It is devoted to the study of how information about and contained within medical images is retrieved, analyzed, enhanced, and exchanged throughout the medical enterprise.

As radiology is an inherently data-intensive and technology-driven specialty of medicine, radiologists have become leaders in Imaging Informatics. However, with the proliferation of digitized images across the practice of medicine to include fields such as cardiology, dermatology, surgery, gastroenterology, obstetrics, gynecology and pathology, the advances in Imaging Informatics are also being tested and applied in other areas of medicine. Various industry players and vendors involved with medical imaging, along with IT experts and other biomedical informatics professionals, are contributing and getting involved in this expanding field.

Imaging informatics exists at the intersection of several broad fields:
*biological science - includes bench sciences such as biochemistry, microbiology, physiology and genetics
*clinical services - includes the practice of medicine, bedside research, including outcomes and cost-effectiveness studies, and public health policy
*information science - deals with the acquisition, retrieval, cataloging, and archiving of information
*medical physics / biomedical engineering - entails the use of equipment and technology for a medical purpose
*cognitive science - studying human computer interactions, usability, and information visualization
*computer science - studying the use of computer algorithms for applications such as computer assisted diagnosis and computer vision

==Areas of Interest==
Key areas relevant to Imaging informatics include:
*Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) and Component Systems
*Imaging Informatics for the Enterprise
*Image-Enabled Electronic Medical Records
*Radiology Information Systems (RIS) and Hospital Information Systems (HIS)
*Digital image acquisition
*Image processing and enhancement
*Image [[data compression]]
*[[3D visualization]] and multimedia
*Speech recognition
*Computer-aided diagnosis (CAD).
*Imaging facilities design
*Imaging vocabularies and ontologies
*[[Data mining]] from [[medical images]] [[database]]s
*Transforming the Radiological Interpretation Process (TRIP)<ref>TRIP - an initiative between the then Society of Computer Applications in Radiology (SCAR), now known as the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) [http://www.scarnet.net/trip/html/What_is_TRIP.htm]</ref>
*DICOM, HL7 and other standards
*[[Workflow]] and process modeling and process simulation
*[[Quality assurance]]
*Archive integrity and security
*Teleradiology
*Radiology informatics education
*[[Digital imaging]]

==Training==
Radiologists who wish to pursue sub-specialty training in this field can undergo fellowship training in Imaging Informatics. Medical Imaging Informatics Fellowships are done after completion of Board Certification in Diagnostic Radiology, and may be pursued concurrently with other sub-specialty radiology fellowships.

The American Board of Imaging Informatics (ABII) also administers a certification examination for Imaging Informatics Professionals.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.siimweb.org/ The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine]
*[https://www.abii.org/ American Board of Imaging Informatics]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imaging Informatics}}
[[Category:Imaging informatics]]

Imaging informatics

2011-07-21T20:37:08Z

Mikelong88888: Creation of Article

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

==Introduction==
'''Imaging Informatics''', also known as Radiology Informatics or Medical Imaging Informatics, is a subspecialty of [[Biomedical Informatics]] that aims to improve the efficiency, accuracy, usability and reliability of medical imaging services within the healthcare enterprise.<ref>{{cite journal | last = Branstetter | first = B | year = 2007 | title = Basics of Imaging Informatics | journal = Radiology | volume = 243 | pages = 656–67 | doi = 10.1148/radiol.2433060243 | pmid = 17431128 | issue = 3}}</ref> It is devoted to the study of how information about and contained within medical images is retrieved, analyzed, enhanced, and exchanged throughout the medical enterprise.

As radiology is an inherently data-intensive and technology-driven specialty of medicine, radiologists have become leaders in Imaging Informatics. However, with the proliferation of digitized images across the practice of medicine to include fields such as cardiology, dermatology, surgery, gastroenterology, obstetrics, gynecology and pathology, the advances in Imaging Informatics are also being tested and applied in other areas of medicine. Various industry players and vendors involved with medical imaging, along with IT experts and other biomedical informatics professionals, are contributing and getting involved in this expanding field.

Imaging informatics exists at the intersection of several broad fields:
*biological science - includes bench sciences such as biochemistry, microbiology, physiology and genetics
*clinical services - includes the practice of medicine, bedside research, including outcomes and cost-effectiveness studies, and public health policy
*[[information science]] - deals with the acquisition, retrieval, cataloging, and archiving of information
*[[medical physics]] / [[biomedical engineering]] - entails the use of equipment and technology for a medical purpose
*[[cognitive science]] - studying human computer interactions, usability, and information visualization
*[[computer science]] - studying the use of computer algorithms for applications such as computer assisted diagnosis and computer vision

==Areas of Interest==
Key areas relevant to Imaging informatics include:
*[[Picture Archiving and Communication System]] (PACS) and Component Systems
*Imaging Informatics for the Enterprise
*Image-Enabled [[Electronic Medical Records]]
*[[Radiology information system|Radiology Information Systems]] (RIS) and [[Hospital information system|Hospital Information Systems]] (HIS)
*Digital [[image acquisition]]
*[[Image processing]] and enhancement
*Image [[data compression]]
*[[3D visualization]] and [[multimedia]]
*[[Speech recognition]]
*[[Computer-aided diagnosis]] (CAD).
*Imaging facilities design
*Imaging vocabularies and [[ontology|ontologies]]
*[[Data mining]] from [[medical images]] [[database]]s
*[[Transforming the Radiological Interpretation Process]] (TRIP)<ref>TRIP - an initiative between the then [[Society of Computer Applications in Radiology]] (SCAR), now known as the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) [http://www.scarnet.net/trip/html/What_is_TRIP.htm]</ref>
*[[DICOM]], [[HL7]] and other standards
*[[Workflow]] and [[process modeling]] and [[process simulation]]
*[[Quality assurance]]
*Archive integrity and security
*[[Teleradiology]]
*Radiology informatics [[education]]
*[[Digital imaging]]

==Training==
Radiologists who wish to pursue sub-specialty training in this field can undergo fellowship training in Imaging Informatics. Medical Imaging Informatics Fellowships are done after completion of Board Certification in Diagnostic Radiology, and may be pursued concurrently with other sub-specialty radiology fellowships.

The American Board of Imaging Informatics (ABII) also administers a certification examination for Imaging Informatics Professionals.

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.siimweb.org/ The Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine]
*[https://www.abii.org/ American Board of Imaging Informatics]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Imaging Informatics}}
[[Category:Imaging informatics]]

Category:Health informatics

2011-07-21T20:34:34Z

Mikelong88888:

{{cat main}}

[[Category:Laboratory informatics]]

Consumer Health informatics

2011-07-21T20:33:24Z

Mikelong88888: Redirected page to Consumer health informatics

#REDIRECT [[Consumer health informatics]]

Consumer health informatics

2011-07-21T20:32:25Z

Mikelong88888: Created page with "''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)'' '''Consumer Health Informatics''' (CHI) helps bridge the gap between patients and health resources. The Kaiser model is an example of..."

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Consumer Health Informatics''' (CHI) helps bridge the gap between patients and health resources. The Kaiser model is an example of allowing patients to remotely communicate with their physicians or other healthcare professionals.<ref name="ReferenceA">Biomedical Informatics by Shortliffe and Cimino (3rd Edition)</ref>

Consumer Health Informatics include technologies focused on patients as the primary users to health information.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Consumer Health Informatics includes: Information Resources, Communications, Remote Monitoring, Videoconferencing, and Telepresence.

Medical informatics has expanded rapidly over the past couple of years. After decades of development of information systems designed primarily for physicians and other healthcare managers and professionals, there is an increasing interest in reaching consumers and patients directly through computers and telecommunications systems. Consumer health informatics is the branch of medical informatics that analyses consumers' needs for information; studies and implements methods of making information accessible to consumers; and models and integrates consumers' preferences into medical information systems. Consumer informatics stands at the crossroads of other disciplines, such as nursing informatics, public health, health promotion, health education, library science, and communication science, and is perhaps the most challenging and rapidly expanding field in medical informatics; it is paving the way for health care in the information age. <ref>BMJ 2000; 320 : 1713 doi: 10.1136/bmj.320.7251.1713 (Published 24 June 2000)</ref>

==References==
<references/>

Biomedical Informatics by Shortliffe and Cimino (3rd Edition)

[[Category:Consumer Health informatics]]

Disease informatics

2011-07-21T20:22:22Z

Mikelong88888:

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Disease Informatics''' is the application of Information Science in defining the diseases with least error, identifying most of the targets to combat a cluster of diseases (Disease Causal Chain) and designing a holistic solution (Health strategy) to the problem.

[http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/eletters/331/7516/566#134452 Deolankar: BMJ article]

[[Category:Disease informatics]]

Health informatics

2011-07-21T20:18:59Z

Mikelong88888:

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

[[Image:Sshot fever.png|right|thumb|Electronic patient chart from a health information system]]

'''Health informatics''' (also called '''health care informatics''', '''healthcare informatics''', '''medical informatics''', '''nursing informatics''', '''clinical informatics''', or '''biomedical informatics''') is a discipline at the intersection of information science, computer science, and health care. It deals with the resources, devices, and methods required to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in health and biomedicine. Health informatics tools include not only computers but also clinical guidelines, formal medical terminologies, and information and communication systems. It is applied to the areas of nursing, clinical care, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, occupational therapy, and (bio)medical research.
* The international standards on the subject are covered by ICS 35.240.80<ref name=itah>{{cite web| title = 35.240.80: IT applications in health care technology| publisher = ISO| url = http://www.iso.org/iso/products/standards/catalogue_ics_browse.htm?ICS1=35&ICS2=240&ICS3=80&| accessdate = 2008-06-15}}</ref> in which ISO 27799:2008 is one of the core components.<ref name=isosm>{{cite web| last = Fraser| first = Ross| title = ISO 27799: Security management in health using ISO/IEC 17799| url = http://sl.infoway-inforoute.ca/downloads/Ross_Fraser_-_ISO_27799.pdf| accessdate = 2008-06-15 }}</ref>
* Molecular [[bioinformatics]] and clinical informatics have converged into the field of translational bioinformatics.

==History==

Informatics were a central part of the Nazi health care system, which included Nazi eugenics as one of its fundamental principles. New systems and technology, like electronic punch card tabulating and sorting machines, and the science of medical statistics, were used to gather, sort, and analyze personal information on a vast scale unseen before in human history. The information was used to help find and eliminate the 'genetically inferior' through sterilization or wholesale murder. Many of the architects of these systems would go on to play a role in the post-war medical informatics field.<ref>The Nazi Census, Götz Aly and Karl Heinz Roth, Temple University Press, 2004</ref>

World wide use of technology in medicine began in the early 1950s with the rise of the computers.<ref name="univ"/> In 1949, Gustav Wager established the first professional organization for informatics in Germany.<ref name="nyu">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nyuinformatics.org/education/degree-programs |title=NYU Graduate Training Program in Biomedical Informatics (BMI): A Brief History of Biomedical Informatics as a Discipline |work=www.nyuinformatics.org |publisher=NYU Langone Medical Center |accessdate=11 November 2010}}</ref> The prehistory, history, and future of medical information and health information technology are discussed in reference.<ref name="Robson_first">{{cite book |last=Robson |first=B. |last2=Baek |first2=O. K. |year=2009 |title=The engines of Hippocrates: From the Dawn of Medicine to Medical and Pharmaceutical Informatics |location=Hoboken, NJ |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9780470289532 }}</ref> Specialized university departments and Informatics training programs began during the 1960s in France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands. Medical informatics research units began to appear during the 1970s in Poland and in the U.S.<ref name="nyu" /> Since then the development of high-quality health informatics research, education and infrastructure has been the goal of the U.S. and the European Union.<ref name="nyu" />

Early names for health informatics included medical computing, medical computer science, computer medicine, medical electronic data processing, medical automatic data processing, medical information processing, medical information science, medical software engineering, and medical computer technology.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

The health informatics community is still growing, it is by no means a mature profession, but work in the UK by the voluntary registration body, the [http://www.ukchip.org UK Council of Health Informatics Professions] has suggested eight key constituencies within the domain - information management, knowledge management, portfolio/programme/project management, ICT, education and research, clinical informatics, health records(service and business-related), health informatics service management. These constituencies accommodate professionals in and for the NHS, in academia and commercial service and solution providers.

Since the 1970s the most prominent international coordinating body has been the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA).{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

===Medical informatics in the United States===
Even though the idea of using computers in medicine sprouted as technology advanced in the early twentieth century, it was not until the 1950s that informatics made a realistic impact in the United States.<ref name="univ">{{Cite web |url=http://healthinformatics.uic.edu/history-of-health-informatics |title=The History of Health Informatics |work=Health Informatics, Nursing Informatics and Health Information Management Degrees |publisher=University of Illinois at Chicago}}</ref>

The earliest use of computation for medicine was for dental projects in the 1950s at the United States National Bureau of Standards by Robert Ledley.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sittig DF, Ash JS, Ledley RS |title=The story behind the development of the first whole-body computerized tomography scanner as told by Robert S. Ledley |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=465–9 |year=2006 |pmid=16799115 |pmc=1561796 |doi=10.1197/jamia.M2127}}</ref>

The next step in the mid 1950s were the development of expert systems such as MYCIN and Internist-I. In 1965, the National Library of Medicine started to use MEDLINE and MEDLARS. At this time, Neil Pappalardo, Curtis Marble, and Robert Greenes developed MUMPS (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System) in Octo Barnett's Laboratory of Computer Science <ref>[http://www.lcs.mgh.harvard.edu/ MGH - Laboratory of Computer Science]</ref> at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.<ref>{{cite book|pages=161|title=Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology|author=Edwin D. Reilly|year=2003|isbn=978-1573565219|publisher=Greenwood Press}}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s it was the most commonly used programming language for clinical applications. The MUMPS operating system was used to support MUMPS language specifications. {{As of|2004}}, a descendent of this system is being used in the United States Veterans Affairs hospital system. The VA has the largest enterprise-wide health information system that includes an electronic medical record, known as the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA). A graphical user interface known as the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) allows health care providers to review and update a patient’s electronic medical record at any of the VA's over 1,000 health care facilities.

In the 1970s a growing number of commercial vendors began to market practice management and electronic medical records systems. Although many products exist, only a small number of health practitioners use fully featured electronic health care records systems.

Homer R. Warner, one of the fathers of medical informatics,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Patton GA, Gardner RM |title=Medical informatics education: the University of Utah experience |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=457–65 |year=1999 |pmid=10579604 |pmc=61389}}</ref> founded the Department of Medical Informatics at the University of Utah in 1968. The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) has an award named after him on application of informatics to medicine.

===Americas===
====Argentina====
Since 1997, the Buenos Aires Biomedical Informatics Group, a nonprofit group, represents the interests of a broad range of clinical and non-clinical professionals working within the Health Informatics sphere.
Its purposes are:
*Promote the implementation of the computer tool in the healthcare activity, scientific research, health administration and in all areas related to health sciences and biomedical research.
*Support, promote and disseminate content related activities with the management of health information and tools they used to do under the name of Biomedical informatics.
*Promote cooperation and exchange of actions generated in the field of biomedical informatics, both in the public and private, national and international level.
*Interact with all scientists, recognized academic stimulating the creation of new instances that have the same goal and be inspired by the same purpose.
*To promote, organize, sponsor and participate in events and activities for training in computer and information and disseminating developments in this area that might be useful for team members and health related activities.

The Argentinian health system is very heterogeneous, because of that the informatics developments shows an heterogeneous stage. Lot of private Health Care center have developed systems, as the German Hospital of Buenos Aires who was one of the first in develop the electronic health records system.

====Brazil====
The first applications of computers to medicine and healthcare in Brazil started around 1968, with the installation of the first mainframes in public university hospitals, and the use of programmable calculators in scientific research applications. Minicomputers, such as the IBM 1130 were installed in several universities, and the first applications were developed for them, such as the hospital census in the School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto and patient master files, in the Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade de São Paulo, respectively at the cities of Ribeirão Preto and São Paulo campi of the University of São Paulo. In the 1970s, several Digital Corporation and Hewlett Packard minicomputers were acquired for public and Armed Forces hospitals, and more intensively used for intensive-care unit, cardiology diagnostics, patient monitoring amd other applications. In the early 1980s, with the arrival of cheaper microcomputers, a great upsurge of computer applications in health ensued, and in 1986 the Brazilian Society of Health Informatics was founded, the first Brazilian Congress of Health Informatics was held, and the first ''Brazilian Journal of Health Informatics'' was published.

====Canada====
Health Informatics projects in Canada are implemented provincially, with different provinces creating different systems. A national, federally-funded, not-for-profit organization called Canada Health Infoway was created in 2001 to foster the development and adoption of electronic health records across Canada. As of December 31, 2008 there were 276 EHR projects under way in Canadian hospitals, other health-care facilities, pharmacies and laboratories, with an investment value of $1.5-billion from Canada Health Infoway.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080218.wmychart18/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/ | location=Toronto | work=The Globe and Mail | first=Lisa | last=Priest | title=Your medical chart, just a mouse click away | date=2008-02-18}}</ref>

Provincial and territorial programmes include the following:
*'''eHealth Ontario''' was created as an Ontario provincial government agency in September 2008. It has been plagued by delays and its CEO was fired over a multimillion-dollar contracts scandal in 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/06/07/ehealth-kramer.html|title= Head of eHealth Ontario is fired amid contracts scandal, gets big package|accessdate=2009-08-26 | work=CBC News | date=2009-06-07}}</ref>
*'''Alberta Netcare''' was created in 2003 by the Government of Alberta. Today the netCARE portal is used daily by thousands of clinicians. It provides access to demographic data, prescribed/dispensed drugs, known allergies/intolerances, immunizations, laboratory test results, diagnostic imaging reports, the diabetes registry and other medical reports. netCARE interface capabilities are being included in electronic medical record products which are being funded by the provincial government.

====United States====
In 2004 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) formed the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT). The mission of this office is widespread adoption of interoperable electronic health records (EHRs) in the US within 10 years. See quality improvement organizations for more information on federal initiatives in this area.

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT), a private nonprofit group, was funded in 2005 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a set of standards for electronic health records (EHR) and supporting networks, and certify vendors who meet them. In July, 2006 CCHIT released its first list of 22 certified ambulatory EHR products, in two different announcements.<ref>Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (July 18, 2006): [http://www.cchit.org/media/press+releases/CCHIT+Announces+First+Certified+Electronic+Health+Record+Products.htm CCHIT Announces First Certified Electronic Health Record Products]. Retrieved July 26, 2006.</ref>

===Europe===

The European Union's Member States are committed to sharing their best practices and experiences to create a European eHealth Area, thereby improving access to and quality health care at the same time as stimulating growth in a promising new industrial sector. The European eHealth Action Plan plays a fundamental role in the European Union's strategy. Work on this initiative involves a collaborative approach among several parts of the Commission services.<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/health/policy_action_plan/index_en.htm European eHealth Action Plan]</ref><ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/index_en.htm European eHealth Action Plan i2010]</ref> The European Institute for Health Records is involved in the promotion of high quality [[electronic health record]] systems in the European Union.<ref>{{cite web|title=Electronic Health Records for Europe|year=2005|url=http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Telemedicine_Alliance/SEMWC7SMD6E_0.html|publisher=European Space Agency|accessdate=2009-01-13}}</ref>

The NHS in England has contracted out to several vendors for a national health informatics system 'NPFIT' that originally divided the country into five regions and is to be united by a central electronic medical record system nicknamed "the spine".[16] The project, in 2010, is seriously behind schedule and its scope and design are being revised in real time. In 2010 a wide consultation was launched as part of a wider ‘Liberating the NHS’ plan. Many organisations and bodies (look on their own websites, as most have made their responses public in detail for information) responded to the consultation and a new strategy is expected in the second quarter of 2011. The degree of computerisation in NHS secondary care was quite high before NPfIT and that programme has had the unfortunate effect of largely stalling further development of the installed base.
Almost all general practices in England and Wales are computerised and patients have relatively extensive computerised primary care clinical records. Computerisation is the responsibility of individual practices and there is no single, standardised GP system. Interoperation between primary and secondary care systems is rather primitive. A focus on interworking (for interfacing and integration) standards is hoped will stimulate synergy between primary and secondary care in sharing necessary information to support the care of individuals.
Scotland has an approach to central connection under way which is more advanced than the English one in some ways. Scotland has the GPASS system whose source code is owned by the State, and controlled and developed by NHS Scotland. GPASS was accepted in 1984. It has been provided free to all GPs in Scotland but has developed poorly.[citation needed] Discussion of open sourcing it as a remedy is occurring.
The broad history of health informatics has been captured in the book [http://www.bcs.org/health UK Health Computing : Recollections and reflections, Hayes G, Barnett D (Eds.)], BCS (May 2008) by those active in the field, predominantly members of BCS Health and its constituent groups. The book describes the path taken as ‘early development of health informatics was unorganized and idiosyncratic’. In the early -1950s it was prompted by those involved in NHS finance and only in the early 1960s did solutions including those in pathology (1960), radiotherapy (1962), immunization (1963), and primary care (1968) emerge. Many of these solutions, even in the early 1970s were developed in-house by pioneers in the field to meet their own requirements. In part this was due to some areas of health services (for example the immunization and vaccination of children) still being provided by Local Authorities. Interesting, this is a situation which the coalition government propose broadly to return to in the 2010 strategy Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS (July 2010); stating:

"We will put patients at the heart of the NHS, through an information revolution and greater choice and control’ with shared decision-making becoming the norm: ‘no decision about me without me’ and patients having access
to the information they want, to make choices about their care. They will have increased control over their own care records."

These types of statements present a significant opportunity for health informaticians to come out of the back-office and take up a front-line role supporting clinical practice, and the business of care delivery.
The UK health informatics community has long played a key role in international activity, joining TC4 of the International Federation of Information Processing (1969) which became [http://www.imia-medinfo.org IMIA] (1979). Under the aegis of [http://www.bcs.org/health BCS Health], Cambridge was the host for the first [http://www.efmi.org EFMI] Medical Informatics Europe (1974) conference and London was the location for IMIA’s tenth global congress (MEDINFO2001).
In 2002, the idea of a profession of health informatics across the UK was first mooted and by 2004 a voluntary open register was established. The [http://www.ukchip.org UK Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP)] now has a formal Code of Professional Conduct, standards for expressing competences which are used for entry, confirmation of fitness to practice, re-grading and personal development. Consistent standards express competences of health informatics professionals in both domain-specific and generic informatics professional areas. The consistency is intended to apply in operational care delivery organizations, academia and the commercial service and solution providers. In 2011, self-assessment tools were introduced for use by any interested party. In addition, the principles and UKCHIP model are being considered internationally (as at 2011). UKCHIP certification is being considered for regulatory purposes. In conjunction with workforce development tools such as the NHS HI Career Framework it is possible for individuals to compare their skills against typical job roles, determine their professional level, and for employers to carry out detailed workforce analysis to meet the emerging requirements of the informatics strategies of all the home countries.

The European Commission's preference, as exemplified in the 5th Framework<ref>[http://cordis.europa.eu/fp5/ Cordis FP5web]</ref> as well as currently pursued pilot projects,<ref>[http://www.epsos.eu European Patient Smart Open Services]</ref> is for Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) for healthcare.

===Asia and Oceania===
In Asia and Australia-New Zealand, the regional group called the Asia Pacific Association for Medical Informatics (APAMI)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.apami.org |title=Asia Pacific Association of Medical Informatics}}</ref> was established in 1994 and now consists of more than 15 member regions in the Asia Pacific Region.

====Australia====
The Australasian College of Health Informatics (ACHI) is the professional association for health informatics in the Asia-Pacific region. It represents the interests of a broad range of clinical and non-clinical professionals working within the health informatics sphere through a commitment to quality, standards and ethical practice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ACHI.org.au|title=Australasian College of Health Informatics|accessdate=3 May 2010}}Australasian College of Health Informatics</ref> Founded in 2002, ACHI is increasingly valued<ref>[http://www.fhs.usyd.edu.au/health_informatics/about/index.shtml University of Sydney] Current Developments in Health Informatics</ref> for its thought leadership, its trusted advisors and national and international experts in Health Informatics. ACHI is an academic institutional member of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imia.org/members/profiles/academic.lasso?-Search=Action&-Table=CGI&-MaxRecords=1&-SkipRecords=2&-Database=organizations&-SortField=english_vers&-SortOrder=ascending&type=academic&approved=yes|title=International Medical Informatics Association - Academic Institutional Members - Australia - Australian College of Health Informatics|date=12 August 2009|accessdate=22 February 2010}}</ref> and a full member of the Australian Council of Professions.<ref>[http://www.ACHI.org.au ACHI Memberships] ACHI memberships: Professions Australia</ref>
ACHI is a sponsor of the "e-Journal for Health Informatics",<ref>[http://www.ejhi.net/ojs/index.php/ejhi/about/journalSponsorship eJHI - electronic Journal of Health Informatics] (open access journal)</ref> an indexed and peer-reviewed professional journal. ACHI has also supported the "Australian Health Informatics Education Council" (AHIEC) since its founding in 2009.<ref>[http://www.AHIEC.org.au Australian Health Informatics Education Council (AHIEC)] AHIEC Auspicing Organisations</ref>

Although there are a number of health informatics organisations in Australia, the [[Health Informatics Society of Australia]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hisa.org.au|title=Health Informatics Society of Australia Ltd|accessdate=3 April 2010}}</ref> (HISA) is regarded as the major umbrella group and is a member of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). Nursing informaticians were the driving force behind the formation of HISA, which is now a company limited by guarantee of the members. The membership comes from across the informatics spectrum that is from students to corporate affiliates. HISA has a number of branches (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia) as well as special interest groups such as nursing (NIA), pathology, aged and community care, industry and medical imaging (Conrick, 2006).

====China====
====Hong Kong====
In Hong Kong a computerized patient record system called the Clinical Management System (CMS) has been developed by the Hospital Authority since 1994. This system has been deployed at all the sites of the Authority (40 hospitals and 120 clinics), and is used by all 30,000 clinical staff on a daily basis, with a daily transaction of up to 2 millions. The comprehensive records of 7 million patients are available on-line in the Electronic Patient Record (ePR), with data integrated from all sites. Since 2004 radiology image viewing has been added to the ePR, with radiography images from any HA site being available as part of the ePR.

The Hong Kong Hospital Authority placed particular attention to the governance of clinical systems development, with input from hundreds of clinicians being incorporated through a structured process. The Health Informatics Section in Hong Kong Hospital Authority<ref>[http://www.ha.org.hk/hi/Welcome.html Health Informatics Section in Hong Kong Hospital Authority]</ref> has close relationship with Information Technology Department and clinicians to develop healthcare systems for the organization to support the service to all public hospitals and clinics in the region.

The Hong Kong Society of Medical Informatics (HKSMI) was established in 1987 to promote the use of information technology in healthcare. The eHealth Consortium has been formed to bring together clinicians from both the private and public sectors, medical informatics professionals and the IT industry to further promote IT in healthcare in Hong Kong.<ref>[http://www.iproa.org/ProjectDetail.action?id=270 eHealth Consortium]</ref>

====India====
Religare Technova IT solutions is attempting a new service to improve the healthcare information system in India.

====New Zealand====
Health Informatics is taught at five New Zealand universities. The most mature and established is the Otago programme which has been offered for over a decade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepages.mcs.vuw.ac.nz/~peterk/healthinformatics/tec-hi-report-06.pdf|title=Health Informatics Capability Development In New Zealand - A Report to the Tertiary Education Commission|author=Karolyn Kerr|coauthors=Rowena Cullen, Jan Duke, Alec Holt, Ray Kirk, Peter Komisarczuk, Jim Warren and Shona Wilson|year=2006|accessdate=2009-01-08}}</ref> Health Informatics New Zealand (HINZ)([http://www.hinz.org.nz www.hinz.org.nz]), is the national organisation that advocates for Health Informatics. HINZ organises a conference every year and also publishes an online journal- Healthcare Informatics Review Online [http://www.hinz.org.nz/journal www.hinz.org.nz/journal].

====Saudi Arabia====
The Saudi Association for Health Information (SAHI) was established in 2006<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imia.org/members/profiles/national.lasso?-Search=Action&-Table=CGI&-MaxRecords=1&-SkipRecords=27&-Database=organizations&-KeyField=Internal%20Record%20ID&-SortField=country&-SortOrder=ascending&-SortField=country&-SortOrder=ascending&type=national&type=national |title=Medical Pharmaceutical Information Association (MedPharmInfo) |publisher=Imia.org |date=2008-05-18 |accessdate=2010-07-29}}</ref> to work under direct supervision of King Saud University for Health Sciences to practice public activities, develop theoretical and applicable knowledge, and provide scientific and applicable studies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sahi.org.sa/objectives.php| title= Saudi Association for Health Informatics (SAHI)| work=www.sahi.org.sa/}}</ref>

==Health informatics law==
''Health informatics law'' deals with evolving and sometimes complex legal principles as they apply to information technology in health-related fields. It addresses the privacy, ethical and operational issues that invariably arise when electronic tools, information and media are used in health care delivery. Health Informatics Law also applies to all matters that involve information technology, health care and the interaction of information. It deals with the circumstances under which data and records are shared with other fields or areas that support and enhance patient care.

==Clinical Informatics==
Clinical Informatics is concerned with use information in health care by clinicians.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gardner RM, Overhage JM, Steen EB, ''et al.'' |title=Core content for the subspecialty of clinical informatics |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=153–7 |year=2009 |pmid=19074296 |pmc=2649328 |doi=10.1197/jamia.M3045}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Safran C, Shabot MM, Munger BS, ''et al.'' |title=Program requirements for fellowship education in the subspecialty of clinical informatics |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=158–66 |year=2009 |pmid=19074295 |pmc=2649323 |doi=10.1197/jamia.M3046}}</ref>

Clinical informaticians transform health care by analyzing, designing, implementing, and evaluating information and communication systems that enhance individual and population health outcomes, improve [patient] care, and strengthen the clinician-patient relationship.
Clinical informaticians use their knowledge of patient care combined with their understanding of informatics concepts, methods, and [[health informatics tools]] to:

* assess information and knowledge needs of health care professionals and patients,
* characterize, evaluate, and refine clinical processes,
* develop, implement, and refine clinical decision support systems, and
* lead or participate in the procurement, customization, development, implementation, management, evaluation, and continuous improvement of clinical information systems.

[[Clinicians]] collaborate with other health care and information technology [[professionals]] to develop [[health informatics tools]] which promote patient care that is safe, efficient, effective, timely, patient-centered, and equitable.

===Translational bioinformatics===
With the completion of the human genome and the recent advent of high throughput sequencing and genome-wise association studies of single nucleotide polymorphisms, the fields of molecular bioinformatics, biostatistiques, statistical genetics and clinical informatics are converging into the emerging field of [[translational bioinformatics]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Butte|first1=AJ|title=Translational bioinformatics applications in genome medicine.|journal=Genome medicine|volume=1|issue=6|pages=64|year=2009|pmid=19566916|pmc=2703873|doi=10.1186/gm64}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kann|first1=M. G.|title=Advances in translational bioinformatics: computational approaches for the hunting of disease genes|journal=Briefings in Bioinformatics|volume=11|issue=1|pages=96|year=2009|pmid=20007728|pmc=2810112|doi=10.1093/bib/bbp048}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lussier|first1=YA|last2=Butte|first2=AJ|last3=Hunter|first3=L|title=Current methodologies for translational bioinformatics.|journal=Journal of biomedical informatics|volume=43|issue=3|pages=355–7|year=2010|pmid=20470899|pmc=2894568|doi=10.1016/j.jbi.2010.05.002}}</ref>

==See also==

===Standards/frameworks and governance===
* Health Metrics Network
* HL7
* LOINC
* Omaha System
* openEHR

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://www.ACHI.org.au Australasian College of Health Informatics]
*[http://www.eJHI.net e-Journal for Health Informatics]
*[http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6947/9/24 Article about informatics]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Health Informatics}}
[[Category:Health informatics]]

Health informatics

2011-07-21T20:06:12Z

Mikelong88888: Link Update

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

[[Image:Sshot fever.png|right|thumb|Electronic patient chart from a health information system]]

'''Health informatics''' (also called '''health care informatics''', '''healthcare informatics''', '''medical informatics''', '''nursing informatics''', '''clinical informatics''', or '''biomedical informatics''') is a discipline at the intersection of information science, computer science, and health care. It deals with the resources, devices, and methods required to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in health and biomedicine. Health informatics tools include not only computers but also clinical guidelines, formal medical terminologies, and information and communication systems. It is applied to the areas of nursing, clinical care, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, occupational therapy, and (bio)medical research.
* The international standards on the subject are covered by ICS 35.240.80<ref name=itah>{{cite web| title = 35.240.80: IT applications in health care technology| publisher = ISO| url = http://www.iso.org/iso/products/standards/catalogue_ics_browse.htm?ICS1=35&ICS2=240&ICS3=80&| accessdate = 2008-06-15}}</ref> in which ISO 27799:2008 is one of the core components.<ref name=isosm>{{cite web| last = Fraser| first = Ross| title = ISO 27799: Security management in health using ISO/IEC 17799| url = http://sl.infoway-inforoute.ca/downloads/Ross_Fraser_-_ISO_27799.pdf| accessdate = 2008-06-15 }}</ref>
* Molecular [[bioinformatics]] and clinical informatics have converged into the field of translational bioinformatics.

==History==

Informatics were a central part of the Nazi health care system, which included Nazi eugenics as one of its fundamental principles. New systems and technology, like electronic punch card tabulating and sorting machines, and the science of medical statistics, were used to gather, sort, and analyze personal information on a vast scale unseen before in human history. The information was used to help find and eliminate the 'genetically inferior' through sterilization or wholesale murder. Many of the architects of these systems would go on to play a role in the post-war medical informatics field.<ref>The Nazi Census, Götz Aly and Karl Heinz Roth, Temple University Press, 2004</ref>

World wide use of technology in medicine began in the early 1950s with the rise of the computers.<ref name="univ"/> In 1949, Gustav Wager established the first professional organization for informatics in Germany.<ref name="nyu">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nyuinformatics.org/education/degree-programs |title=NYU Graduate Training Program in Biomedical Informatics (BMI): A Brief History of Biomedical Informatics as a Discipline |work=www.nyuinformatics.org |publisher=NYU Langone Medical Center |accessdate=11 November 2010}}</ref> The prehistory, history, and future of medical information and health information technology are discussed in reference.<ref name="Robson_first">{{cite book |last=Robson |first=B. |last2=Baek |first2=O. K. |year=2009 |title=The engines of Hippocrates: From the Dawn of Medicine to Medical and Pharmaceutical Informatics |location=Hoboken, NJ |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9780470289532 }}</ref> Specialized university departments and Informatics training programs began during the 1960s in France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands. Medical informatics research units began to appear during the 1970s in Poland and in the U.S.<ref name="nyu" /> Since then the development of high-quality health informatics research, education and infrastructure has been the goal of the U.S. and the European Union.<ref name="nyu" />

Early names for health informatics included medical computing, medical computer science, computer medicine, medical electronic data processing, medical automatic data processing, medical information processing, medical information science, medical software engineering, and medical computer technology.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

The health informatics community is still growing, it is by no means a mature profession, but work in the UK by the voluntary registration body, the [http://www.ukchip.org UK Council of Health Informatics Professions] has suggested eight key constituencies within the domain - information management, knowledge management, portfolio/programme/project management, ICT, education and research, clinical informatics, health records(service and business-related), health informatics service management. These constituencies accommodate professionals in and for the NHS, in academia and commercial service and solution providers.

Since the 1970s the most prominent international coordinating body has been the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA).{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

===Medical informatics in the United States===
Even though the idea of using computers in medicine sprouted as technology advanced in the early twentieth century, it was not until the 1950s that informatics made a realistic impact in the United States.<ref name="univ">{{Cite web |url=http://healthinformatics.uic.edu/history-of-health-informatics |title=The History of Health Informatics |work=Health Informatics, Nursing Informatics and Health Information Management Degrees |publisher=University of Illinois at Chicago}}</ref>

The earliest use of computation for medicine was for dental projects in the 1950s at the United States National Bureau of Standards by Robert Ledley.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sittig DF, Ash JS, Ledley RS |title=The story behind the development of the first whole-body computerized tomography scanner as told by Robert S. Ledley |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=465–9 |year=2006 |pmid=16799115 |pmc=1561796 |doi=10.1197/jamia.M2127}}</ref>

The next step in the mid 1950s were the development of expert systems such as MYCIN and Internist-I. In 1965, the National Library of Medicine started to use MEDLINE and MEDLARS. At this time, Neil Pappalardo, Curtis Marble, and Robert Greenes developed MUMPS (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System) in Octo Barnett's Laboratory of Computer Science <ref>[http://www.lcs.mgh.harvard.edu/ MGH - Laboratory of Computer Science]</ref> at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.<ref>{{cite book|pages=161|title=Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology|author=Edwin D. Reilly|year=2003|isbn=978-1573565219|publisher=Greenwood Press}}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s it was the most commonly used programming language for clinical applications. The MUMPS operating system was used to support MUMPS language specifications. {{As of|2004}}, a descendent of this system is being used in the United States Veterans Affairs hospital system. The VA has the largest enterprise-wide health information system that includes an electronic medical record, known as the Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA). A graphical user interface known as the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) allows health care providers to review and update a patient’s electronic medical record at any of the VA's over 1,000 health care facilities.

In the 1970s a growing number of commercial vendors began to market practice management and electronic medical records systems. Although many products exist, only a small number of health practitioners use fully featured electronic health care records systems.

Homer R. Warner, one of the fathers of medical informatics,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Patton GA, Gardner RM |title=Medical informatics education: the University of Utah experience |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=457–65 |year=1999 |pmid=10579604 |pmc=61389}}</ref> founded the Department of Medical Informatics at the University of Utah in 1968. The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) has an award named after him on application of informatics to medicine.

===Americas===
====Argentina====
Since 1997, the Buenos Aires Biomedical Informatics Group, a nonprofit group, represents the interests of a broad range of clinical and non-clinical professionals working within the Health Informatics sphere.
Its purposes are:
*Promote the implementation of the computer tool in the healthcare activity, scientific research, health administration and in all areas related to health sciences and biomedical research.
*Support, promote and disseminate content related activities with the management of health information and tools they used to do under the name of Biomedical informatics.
*Promote cooperation and exchange of actions generated in the field of biomedical informatics, both in the public and private, national and international level.
*Interact with all scientists, recognized academic stimulating the creation of new instances that have the same goal and be inspired by the same purpose.
*To promote, organize, sponsor and participate in events and activities for training in computer and information and disseminating developments in this area that might be useful for team members and health related activities.

The Argentinian health system is very heterogeneous, because of that the informatics developments shows an heterogeneous stage. Lot of private Health Care center have developed systems, as the German Hospital of Buenos Aires who was one of the first in develop the electronic health records system.

====Brazil====
The first applications of computers to medicine and healthcare in Brazil started around 1968, with the installation of the first mainframes in public university hospitals, and the use of programmable calculators in scientific research applications. Minicomputers, such as the IBM 1130 were installed in several universities, and the first applications were developed for them, such as the hospital census in the School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto and patient master files, in the Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade de São Paulo, respectively at the cities of Ribeirão Preto and São Paulo campi of the University of São Paulo. In the 1970s, several Digital Corporation and Hewlett Packard minicomputers were acquired for public and Armed Forces hospitals, and more intensively used for intensive-care unit, cardiology diagnostics, patient monitoring amd other applications. In the early 1980s, with the arrival of cheaper microcomputers, a great upsurge of computer applications in health ensued, and in 1986 the Brazilian Society of Health Informatics was founded, the first Brazilian Congress of Health Informatics was held, and the first ''Brazilian Journal of Health Informatics'' was published.

====Canada====
Health Informatics projects in Canada are implemented provincially, with different provinces creating different systems. A national, federally-funded, not-for-profit organization called Canada Health Infoway was created in 2001 to foster the development and adoption of electronic health records across Canada. As of December 31, 2008 there were 276 EHR projects under way in Canadian hospitals, other health-care facilities, pharmacies and laboratories, with an investment value of $1.5-billion from Canada Health Infoway.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080218.wmychart18/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/ | location=Toronto | work=The Globe and Mail | first=Lisa | last=Priest | title=Your medical chart, just a mouse click away | date=2008-02-18}}</ref>

Provincial and territorial programmes include the following:
*'''eHealth Ontario''' was created as an Ontario provincial government agency in September 2008. It has been plagued by delays and its CEO was fired over a multimillion-dollar contracts scandal in 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/06/07/ehealth-kramer.html|title= Head of eHealth Ontario is fired amid contracts scandal, gets big package|accessdate=2009-08-26 | work=CBC News | date=2009-06-07}}</ref>
*'''Alberta Netcare''' was created in 2003 by the Government of Alberta. Today the netCARE portal is used daily by thousands of clinicians. It provides access to demographic data, prescribed/dispensed drugs, known allergies/intolerances, immunizations, laboratory test results, diagnostic imaging reports, the diabetes registry and other medical reports. netCARE interface capabilities are being included in electronic medical record products which are being funded by the provincial government.

====United States====
In 2004 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) formed the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONCHIT). The mission of this office is widespread adoption of interoperable electronic health records (EHRs) in the US within 10 years. See quality improvement organizations for more information on federal initiatives in this area.

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (CCHIT), a private nonprofit group, was funded in 2005 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop a set of standards for electronic health records (EHR) and supporting networks, and certify vendors who meet them. In July, 2006 CCHIT released its first list of 22 certified ambulatory EHR products, in two different announcements.<ref>Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (July 18, 2006): [http://www.cchit.org/media/press+releases/CCHIT+Announces+First+Certified+Electronic+Health+Record+Products.htm CCHIT Announces First Certified Electronic Health Record Products]. Retrieved July 26, 2006.</ref>

===Europe===

The European Union's Member States are committed to sharing their best practices and experiences to create a European eHealth Area, thereby improving access to and quality health care at the same time as stimulating growth in a promising new industrial sector. The European eHealth Action Plan plays a fundamental role in the European Union's strategy. Work on this initiative involves a collaborative approach among several parts of the Commission services.<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/health/policy_action_plan/index_en.htm European eHealth Action Plan]</ref><ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/index_en.htm European eHealth Action Plan i2010]</ref> The European Institute for Health Records is involved in the promotion of high quality [[electronic health record]] systems in the European Union.<ref>{{cite web|title=Electronic Health Records for Europe|year=2005|url=http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Telemedicine_Alliance/SEMWC7SMD6E_0.html|publisher=European Space Agency|accessdate=2009-01-13}}</ref>

The NHS in England has contracted out to several vendors for a national health informatics system 'NPFIT' that originally divided the country into five regions and is to be united by a central electronic medical record system nicknamed "the spine".[16] The project, in 2010, is seriously behind schedule and its scope and design are being revised in real time. In 2010 a wide consultation was launched as part of a wider ‘Liberating the NHS’ plan. Many organisations and bodies (look on their own websites, as most have made their responses public in detail for information) responded to the consultation and a new strategy is expected in the second quarter of 2011. The degree of computerisation in NHS secondary care was quite high before NPfIT and that programme has had the unfortunate effect of largely stalling further development of the installed base.
Almost all general practices in England and Wales are computerised and patients have relatively extensive computerised primary care clinical records. Computerisation is the responsibility of individual practices and there is no single, standardised GP system. Interoperation between primary and secondary care systems is rather primitive. A focus on interworking (for interfacing and integration) standards is hoped will stimulate synergy between primary and secondary care in sharing necessary information to support the care of individuals.
Scotland has an approach to central connection under way which is more advanced than the English one in some ways. Scotland has the GPASS system whose source code is owned by the State, and controlled and developed by NHS Scotland. GPASS was accepted in 1984. It has been provided free to all GPs in Scotland but has developed poorly.[citation needed] Discussion of open sourcing it as a remedy is occurring.
The broad history of health informatics has been captured in the book [http://www.bcs.org/health UK Health Computing : Recollections and reflections, Hayes G, Barnett D (Eds.)], BCS (May 2008) by those active in the field, predominantly members of BCS Health and its constituent groups. The book describes the path taken as ‘early development of health informatics was unorganized and idiosyncratic’. In the early -1950s it was prompted by those involved in NHS finance and only in the early 1960s did solutions including those in pathology (1960), radiotherapy (1962), immunization (1963), and primary care (1968) emerge. Many of these solutions, even in the early 1970s were developed in-house by pioneers in the field to meet their own requirements. In part this was due to some areas of health services (for example the immunization and vaccination of children) still being provided by Local Authorities. Interesting, this is a situation which the coalition government propose broadly to return to in the 2010 strategy Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS (July 2010); stating:

"We will put patients at the heart of the NHS, through an information revolution and greater choice and control’ with shared decision-making becoming the norm: ‘no decision about me without me’ and patients having access
to the information they want, to make choices about their care. They will have increased control over their own care records."

These types of statements present a significant opportunity for health informaticians to come out of the back-office and take up a front-line role supporting clinical practice, and the business of care delivery.
The UK health informatics community has long played a key role in international activity, joining TC4 of the International Federation of Information Processing (1969) which became [http://www.imia-medinfo.org IMIA] (1979). Under the aegis of [http://www.bcs.org/health BCS Health], Cambridge was the host for the first [http://www.efmi.org EFMI] Medical Informatics Europe (1974) conference and London was the location for IMIA’s tenth global congress (MEDINFO2001).
In 2002, the idea of a profession of health informatics across the UK was first mooted and by 2004 a voluntary open register was established. The [http://www.ukchip.org UK Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP)] now has a formal Code of Professional Conduct, standards for expressing competences which are used for entry, confirmation of fitness to practice, re-grading and personal development. Consistent standards express competences of health informatics professionals in both domain-specific and generic informatics professional areas. The consistency is intended to apply in operational care delivery organizations, academia and the commercial service and solution providers. In 2011, self-assessment tools were introduced for use by any interested party. In addition, the principles and UKCHIP model are being considered internationally (as at 2011). UKCHIP certification is being considered for regulatory purposes. In conjunction with workforce development tools such as the NHS HI Career Framework it is possible for individuals to compare their skills against typical job roles, determine their professional level, and for employers to carry out detailed workforce analysis to meet the emerging requirements of the informatics strategies of all the home countries.

The European Commission's preference, as exemplified in the 5th Framework<ref>[http://cordis.europa.eu/fp5/ Cordis FP5web]</ref> as well as currently pursued pilot projects,<ref>[http://www.epsos.eu European Patient Smart Open Services]</ref> is for Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) for healthcare.

===Asia and Oceania===
In Asia and Australia-New Zealand, the regional group called the Asia Pacific Association for Medical Informatics (APAMI)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.apami.org |title=Asia Pacific Association of Medical Informatics}}</ref> was established in 1994 and now consists of more than 15 member regions in the Asia Pacific Region.

====Australia====
The Australasian College of Health Informatics (ACHI) is the professional association for health informatics in the Asia-Pacific region. It represents the interests of a broad range of clinical and non-clinical professionals working within the health informatics sphere through a commitment to quality, standards and ethical practice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ACHI.org.au|title=Australasian College of Health Informatics|accessdate=3 May 2010}}Australasian College of Health Informatics</ref> Founded in 2002, ACHI is increasingly valued<ref>[http://www.fhs.usyd.edu.au/health_informatics/about/index.shtml University of Sydney] Current Developments in Health Informatics</ref> for its thought leadership, its trusted advisors and national and international experts in Health Informatics. ACHI is an academic institutional member of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imia.org/members/profiles/academic.lasso?-Search=Action&-Table=CGI&-MaxRecords=1&-SkipRecords=2&-Database=organizations&-SortField=english_vers&-SortOrder=ascending&type=academic&approved=yes|title=International Medical Informatics Association - Academic Institutional Members - Australia - Australian College of Health Informatics|date=12 August 2009|accessdate=22 February 2010}}</ref> and a full member of the Australian Council of Professions.<ref>[http://www.ACHI.org.au ACHI Memberships] ACHI memberships: Professions Australia</ref>
ACHI is a sponsor of the "e-Journal for Health Informatics",<ref>[http://www.ejhi.net/ojs/index.php/ejhi/about/journalSponsorship eJHI - electronic Journal of Health Informatics] (open access journal)</ref> an indexed and peer-reviewed professional journal. ACHI has also supported the "Australian Health Informatics Education Council" (AHIEC) since its founding in 2009.<ref>[http://www.AHIEC.org.au Australian Health Informatics Education Council (AHIEC)] AHIEC Auspicing Organisations</ref>

Although there are a number of health informatics organisations in Australia, the [[Health Informatics Society of Australia]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hisa.org.au|title=Health Informatics Society of Australia Ltd|accessdate=3 April 2010}}</ref> (HISA) is regarded as the major umbrella group and is a member of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). Nursing informaticians were the driving force behind the formation of HISA, which is now a company limited by guarantee of the members. The membership comes from across the informatics spectrum that is from students to corporate affiliates. HISA has a number of branches (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia) as well as special interest groups such as nursing (NIA), pathology, aged and community care, industry and medical imaging (Conrick, 2006).

====China====
====Hong Kong====
In Hong Kong a computerized patient record system called the Clinical Management System (CMS) has been developed by the Hospital Authority since 1994. This system has been deployed at all the sites of the Authority (40 hospitals and 120 clinics), and is used by all 30,000 clinical staff on a daily basis, with a daily transaction of up to 2 millions. The comprehensive records of 7 million patients are available on-line in the Electronic Patient Record (ePR), with data integrated from all sites. Since 2004 radiology image viewing has been added to the ePR, with radiography images from any HA site being available as part of the ePR.

The Hong Kong Hospital Authority placed particular attention to the governance of clinical systems development, with input from hundreds of clinicians being incorporated through a structured process. The Health Informatics Section in Hong Kong Hospital Authority<ref>[http://www.ha.org.hk/hi/Welcome.html Health Informatics Section in Hong Kong Hospital Authority]</ref> has close relationship with Information Technology Department and clinicians to develop healthcare systems for the organization to support the service to all public hospitals and clinics in the region.

The Hong Kong Society of Medical Informatics (HKSMI) was established in 1987 to promote the use of information technology in healthcare. The eHealth Consortium has been formed to bring together clinicians from both the private and public sectors, medical informatics professionals and the IT industry to further promote IT in healthcare in Hong Kong.<ref>[http://www.iproa.org/ProjectDetail.action?id=270 eHealth Consortium]</ref>

====India====
Religare Technova IT solutions is attempting a new service to improve the healthcare information system in India.

====New Zealand====
Health Informatics is taught at five New Zealand universities. The most mature and established is the Otago programme which has been offered for over a decade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepages.mcs.vuw.ac.nz/~peterk/healthinformatics/tec-hi-report-06.pdf|title=Health Informatics Capability Development In New Zealand - A Report to the Tertiary Education Commission|author=Karolyn Kerr|coauthors=Rowena Cullen, Jan Duke, Alec Holt, Ray Kirk, Peter Komisarczuk, Jim Warren and Shona Wilson|year=2006|accessdate=2009-01-08}}</ref> Health Informatics New Zealand (HINZ)([http://www.hinz.org.nz www.hinz.org.nz]), is the national organisation that advocates for Health Informatics. HINZ organises a conference every year and also publishes an online journal- Healthcare Informatics Review Online [http://www.hinz.org.nz/journal www.hinz.org.nz/journal].

====Saudi Arabia====
The Saudi Association for Health Information (SAHI) was established in 2006<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imia.org/members/profiles/national.lasso?-Search=Action&-Table=CGI&-MaxRecords=1&-SkipRecords=27&-Database=organizations&-KeyField=Internal%20Record%20ID&-SortField=country&-SortOrder=ascending&-SortField=country&-SortOrder=ascending&type=national&type=national |title=Medical Pharmaceutical Information Association (MedPharmInfo) |publisher=Imia.org |date=2008-05-18 |accessdate=2010-07-29}}</ref> to work under direct supervision of King Saud University for Health Sciences to practice public activities, develop theoretical and applicable knowledge, and provide scientific and applicable studies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sahi.org.sa/objectives.php| title= Saudi Association for Health Informatics (SAHI)| work=www.sahi.org.sa/}}</ref>

==Health informatics law==
''Health informatics law'' deals with evolving and sometimes complex legal principles as they apply to information technology in health-related fields. It addresses the privacy, ethical and operational issues that invariably arise when electronic tools, information and media are used in health care delivery. Health Informatics Law also applies to all matters that involve information technology, health care and the interaction of information. It deals with the circumstances under which data and records are shared with other fields or areas that support and enhance patient care.

==Clinical Informatics==
Clinical Informatics is concerned with use information in health care by clinicians.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gardner RM, Overhage JM, Steen EB, ''et al.'' |title=Core content for the subspecialty of clinical informatics |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=153–7 |year=2009 |pmid=19074296 |pmc=2649328 |doi=10.1197/jamia.M3045}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Safran C, Shabot MM, Munger BS, ''et al.'' |title=Program requirements for fellowship education in the subspecialty of clinical informatics |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=158–66 |year=2009 |pmid=19074295 |pmc=2649323 |doi=10.1197/jamia.M3046}}</ref>

Clinical informaticians transform health care by analyzing, designing, implementing, and evaluating information and communication systems that enhance individual and population health outcomes, improve [patient] care, and strengthen the clinician-patient relationship.
Clinical informaticians use their knowledge of patient care combined with their understanding of informatics concepts, methods, and [[health informatics tools]] to:

* assess information and knowledge needs of health care professionals and patients,
* characterize, evaluate, and refine clinical processes,
* develop, implement, and refine clinical decision support systems, and
* lead or participate in the procurement, customization, development, implementation, management, evaluation, and continuous improvement of clinical information systems.

[[Clinicians]] collaborate with other health care and information technology [[professionals]] to develop [[health informatics tools]] which promote patient care that is safe, efficient, effective, timely, patient-centered, and equitable.

===Translational bioinformatics===
With the completion of the human genome and the recent advent of high throughput sequencing and genome-wise association studies of single nucleotide polymorphisms, the fields of molecular bioinformatics, biostatistiques, statistical genetics and clinical informatics are converging into the emerging field of [[translational bioinformatics]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Butte|first1=AJ|title=Translational bioinformatics applications in genome medicine.|journal=Genome medicine|volume=1|issue=6|pages=64|year=2009|pmid=19566916|pmc=2703873|doi=10.1186/gm64}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kann|first1=M. G.|title=Advances in translational bioinformatics: computational approaches for the hunting of disease genes|journal=Briefings in Bioinformatics|volume=11|issue=1|pages=96|year=2009|pmid=20007728|pmc=2810112|doi=10.1093/bib/bbp048}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lussier|first1=YA|last2=Butte|first2=AJ|last3=Hunter|first3=L|title=Current methodologies for translational bioinformatics.|journal=Journal of biomedical informatics|volume=43|issue=3|pages=355–7|year=2010|pmid=20470899|pmc=2894568|doi=10.1016/j.jbi.2010.05.002}}</ref>

==See also==

===Standards/frameworks and governance===
* Health Metrics Network
* HL7
* LOINC
* Omaha System
* openEHR

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*{{dmoz|Health/Medicine/Informatics}}
*[http://www.ACHI.org.au Australasian College of Health Informatics]
*[http://www.eJHI.net e-Journal for Health Informatics]
*[http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6947/9/24 Article about informatics]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Health Informatics}}
[[Category:Health informatics]]

Health informatics

2011-07-21T19:20:58Z

Mikelong88888: creation of page

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

[[Image:Sshot fever.png|right|thumb|Electronic patient chart from a health information system]]

'''Health informatics''' (also called '''health care informatics''', '''healthcare informatics''', '''medical informatics''', '''nursing informatics''', '''clinical informatics''', or '''biomedical informatics''') is a discipline at the intersection of information science, computer science, and health care. It deals with the resources, devices, and methods required to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in health and biomedicine. Health informatics tools include not only computers but also clinical guidelines, formal medical terminologies, and information and communication systems. It is applied to the areas of nursing, clinical care, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, occupational therapy, and (bio)medical research.
* The international standards on the subject are covered by ICS 35.240.80<ref name=itah>{{cite web| title = 35.240.80: IT applications in health care technology| publisher = ISO| url = http://www.iso.org/iso/products/standards/catalogue_ics_browse.htm?ICS1=35&ICS2=240&ICS3=80&| accessdate = 2008-06-15}}</ref> in which ISO 27799:2008 is one of the core components.<ref name=isosm>{{cite web| last = Fraser| first = Ross| title = ISO 27799: Security management in health using ISO/IEC 17799| url = http://sl.infoway-inforoute.ca/downloads/Ross_Fraser_-_ISO_27799.pdf| accessdate = 2008-06-15 }}</ref>
* Molecular [[bioinformatics]] and clinical informatics have converged into the field of translational bioinformatics.

==History==

Informatics were a central part of the Nazi health care system, which included Nazi eugenics as one of its fundamental principles. New systems and technology, like electronic punch card tabulating and sorting machines, and the science of medical statistics, were used to gather, sort, and analyze personal information on a vast scale unseen before in human history. The information was used to help find and eliminate the 'genetically inferior' through sterilization or wholesale murder. Many of the architects of these systems would go on to play a role in the post-war medical informatics field.<ref>The Nazi Census, Götz Aly and Karl Heinz Roth, Temple University Press, 2004</ref>

World wide use of technology in medicine began in the early 1950s with the rise of the computers.<ref name="univ"/> In 1949, Gustav Wager established the first professional organization for informatics in Germany.<ref name="nyu">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nyuinformatics.org/education/degree-programs |title=NYU Graduate Training Program in Biomedical Informatics (BMI): A Brief History of Biomedical Informatics as a Discipline |work=www.nyuinformatics.org |publisher=NYU Langone Medical Center |accessdate=11 November 2010}}</ref> The prehistory, history, and future of medical information and health information technology are discussed in reference.<ref name="Robson_first">{{cite book |last=Robson |first=B. |last2=Baek |first2=O. K. |year=2009 |title=The engines of Hippocrates: From the Dawn of Medicine to Medical and Pharmaceutical Informatics |location=Hoboken, NJ |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9780470289532 }}</ref> Specialized university departments and Informatics training programs began during the 1960s in France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands. Medical informatics research units began to appear during the 1970s in Poland and in the U.S.<ref name="nyu" /> Since then the development of high-quality health informatics research, education and infrastructure has been the goal of the U.S. and the European Union.<ref name="nyu" />

Early names for health informatics included medical computing, medical computer science, computer medicine, medical electronic data processing, medical automatic data processing, medical information processing, medical information science, medical software engineering, and medical computer technology.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

The health informatics community is still growing, it is by no means a mature profession, but work in the UK by the voluntary registration body, the [http://www.ukchip.org UK Council of Health Informatics Professions] has suggested eight key constituencies within the domain - information management, knowledge management, portfolio/programme/project management, ICT, education and research, clinical informatics, health records(service and business-related), health informatics service management. These constituencies accommodate professionals in and for the NHS, in academia and commercial service and solution providers.

Since the 1970s the most prominent international coordinating body has been the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA).{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

===Medical informatics in the United States===
Even though the idea of using computers in medicine sprouted as technology advanced in the early twentieth century, it was not until the 1950s that informatics made a realistic impact in the United States.<ref name="univ">{{Cite web |url=http://healthinformatics.uic.edu/history-of-health-informatics |title=The History of Health Informatics |work=Health Informatics, Nursing Informatics and Health Information Management Degrees |publisher=[[University of Illinois at Chicago]]}}</ref>

The earliest use of computation for medicine was for [[dentistry|dental]] projects in the 1950s at the United States [[National Bureau of Standards]] by [[Robert Ledley]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sittig DF, Ash JS, Ledley RS |title=The story behind the development of the first whole-body computerized tomography scanner as told by Robert S. Ledley |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=465–9 |year=2006 |pmid=16799115 |pmc=1561796 |doi=10.1197/jamia.M2127}}</ref>

The next step in the mid 1950s were the development of expert systems such as [[MYCIN]] and [[Internist-I]]. In 1965, the [[National Library of Medicine]] started to use [[MEDLINE]] and [[MEDLARS]]. At this time, [[Neil Pappalardo]], Curtis Marble, and Robert Greenes developed [[MUMPS]] (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System) in [[Octo Barnett]]'s Laboratory of Computer Science <ref>[http://www.lcs.mgh.harvard.edu/ MGH - Laboratory of Computer Science]</ref> at [[Massachusetts General Hospital]] in [[Boston]].<ref>{{cite book|pages=161|title=Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology|author=Edwin D. Reilly|year=2003|isbn=978-1573565219|publisher=[[Greenwood Press]]}}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s it was the most commonly used programming language for clinical applications. The [[MUMPS]] operating system was used to support MUMPS language specifications. {{As of|2004}}, a descendent of this system is being used in the [[United States]] [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Veterans Affairs]] hospital system. The VA has the largest enterprise-wide health information system that includes an electronic medical record, known as the [[VistA|Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA)]]. A [[graphical user interface]] known as the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) allows health care providers to review and update a patient’s electronic medical record at any of the VA's over 1,000 health care facilities.

In the 1970s a growing number of commercial vendors began to market practice management and electronic medical records systems. Although many products exist, only a small number of health practitioners use fully featured electronic health care records systems.

[[Homer R. Warner]], one of the fathers of medical informatics,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Patton GA, Gardner RM |title=Medical informatics education: the University of Utah experience |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=457–65 |year=1999 |pmid=10579604 |pmc=61389}}</ref> founded the Department of Medical Informatics at the [[University of Utah]] in 1968. The [[American Medical Informatics Association]] (AMIA) has an award named after him on application of informatics to medicine.

==Current state of health informatics and policy initiatives==
{{Review|date=August 2009}}

===Americas===
====Argentina====
Since 1997, the Buenos Aires Biomedical Informatics Group, a nonprofit group, represents the interests of a broad range of clinical and non-clinical professionals working within the Health Informatics sphere.
Its purposes are:
*Promote the implementation of the computer tool in the healthcare activity, scientific research, health administration and in all areas related to health sciences and biomedical research.
*Support, promote and disseminate content related activities with the management of health information and tools they used to do under the name of Biomedical informatics.
*Promote cooperation and exchange of actions generated in the field of biomedical informatics, both in the public and private, national and international level.
*Interact with all scientists, recognized academic stimulating the creation of new instances that have the same goal and be inspired by the same purpose.
*To promote, organize, sponsor and participate in events and activities for training in computer and information and disseminating developments in this area that might be useful for team members and health related activities.

The Argentinian health system is very heterogeneous, because of that the informatics developments shows an heterogeneous stage. Lot of private Health Care center have developed systems, as the German Hospital of Buenos Aires who was one of the first in develop the electronic health records system.

====Brazil====
{{Main|Brazilian Society of Health Informatics}}
The first applications of computers to medicine and healthcare in Brazil started around 1968, with the installation of the first mainframes in public university hospitals, and the use of programmable calculators in scientific research applications. Minicomputers, such as the [[IBM 1130]] were installed in several universities, and the first applications were developed for them, such as the [[hospital census]] in the [[School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto]] and patient master files, in the [[Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade de São Paulo]], respectively at the cities of [[Ribeirão Preto]] and [[São Paulo]] campi of the [[University of São Paulo]]. In the 1970s, several [[Digital Corporation]] and [[Hewlett Packard]] minicomputers were acquired for public and Armed Forces hospitals, and more intensively used for [[intensive-care unit]], [[cardiology]] diagnostics, [[medical monitoring|patient monitoring]] amd other applications. In the early [[1980s]], with the arrival of cheaper [[microcomputer]]s, a great upsurge of computer applications in health ensued, and in 1986 the [[Brazilian Society of Health Informatics]] was founded, the first [[Brazilian Congress of Health Informatics]] was held, and the first ''Brazilian Journal of Health Informatics'' was published.

====Canada====
Health Informatics projects in Canada are implemented provincially, with different provinces creating different systems. A national, federally-funded, not-for-profit organization called [[Canada Health Infoway]] was created in 2001 to foster the development and adoption of electronic health records across Canada. As of December 31, 2008 there were 276 EHR projects under way in Canadian hospitals, other health-care facilities, pharmacies and laboratories, with an investment value of $1.5-billion from Canada Health Infoway.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080218.wmychart18/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/ | location=Toronto | work=The Globe and Mail | first=Lisa | last=Priest | title=Your medical chart, just a mouse click away | date=2008-02-18}}</ref>

Provincial and territorial programmes include the following:
*'''[[eHealth Ontario]]''' was created as an Ontario provincial government agency in September 2008. It has been plagued by delays and its CEO was fired over a multimillion-dollar contracts scandal in 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/06/07/ehealth-kramer.html|title= Head of eHealth Ontario is fired amid contracts scandal, gets big package|accessdate=2009-08-26 | work=CBC News | date=2009-06-07}}</ref>
*'''[[Alberta Netcare]]''' was created in 2003 by the Government of Alberta. Today the netCARE portal is used daily by thousands of clinicians. It provides access to demographic data, prescribed/dispensed drugs, known allergies/intolerances, immunizations, laboratory test results, diagnostic imaging reports, the diabetes registry and other medical reports. netCARE interface capabilities are being included in electronic medical record products which are being funded by the provincial government.

====United States====
In 2004 the U.S. [[Department of Health and Human Services]] (HHS) formed the [[Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology]] (ONCHIT). The mission of this office is widespread adoption of interoperable electronic health records (EHRs) in the US within 10 years. See [[quality improvement organizations]] for more information on federal initiatives in this area.

The [[Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology]] (CCHIT), a private nonprofit group, was funded in 2005 by the U.S. [[Department of Health and Human Services]] to develop a set of standards for [[electronic health record]]s (EHR) and supporting networks, and certify vendors who meet them. In July, 2006 CCHIT released its first list of 22 certified ambulatory EHR products, in two different announcements.<ref>Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (July 18, 2006): [http://www.cchit.org/media/press+releases/CCHIT+Announces+First+Certified+Electronic+Health+Record+Products.htm CCHIT Announces First Certified Electronic Health Record Products]. Retrieved July 26, 2006.</ref>

===Europe===
{{details|European Federation for Medical Informatics}}

The European Union's Member States are committed to sharing their best practices and experiences to create a European eHealth Area, thereby improving access to and quality health care at the same time as stimulating growth in a promising new industrial sector. The European eHealth Action Plan plays a fundamental role in the European Union's strategy. Work on this initiative involves a collaborative approach among several parts of the Commission services.<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/health/policy_action_plan/index_en.htm European eHealth Action Plan]</ref><ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/index_en.htm European eHealth Action Plan i2010]</ref> The [[European Institute for Health Records]] is involved in the promotion of high quality [[electronic health record]] systems in the [[European Union]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Electronic Health Records for Europe|year=2005|url=http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Telemedicine_Alliance/SEMWC7SMD6E_0.html|publisher=[[European Space Agency]]|accessdate=2009-01-13}}</ref>

The NHS in England has contracted out to several vendors for a national health informatics system 'NPFIT' that originally divided the country into five regions and is to be united by a central electronic medical record system nicknamed "the spine".[16] The project, in 2010, is seriously behind schedule and its scope and design are being revised in real time. In 2010 a wide consultation was launched as part of a wider ‘Liberating the NHS’ plan. Many organisations and bodies (look on their own websites, as most have made their responses public in detail for information) responded to the consultation and a new strategy is expected in the second quarter of 2011. The degree of computerisation in NHS secondary care was quite high before NPfIT and that programme has had the unfortunate effect of largely stalling further development of the installed base.
Almost all general practices in England and Wales are computerised and patients have relatively extensive computerised primary care clinical records. Computerisation is the responsibility of individual practices and there is no single, standardised GP system. Interoperation between primary and secondary care systems is rather primitive. A focus on interworking (for interfacing and integration) standards is hoped will stimulate synergy between primary and secondary care in sharing necessary information to support the care of individuals.
Scotland has an approach to central connection under way which is more advanced than the English one in some ways. Scotland has the GPASS system whose source code is owned by the State, and controlled and developed by NHS Scotland. GPASS was accepted in 1984. It has been provided free to all GPs in Scotland but has developed poorly.[citation needed] Discussion of open sourcing it as a remedy is occurring.
The broad history of health informatics has been captured in the book [http://www.bcs.org/health UK Health Computing : Recollections and reflections, Hayes G, Barnett D (Eds.)], BCS (May 2008) by those active in the field, predominantly members of BCS Health and its constituent groups. The book describes the path taken as ‘early development of health informatics was unorganized and idiosyncratic’. In the early -1950s it was prompted by those involved in NHS finance and only in the early 1960s did solutions including those in pathology (1960), radiotherapy (1962), immunization (1963), and primary care (1968) emerge. Many of these solutions, even in the early 1970s were developed in-house by pioneers in the field to meet their own requirements. In part this was due to some areas of health services (for example the immunization and vaccination of children) still being provided by Local Authorities. Interesting, this is a situation which the coalition government propose broadly to return to in the 2010 strategy Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS (July 2010); stating:

"We will put patients at the heart of the NHS, through an information revolution and greater choice and control’ with shared decision-making becoming the norm: ‘no decision about me without me’ and patients having access
to the information they want, to make choices about their care. They will have increased control over their own care records."

These types of statements present a significant opportunity for health informaticians to come out of the back-office and take up a front-line role supporting clinical practice, and the business of care delivery.
The UK health informatics community has long played a key role in international activity, joining TC4 of the International Federation of Information Processing (1969) which became [http://www.imia-medinfo.org IMIA] (1979). Under the aegis of [http://www.bcs.org/health BCS Health], Cambridge was the host for the first [http://www.efmi.org EFMI] Medical Informatics Europe (1974) conference and London was the location for IMIA’s tenth global congress (MEDINFO2001).
In 2002, the idea of a profession of health informatics across the UK was first mooted and by 2004 a voluntary open register was established. The [http://www.ukchip.org UK Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP)] now has a formal Code of Professional Conduct, standards for expressing competences which are used for entry, confirmation of fitness to practice, re-grading and personal development. Consistent standards express competences of health informatics professionals in both domain-specific and generic informatics professional areas. The consistency is intended to apply in operational care delivery organizations, academia and the commercial service and solution providers. In 2011, self-assessment tools were introduced for use by any interested party. In addition, the principles and UKCHIP model are being considered internationally (as at 2011). UKCHIP certification is being considered for regulatory purposes. In conjunction with workforce development tools such as the NHS HI Career Framework it is possible for individuals to compare their skills against typical job roles, determine their professional level, and for employers to carry out detailed workforce analysis to meet the emerging requirements of the informatics strategies of all the home countries.

The European Commission's preference, as exemplified in the 5th Framework<ref>[http://cordis.europa.eu/fp5/ Cordis FP5web]</ref> as well as currently pursued pilot projects,<ref>[http://www.epsos.eu European Patient Smart Open Services]</ref> is for Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) for healthcare.

===Asia and Oceania===
In Asia and Australia-New Zealand, the regional group called the [[Asia Pacific Association for Medical Informatics]] (APAMI)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.apami.org |title=Asia Pacific Association of Medical Informatics}}</ref> was established in 1994 and now consists of more than 15 member regions in the Asia Pacific Region.

====Australia====
The [[Australasian College of Health Informatics]] (ACHI) is the professional association for health informatics in the Asia-Pacific region. It represents the interests of a broad range of clinical and non-clinical professionals working within the health informatics sphere through a commitment to quality, standards and ethical practice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ACHI.org.au|title=Australasian College of Health Informatics|accessdate=3 May 2010}}Australasian College of Health Informatics</ref> Founded in 2002, ACHI is increasingly valued<ref>[http://www.fhs.usyd.edu.au/health_informatics/about/index.shtml University of Sydney] Current Developments in Health Informatics</ref> for its [[thought leader]]ship, its trusted advisors and national and international experts in Health Informatics. ACHI is an academic institutional member of the [[International Medical Informatics Association]] (IMIA)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imia.org/members/profiles/academic.lasso?-Search=Action&-Table=CGI&-MaxRecords=1&-SkipRecords=2&-Database=organizations&-SortField=english_vers&-SortOrder=ascending&type=academic&approved=yes|title=International Medical Informatics Association - Academic Institutional Members - Australia - Australian College of Health Informatics|date=12 August 2009|accessdate=22 February 2010}}</ref> and a full member of the Australian Council of Professions.<ref>[http://www.ACHI.org.au ACHI Memberships] ACHI memberships: Professions Australia</ref>
ACHI is a sponsor of the "e-Journal for Health Informatics",<ref>[http://www.ejhi.net/ojs/index.php/ejhi/about/journalSponsorship eJHI - electronic Journal of Health Informatics] (open access journal)</ref> an indexed and peer-reviewed professional journal. ACHI has also supported the "[[Australian Health Informatics Education Council]]" (AHIEC) since its founding in 2009.<ref>[http://www.AHIEC.org.au Australian Health Informatics Education Council (AHIEC)] AHIEC Auspicing Organisations</ref>

Although there are a number of health informatics organisations in Australia, the [[Health Informatics Society of Australia]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hisa.org.au|title=Health Informatics Society of Australia Ltd|accessdate=3 April 2010}}</ref> (HISA) is regarded as the major umbrella group and is a member of the [[International Medical Informatics Association]] (IMIA). Nursing informaticians were the driving force behind the formation of HISA, which is now a company limited by guarantee of the members. The membership comes from across the informatics spectrum that is from students to corporate affiliates. HISA has a number of branches (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia) as well as special interest groups such as nursing (NIA), pathology, aged and community care, industry and medical imaging (Conrick, 2006).

====China====
{{Main|Health informatics in China}}

====Hong Kong====
In [[Hong Kong]] a computerized patient record system called the [[Clinical Management System]] (CMS) has been developed by the [[Hospital Authority]] since 1994. This system has been deployed at all the sites of the Authority (40 hospitals and 120 clinics), and is used by all 30,000 clinical staff on a daily basis, with a daily transaction of up to 2 millions. The comprehensive records of 7 million patients are available on-line in the [[Electronic Patient Record]] (ePR), with data integrated from all sites. Since 2004 radiology image viewing has been added to the ePR, with radiography images from any HA site being available as part of the ePR.

The [[Hong Kong Hospital Authority]] placed particular attention to the [[governance]] of clinical systems development, with input from hundreds of clinicians being incorporated through a structured process. The [[Health Informatics Section]] in Hong Kong Hospital Authority<ref>[http://www.ha.org.hk/hi/Welcome.html Health Informatics Section in Hong Kong Hospital Authority]</ref> has close relationship with Information Technology Department and clinicians to develop healthcare systems for the organization to support the service to all public hospitals and clinics in the region.

The [[Hong Kong Society of Medical Informatics]] (HKSMI) was established in 1987 to promote the use of information technology in healthcare. The eHealth Consortium has been formed to bring together clinicians from both the private and public sectors, medical informatics professionals and the IT industry to further promote IT in healthcare in Hong Kong.<ref>[http://www.iproa.org/ProjectDetail.action?id=270 eHealth Consortium]</ref>

====India====
{{Main|Indian Association for Medical Informatics}}
Religare Technova IT solutions is attempting a new service to improve the healthcare information system in India

====New Zealand====
Health Informatics is taught at five New Zealand universities. The most mature and established is the Otago programme which has been offered for over a decade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepages.mcs.vuw.ac.nz/~peterk/healthinformatics/tec-hi-report-06.pdf|title=Health Informatics Capability Development In New Zealand - A Report to the Tertiary Education Commission|author=Karolyn Kerr|coauthors=Rowena Cullen, Jan Duke, Alec Holt, Ray Kirk, Peter Komisarczuk, Jim Warren and Shona Wilson|year=2006|accessdate=2009-01-08}}</ref> Health Informatics New Zealand (HINZ)([http://www.hinz.org.nz www.hinz.org.nz]), is the national organisation that advocates for Health Informatics. HINZ organises a conference every year and also publishes an online journal- Healthcare Informatics Review Online [http://www.hinz.org.nz/journal www.hinz.org.nz/journal].

====Saudi Arabia====
The Saudi Association for Health Information (SAHI) was established in 2006<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imia.org/members/profiles/national.lasso?-Search=Action&-Table=CGI&-MaxRecords=1&-SkipRecords=27&-Database=organizations&-KeyField=Internal%20Record%20ID&-SortField=country&-SortOrder=ascending&-SortField=country&-SortOrder=ascending&type=national&type=national |title=Medical Pharmaceutical Information Association (MedPharmInfo) |publisher=Imia.org |date=2008-05-18 |accessdate=2010-07-29}}</ref> to work under direct supervision of King Saud University for Health Sciences to practice public activities, develop theoretical and applicable knowledge, and provide scientific and applicable studies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sahi.org.sa/objectives.php| title= Saudi Association for Health Informatics (SAHI)| work=www.sahi.org.sa/}}</ref>

==Health informatics law==
{{details|Health law}}
''Health informatics law'' deals with evolving and sometimes complex legal principles as they apply to information technology in health-related fields. It addresses the privacy, ethical and operational issues that invariably arise when electronic tools, information and media are used in health care delivery. Health Informatics Law also applies to all matters that involve information technology, health care and the interaction of information. It deals with the circumstances under which data and records are shared with other fields or areas that support and enhance patient care.

==Clinical Informatics==
Clinical Informatics is concerned with use information in [[health care]] by [[clinicians]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gardner RM, Overhage JM, Steen EB, ''et al.'' |title=Core content for the subspecialty of clinical informatics |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=153–7 |year=2009 |pmid=19074296 |pmc=2649328 |doi=10.1197/jamia.M3045}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Safran C, Shabot MM, Munger BS, ''et al.'' |title=Program requirements for fellowship education in the subspecialty of clinical informatics |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=158–66 |year=2009 |pmid=19074295 |pmc=2649323 |doi=10.1197/jamia.M3046}}</ref>

[[Clinical research|Clinical]] informaticians transform health care by analyzing, designing, implementing, and evaluating [[information]] and [[communication systems]] that enhance individual and population health outcomes, improve [patient] care, and strengthen the clinician-patient relationship.
Clinical informaticians use their knowledge of patient care combined with their understanding of informatics concepts, methods, and [[health informatics tools]] to:

* assess information and knowledge needs of health care professionals and patients,
* characterize, evaluate, and refine clinical processes,
* develop, implement, and refine clinical decision support systems, and
* lead or participate in the procurement, customization, development, implementation, management, evaluation, and continuous improvement of clinical information systems.

[[Clinicians]] collaborate with other health care and information technology [[professionals]] to develop [[health informatics tools]] which promote patient care that is safe, efficient, effective, timely, patient-centered, and equitable.

===Translational bioinformatics===
With the completion of the human genome and the recent advent of high throughput sequencing and genome-wise association studies of single nucleotide polymorphisms, the fields of molecular bioinformatics, biostatistiques, statistical genetics and clinical informatics are converging into the emerging field of [[translational bioinformatics]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Butte|first1=AJ|title=Translational bioinformatics applications in genome medicine.|journal=Genome medicine|volume=1|issue=6|pages=64|year=2009|pmid=19566916|pmc=2703873|doi=10.1186/gm64}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kann|first1=M. G.|title=Advances in translational bioinformatics: computational approaches for the hunting of disease genes|journal=Briefings in Bioinformatics|volume=11|issue=1|pages=96|year=2009|pmid=20007728|pmc=2810112|doi=10.1093/bib/bbp048}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lussier|first1=YA|last2=Butte|first2=AJ|last3=Hunter|first3=L|title=Current methodologies for translational bioinformatics.|journal=Journal of biomedical informatics|volume=43|issue=3|pages=355–7|year=2010|pmid=20470899|pmc=2894568|doi=10.1016/j.jbi.2010.05.002}}</ref>

== Leading health informatics and medical informatics journals ==
{{Main|List of medical and health informatics journals}}

==See also==

===Standards/frameworks and governance===
* Health Metrics Network
* HL7
* LOINC
* Omaha System
* openEHR

==References==
<references/>

==External links==

{{Commons category|Medical informatics}}
*{{dmoz|Health/Medicine/Informatics}}
*[http://www.ACHI.org.au Australasian College of Health Informatics]
*[http://www.eJHI.net e-Journal for Health Informatics]
*[http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6947/9/24 Article about informatics]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Health Informatics}}
[[Category:Health informatics| ]]

Health informatics

2011-07-21T19:14:03Z

Mikelong88888: Creation of article

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

[[Image:Sshot fever.png|right|thumb|Electronic patient chart from a health information system]]

'''Health informatics''' (also called '''health care informatics''', '''healthcare informatics''', '''medical informatics''', '''nursing informatics''', '''clinical informatics''', or '''biomedical informatics''') is a discipline at the intersection of [[information science]], [[computer science]], and [[health care]]. It deals with the resources, devices, and methods required to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in health and biomedicine. [[Health informatics tools]] include not only computers but also [[medical guideline|clinical guidelines]], formal medical terminologies, and information and communication systems. It is applied to the areas of nursing, clinical care, dentistry, pharmacy, public health, occupational therapy, and (bio)medical research.
* The international standards on the subject are covered by ICS 35.240.80<ref name=itah>{{cite web| title = 35.240.80: IT applications in health care technology| publisher = [[ISO]]| url = http://www.iso.org/iso/products/standards/catalogue_ics_browse.htm?ICS1=35&ICS2=240&ICS3=80&| accessdate = 2008-06-15}}</ref> in which [[ISO 27799]]:2008 is one of the core components.<ref name=isosm>{{cite web| last = Fraser| first = Ross| title = ISO 27799: Security management in health using ISO/IEC 17799| url = http://sl.infoway-inforoute.ca/downloads/Ross_Fraser_-_ISO_27799.pdf| accessdate = 2008-06-15 }}</ref>
* Molecular [[bioinformatics]] and clinical informatics have converged into the field of [[translational bioinformatics]].

==History==

Informatics were a central part of the Nazi health care system, which included [[Nazi eugenics]] as one of its fundamental principles. New systems and technology, like electronic [[IBM and the Holocaust|punch card]] tabulating and sorting machines, and the science of medical statistics, were used to gather, sort, and analyze personal information on a vast scale unseen before in human history. The information was used to help find and eliminate the 'genetically inferior' through [[Hereditary Health Court|sterilization]] or [[Action T4|wholesale murder]]. Many of the architects of these systems would go on to play a role in the post-war medical informatics field.<ref>The Nazi Census, Götz Aly and Karl Heinz Roth, Temple University Press, 2004</ref>

World wide use of technology in medicine began in the early 1950s with the rise of the computers.<ref name="univ"/> In 1949, Gustav Wager established the first professional organization for informatics in Germany.<ref name="nyu">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nyuinformatics.org/education/degree-programs |title=NYU Graduate Training Program in Biomedical Informatics (BMI): A Brief History of Biomedical Informatics as a Discipline |work=www.nyuinformatics.org |publisher=NYU Langone Medical Center |accessdate=11 November 2010}}</ref> The prehistory, history, and future of medical information and health information technology are discussed in reference.<ref name="Robson_first">{{cite book |last=Robson |first=B. |last2=Baek |first2=O. K. |year=2009 |title=The engines of Hippocrates: From the Dawn of Medicine to Medical and Pharmaceutical Informatics |location=Hoboken, NJ |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9780470289532 }}</ref> Specialized university departments and Informatics training programs began during the 1960s in France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands. Medical informatics research units began to appear during the 1970s in Poland and in the U.S.<ref name="nyu" /> Since then the development of high-quality health informatics research, education and infrastructure has been the goal of the U.S. and the European Union.<ref name="nyu" />

Early names for health informatics included [[medical computing]], medical computer science, computer medicine, medical electronic data processing, medical automatic data processing, medical information processing, medical information science, [[medical software]] engineering, and medical computer technology.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

The health informatics community is still growing, it is by no means a mature profession, but work in the UK by the voluntary registration body, the [http://www.ukchip.org UK Council of Health Informatics Professions] has suggested eight key constituencies within the domain - information management, knowledge management, portfolio/programme/project management, ICT, education and research, clinical informatics, health records(service and business-related), health informatics service management. These constituencies accommodate professionals in and for the NHS, in academia and commercial service and solution providers.

Since the 1970s the most prominent international coordinating body has been the [[International Medical Informatics Association]] (IMIA).{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}

===Medical informatics in the United States===
Even though the idea of using computers in medicine sprouted as technology advanced in the early twentieth century, it was not until the 1950s that informatics made a realistic impact in the United States.<ref name="univ">{{Cite web |url=http://healthinformatics.uic.edu/history-of-health-informatics |title=The History of Health Informatics |work=Health Informatics, Nursing Informatics and Health Information Management Degrees |publisher=[[University of Illinois at Chicago]]}}</ref>

The earliest use of computation for medicine was for [[dentistry|dental]] projects in the 1950s at the United States [[National Bureau of Standards]] by [[Robert Ledley]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Sittig DF, Ash JS, Ledley RS |title=The story behind the development of the first whole-body computerized tomography scanner as told by Robert S. Ledley |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=13 |issue=5 |pages=465–9 |year=2006 |pmid=16799115 |pmc=1561796 |doi=10.1197/jamia.M2127}}</ref>

The next step in the mid 1950s were the development of expert systems such as [[MYCIN]] and [[Internist-I]]. In 1965, the [[National Library of Medicine]] started to use [[MEDLINE]] and [[MEDLARS]]. At this time, [[Neil Pappalardo]], Curtis Marble, and Robert Greenes developed [[MUMPS]] (Massachusetts General Hospital Utility Multi-Programming System) in [[Octo Barnett]]'s Laboratory of Computer Science <ref>[http://www.lcs.mgh.harvard.edu/ MGH - Laboratory of Computer Science]</ref> at [[Massachusetts General Hospital]] in [[Boston]].<ref>{{cite book|pages=161|title=Milestones in Computer Science and Information Technology|author=Edwin D. Reilly|year=2003|isbn=978-1573565219|publisher=[[Greenwood Press]]}}</ref> In the 1970s and 1980s it was the most commonly used programming language for clinical applications. The [[MUMPS]] operating system was used to support MUMPS language specifications. {{As of|2004}}, a descendent of this system is being used in the [[United States]] [[United States Department of Veterans Affairs|Veterans Affairs]] hospital system. The VA has the largest enterprise-wide health information system that includes an electronic medical record, known as the [[VistA|Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA)]]. A [[graphical user interface]] known as the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) allows health care providers to review and update a patient’s electronic medical record at any of the VA's over 1,000 health care facilities.

In the 1970s a growing number of commercial vendors began to market practice management and electronic medical records systems. Although many products exist, only a small number of health practitioners use fully featured electronic health care records systems.

[[Homer R. Warner]], one of the fathers of medical informatics,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Patton GA, Gardner RM |title=Medical informatics education: the University of Utah experience |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=457–65 |year=1999 |pmid=10579604 |pmc=61389}}</ref> founded the Department of Medical Informatics at the [[University of Utah]] in 1968. The [[American Medical Informatics Association]] (AMIA) has an award named after him on application of informatics to medicine.

==Current state of health informatics and policy initiatives==
{{Review|date=August 2009}}

===Americas===
====Argentina====
Since 1997, the Buenos Aires Biomedical Informatics Group, a nonprofit group, represents the interests of a broad range of clinical and non-clinical professionals working within the Health Informatics sphere.
Its purposes are:
*Promote the implementation of the computer tool in the healthcare activity, scientific research, health administration and in all areas related to health sciences and biomedical research.
*Support, promote and disseminate content related activities with the management of health information and tools they used to do under the name of Biomedical informatics.
*Promote cooperation and exchange of actions generated in the field of biomedical informatics, both in the public and private, national and international level.
*Interact with all scientists, recognized academic stimulating the creation of new instances that have the same goal and be inspired by the same purpose.
*To promote, organize, sponsor and participate in events and activities for training in computer and information and disseminating developments in this area that might be useful for team members and health related activities.

The Argentinian health system is very heterogeneous, because of that the informatics developments shows an heterogeneous stage. Lot of private Health Care center have developed systems, as the German Hospital of Buenos Aires who was one of the first in develop the electronic health records system.

====Brazil====
{{Main|Brazilian Society of Health Informatics}}
The first applications of computers to medicine and healthcare in Brazil started around 1968, with the installation of the first mainframes in public university hospitals, and the use of programmable calculators in scientific research applications. Minicomputers, such as the [[IBM 1130]] were installed in several universities, and the first applications were developed for them, such as the [[hospital census]] in the [[School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto]] and patient master files, in the [[Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade de São Paulo]], respectively at the cities of [[Ribeirão Preto]] and [[São Paulo]] campi of the [[University of São Paulo]]. In the 1970s, several [[Digital Corporation]] and [[Hewlett Packard]] minicomputers were acquired for public and Armed Forces hospitals, and more intensively used for [[intensive-care unit]], [[cardiology]] diagnostics, [[medical monitoring|patient monitoring]] amd other applications. In the early [[1980s]], with the arrival of cheaper [[microcomputer]]s, a great upsurge of computer applications in health ensued, and in 1986 the [[Brazilian Society of Health Informatics]] was founded, the first [[Brazilian Congress of Health Informatics]] was held, and the first ''Brazilian Journal of Health Informatics'' was published.

====Canada====
Health Informatics projects in Canada are implemented provincially, with different provinces creating different systems. A national, federally-funded, not-for-profit organization called [[Canada Health Infoway]] was created in 2001 to foster the development and adoption of electronic health records across Canada. As of December 31, 2008 there were 276 EHR projects under way in Canadian hospitals, other health-care facilities, pharmacies and laboratories, with an investment value of $1.5-billion from Canada Health Infoway.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080218.wmychart18/BNStory/specialScienceandHealth/ | location=Toronto | work=The Globe and Mail | first=Lisa | last=Priest | title=Your medical chart, just a mouse click away | date=2008-02-18}}</ref>

Provincial and territorial programmes include the following:
*'''[[eHealth Ontario]]''' was created as an Ontario provincial government agency in September 2008. It has been plagued by delays and its CEO was fired over a multimillion-dollar contracts scandal in 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/06/07/ehealth-kramer.html|title= Head of eHealth Ontario is fired amid contracts scandal, gets big package|accessdate=2009-08-26 | work=CBC News | date=2009-06-07}}</ref>
*'''[[Alberta Netcare]]''' was created in 2003 by the Government of Alberta. Today the netCARE portal is used daily by thousands of clinicians. It provides access to demographic data, prescribed/dispensed drugs, known allergies/intolerances, immunizations, laboratory test results, diagnostic imaging reports, the diabetes registry and other medical reports. netCARE interface capabilities are being included in electronic medical record products which are being funded by the provincial government.

====United States====
In 2004 the U.S. [[Department of Health and Human Services]] (HHS) formed the [[Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology]] (ONCHIT). The mission of this office is widespread adoption of interoperable electronic health records (EHRs) in the US within 10 years. See [[quality improvement organizations]] for more information on federal initiatives in this area.

The [[Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology]] (CCHIT), a private nonprofit group, was funded in 2005 by the U.S. [[Department of Health and Human Services]] to develop a set of standards for [[electronic health record]]s (EHR) and supporting networks, and certify vendors who meet them. In July, 2006 CCHIT released its first list of 22 certified ambulatory EHR products, in two different announcements.<ref>Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology (July 18, 2006): [http://www.cchit.org/media/press+releases/CCHIT+Announces+First+Certified+Electronic+Health+Record+Products.htm CCHIT Announces First Certified Electronic Health Record Products]. Retrieved July 26, 2006.</ref>

===Europe===
{{details|European Federation for Medical Informatics}}

The European Union's Member States are committed to sharing their best practices and experiences to create a European eHealth Area, thereby improving access to and quality health care at the same time as stimulating growth in a promising new industrial sector. The European eHealth Action Plan plays a fundamental role in the European Union's strategy. Work on this initiative involves a collaborative approach among several parts of the Commission services.<ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/activities/health/policy_action_plan/index_en.htm European eHealth Action Plan]</ref><ref>[http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/eeurope/i2010/index_en.htm European eHealth Action Plan i2010]</ref> The [[European Institute for Health Records]] is involved in the promotion of high quality [[electronic health record]] systems in the [[European Union]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Electronic Health Records for Europe|year=2005|url=http://www.esa.int/esaMI/Telemedicine_Alliance/SEMWC7SMD6E_0.html|publisher=[[European Space Agency]]|accessdate=2009-01-13}}</ref>

The NHS in England has contracted out to several vendors for a national health informatics system 'NPFIT' that originally divided the country into five regions and is to be united by a central electronic medical record system nicknamed "the spine".[16] The project, in 2010, is seriously behind schedule and its scope and design are being revised in real time. In 2010 a wide consultation was launched as part of a wider ‘Liberating the NHS’ plan. Many organisations and bodies (look on their own websites, as most have made their responses public in detail for information) responded to the consultation and a new strategy is expected in the second quarter of 2011. The degree of computerisation in NHS secondary care was quite high before NPfIT and that programme has had the unfortunate effect of largely stalling further development of the installed base.
Almost all general practices in England and Wales are computerised and patients have relatively extensive computerised primary care clinical records. Computerisation is the responsibility of individual practices and there is no single, standardised GP system. Interoperation between primary and secondary care systems is rather primitive. A focus on interworking (for interfacing and integration) standards is hoped will stimulate synergy between primary and secondary care in sharing necessary information to support the care of individuals.
Scotland has an approach to central connection under way which is more advanced than the English one in some ways. Scotland has the GPASS system whose source code is owned by the State, and controlled and developed by NHS Scotland. GPASS was accepted in 1984. It has been provided free to all GPs in Scotland but has developed poorly.[citation needed] Discussion of open sourcing it as a remedy is occurring.
The broad history of health informatics has been captured in the book [http://www.bcs.org/health UK Health Computing : Recollections and reflections, Hayes G, Barnett D (Eds.)], BCS (May 2008) by those active in the field, predominantly members of BCS Health and its constituent groups. The book describes the path taken as ‘early development of health informatics was unorganized and idiosyncratic’. In the early -1950s it was prompted by those involved in NHS finance and only in the early 1960s did solutions including those in pathology (1960), radiotherapy (1962), immunization (1963), and primary care (1968) emerge. Many of these solutions, even in the early 1970s were developed in-house by pioneers in the field to meet their own requirements. In part this was due to some areas of health services (for example the immunization and vaccination of children) still being provided by Local Authorities. Interesting, this is a situation which the coalition government propose broadly to return to in the 2010 strategy Equity and Excellence: Liberating the NHS (July 2010); stating:

"We will put patients at the heart of the NHS, through an information revolution and greater choice and control’ with shared decision-making becoming the norm: ‘no decision about me without me’ and patients having access
to the information they want, to make choices about their care. They will have increased control over their own care records."

These types of statements present a significant opportunity for health informaticians to come out of the back-office and take up a front-line role supporting clinical practice, and the business of care delivery.
The UK health informatics community has long played a key role in international activity, joining TC4 of the International Federation of Information Processing (1969) which became [http://www.imia-medinfo.org IMIA] (1979). Under the aegis of [http://www.bcs.org/health BCS Health], Cambridge was the host for the first [http://www.efmi.org EFMI] Medical Informatics Europe (1974) conference and London was the location for IMIA’s tenth global congress (MEDINFO2001).
In 2002, the idea of a profession of health informatics across the UK was first mooted and by 2004 a voluntary open register was established. The [http://www.ukchip.org UK Council for Health Informatics Professions (UKCHIP)] now has a formal Code of Professional Conduct, standards for expressing competences which are used for entry, confirmation of fitness to practice, re-grading and personal development. Consistent standards express competences of health informatics professionals in both domain-specific and generic informatics professional areas. The consistency is intended to apply in operational care delivery organizations, academia and the commercial service and solution providers. In 2011, self-assessment tools were introduced for use by any interested party. In addition, the principles and UKCHIP model are being considered internationally (as at 2011). UKCHIP certification is being considered for regulatory purposes. In conjunction with workforce development tools such as the NHS HI Career Framework it is possible for individuals to compare their skills against typical job roles, determine their professional level, and for employers to carry out detailed workforce analysis to meet the emerging requirements of the informatics strategies of all the home countries.

The European Commission's preference, as exemplified in the 5th Framework<ref>[http://cordis.europa.eu/fp5/ Cordis FP5web]</ref> as well as currently pursued pilot projects,<ref>[http://www.epsos.eu European Patient Smart Open Services]</ref> is for Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) for healthcare.

===Asia and Oceania===
In Asia and Australia-New Zealand, the regional group called the [[Asia Pacific Association for Medical Informatics]] (APAMI)<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.apami.org |title=Asia Pacific Association of Medical Informatics}}</ref> was established in 1994 and now consists of more than 15 member regions in the Asia Pacific Region.

====Australia====
The [[Australasian College of Health Informatics]] (ACHI) is the professional association for health informatics in the Asia-Pacific region. It represents the interests of a broad range of clinical and non-clinical professionals working within the health informatics sphere through a commitment to quality, standards and ethical practice.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ACHI.org.au|title=Australasian College of Health Informatics|accessdate=3 May 2010}}Australasian College of Health Informatics</ref> Founded in 2002, ACHI is increasingly valued<ref>[http://www.fhs.usyd.edu.au/health_informatics/about/index.shtml University of Sydney] Current Developments in Health Informatics</ref> for its [[thought leader]]ship, its trusted advisors and national and international experts in Health Informatics. ACHI is an academic institutional member of the [[International Medical Informatics Association]] (IMIA)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imia.org/members/profiles/academic.lasso?-Search=Action&-Table=CGI&-MaxRecords=1&-SkipRecords=2&-Database=organizations&-SortField=english_vers&-SortOrder=ascending&type=academic&approved=yes|title=International Medical Informatics Association - Academic Institutional Members - Australia - Australian College of Health Informatics|date=12 August 2009|accessdate=22 February 2010}}</ref> and a full member of the Australian Council of Professions.<ref>[http://www.ACHI.org.au ACHI Memberships] ACHI memberships: Professions Australia</ref>
ACHI is a sponsor of the "e-Journal for Health Informatics",<ref>[http://www.ejhi.net/ojs/index.php/ejhi/about/journalSponsorship eJHI - electronic Journal of Health Informatics] (open access journal)</ref> an indexed and peer-reviewed professional journal. ACHI has also supported the "[[Australian Health Informatics Education Council]]" (AHIEC) since its founding in 2009.<ref>[http://www.AHIEC.org.au Australian Health Informatics Education Council (AHIEC)] AHIEC Auspicing Organisations</ref>

Although there are a number of health informatics organisations in Australia, the [[Health Informatics Society of Australia]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hisa.org.au|title=Health Informatics Society of Australia Ltd|accessdate=3 April 2010}}</ref> (HISA) is regarded as the major umbrella group and is a member of the [[International Medical Informatics Association]] (IMIA). Nursing informaticians were the driving force behind the formation of HISA, which is now a company limited by guarantee of the members. The membership comes from across the informatics spectrum that is from students to corporate affiliates. HISA has a number of branches (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia) as well as special interest groups such as nursing (NIA), pathology, aged and community care, industry and medical imaging (Conrick, 2006).

====China====
{{Main|Health informatics in China}}

====Hong Kong====
In [[Hong Kong]] a computerized patient record system called the [[Clinical Management System]] (CMS) has been developed by the [[Hospital Authority]] since 1994. This system has been deployed at all the sites of the Authority (40 hospitals and 120 clinics), and is used by all 30,000 clinical staff on a daily basis, with a daily transaction of up to 2 millions. The comprehensive records of 7 million patients are available on-line in the [[Electronic Patient Record]] (ePR), with data integrated from all sites. Since 2004 radiology image viewing has been added to the ePR, with radiography images from any HA site being available as part of the ePR.

The [[Hong Kong Hospital Authority]] placed particular attention to the [[governance]] of clinical systems development, with input from hundreds of clinicians being incorporated through a structured process. The [[Health Informatics Section]] in Hong Kong Hospital Authority<ref>[http://www.ha.org.hk/hi/Welcome.html Health Informatics Section in Hong Kong Hospital Authority]</ref> has close relationship with Information Technology Department and clinicians to develop healthcare systems for the organization to support the service to all public hospitals and clinics in the region.

The [[Hong Kong Society of Medical Informatics]] (HKSMI) was established in 1987 to promote the use of information technology in healthcare. The eHealth Consortium has been formed to bring together clinicians from both the private and public sectors, medical informatics professionals and the IT industry to further promote IT in healthcare in Hong Kong.<ref>[http://www.iproa.org/ProjectDetail.action?id=270 eHealth Consortium]</ref>

====India====
{{Main|Indian Association for Medical Informatics}}
Religare Technova IT solutions is attempting a new service to improve the healthcare information system in India

====New Zealand====
Health Informatics is taught at five New Zealand universities. The most mature and established is the Otago programme which has been offered for over a decade.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepages.mcs.vuw.ac.nz/~peterk/healthinformatics/tec-hi-report-06.pdf|title=Health Informatics Capability Development In New Zealand - A Report to the Tertiary Education Commission|author=Karolyn Kerr|coauthors=Rowena Cullen, Jan Duke, Alec Holt, Ray Kirk, Peter Komisarczuk, Jim Warren and Shona Wilson|year=2006|accessdate=2009-01-08}}</ref> Health Informatics New Zealand (HINZ)([http://www.hinz.org.nz www.hinz.org.nz]), is the national organisation that advocates for Health Informatics. HINZ organises a conference every year and also publishes an online journal- Healthcare Informatics Review Online [http://www.hinz.org.nz/journal www.hinz.org.nz/journal].

====Saudi Arabia====
The Saudi Association for Health Information (SAHI) was established in 2006<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.imia.org/members/profiles/national.lasso?-Search=Action&-Table=CGI&-MaxRecords=1&-SkipRecords=27&-Database=organizations&-KeyField=Internal%20Record%20ID&-SortField=country&-SortOrder=ascending&-SortField=country&-SortOrder=ascending&type=national&type=national |title=Medical Pharmaceutical Information Association (MedPharmInfo) |publisher=Imia.org |date=2008-05-18 |accessdate=2010-07-29}}</ref> to work under direct supervision of King Saud University for Health Sciences to practice public activities, develop theoretical and applicable knowledge, and provide scientific and applicable studies.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sahi.org.sa/objectives.php| title= Saudi Association for Health Informatics (SAHI)| work=www.sahi.org.sa/}}</ref>

==Health informatics law==
{{details|Health law}}
''Health informatics law'' deals with evolving and sometimes complex legal principles as they apply to information technology in health-related fields. It addresses the privacy, ethical and operational issues that invariably arise when electronic tools, information and media are used in health care delivery. Health Informatics Law also applies to all matters that involve information technology, health care and the interaction of information. It deals with the circumstances under which data and records are shared with other fields or areas that support and enhance patient care.

==Clinical Informatics==
Clinical Informatics is concerned with use information in [[health care]] by [[clinicians]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gardner RM, Overhage JM, Steen EB, ''et al.'' |title=Core content for the subspecialty of clinical informatics |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=153–7 |year=2009 |pmid=19074296 |pmc=2649328 |doi=10.1197/jamia.M3045}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Safran C, Shabot MM, Munger BS, ''et al.'' |title=Program requirements for fellowship education in the subspecialty of clinical informatics |journal=Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=158–66 |year=2009 |pmid=19074295 |pmc=2649323 |doi=10.1197/jamia.M3046}}</ref>

[[Clinical research|Clinical]] informaticians transform health care by analyzing, designing, implementing, and evaluating [[information]] and [[communication systems]] that enhance individual and population health outcomes, improve [patient] care, and strengthen the clinician-patient relationship.
Clinical informaticians use their knowledge of patient care combined with their understanding of informatics concepts, methods, and [[health informatics tools]] to:

* assess information and knowledge needs of health care professionals and patients,
* characterize, evaluate, and refine clinical processes,
* develop, implement, and refine clinical decision support systems, and
* lead or participate in the procurement, customization, development, implementation, management, evaluation, and continuous improvement of clinical information systems.

[[Clinicians]] collaborate with other health care and information technology [[professionals]] to develop [[health informatics tools]] which promote patient care that is safe, efficient, effective, timely, patient-centered, and equitable.

===Translational bioinformatics===
With the completion of the human genome and the recent advent of high throughput sequencing and genome-wise association studies of single nucleotide polymorphisms, the fields of molecular bioinformatics, biostatistiques, statistical genetics and clinical informatics are converging into the emerging field of [[translational bioinformatics]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Butte|first1=AJ|title=Translational bioinformatics applications in genome medicine.|journal=Genome medicine|volume=1|issue=6|pages=64|year=2009|pmid=19566916|pmc=2703873|doi=10.1186/gm64}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Kann|first1=M. G.|title=Advances in translational bioinformatics: computational approaches for the hunting of disease genes|journal=Briefings in Bioinformatics|volume=11|issue=1|pages=96|year=2009|pmid=20007728|pmc=2810112|doi=10.1093/bib/bbp048}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Lussier|first1=YA|last2=Butte|first2=AJ|last3=Hunter|first3=L|title=Current methodologies for translational bioinformatics.|journal=Journal of biomedical informatics|volume=43|issue=3|pages=355–7|year=2010|pmid=20470899|pmc=2894568|doi=10.1016/j.jbi.2010.05.002}}</ref>

== Leading health informatics and medical informatics journals ==
{{Main|List of medical and health informatics journals}}

==See also==

===Standards/frameworks and governance===
* Health Metrics Network
* HL7
* LOINC
* Omaha System
* openEHR

==References==
<references/>

==External links==

{{Commons category|Medical informatics}}
*{{dmoz|Health/Medicine/Informatics}}
*[http://www.ACHI.org.au Australasian College of Health Informatics]
*[http://www.eJHI.net e-Journal for Health Informatics]
*[http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6947/9/24 Article about informatics]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Health Informatics}}
[[Category:Health informatics| ]]

Category:Forest informatics

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{{cat main}}

[[Category:Environmental informatics]]

Forest informatics

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''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

Forest Informatics is the combined science of [[Forestry]] and
[[Informatics]], with a special emphasis on collection, management,
and processing of data, information and knowledge, and the
incorporation of informatic concepts and theories specific to enrich
forest management and forest science; it has a similar
relationship to library science and information science.

As is Information science or archival science, Forest
Informatics is an interdisciplinary science primarily concerned with
the collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and
dissemination of information. Information, in this context, includes
both human and machine readable documents. Examples of human readable
documents include maps, field data sheets, operational schedules,
and long term asset management plans with narrative text. Machine
readable documents include files for
geographic information systems (GIS), Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and
other applications like spreadsheets, and
relational database management systems.

As in management science, Forest Informatics uses
decision support systems, mathematical modeling, statistics, and
algorithms from engineering, operations research,
computer science, and artificial intelligence to support
decision-making activities. Common forestry problems include
harvest scheduling, model fitting, optimal sampling, [[remote sensing]],
crew assignment, image classification, treatment timing, and log
bucking problems, many of which can be formulated as optimization
problems (e.g. generalized assignment problem,
traveling salesman problem, knapsack problem, job shop scheduling, and
vehicle routing problems). The practice includes information
processing and the engineering of nformation systems,
decision support systems, geographic information systems, and
[[global positioning systems]]. The research field includes studies the
structure, algorithms, behavior, and interactions of natural and
artificial systems that store, process, access and communicate
information about forested ecosystems.

== History ==

In 1970, J. G. Grevatt wrote an article titled, "Management
Information and Computers in Forestry."
<ref>{{cite doi|10.1093/forestry/43.1.17}}</ref>
In the article, the author describes and discusses different
dimensions of management information (i.e. operation, expenditure,
location, and time) including the nature of management information and
decisions, management information in forestry, the management
information system itself, the application of computers, the structure of a
computer based system, comparisons between clerical and computer systems,
and the impact on the field manager. The author concludes that the use
of computers to process management data may be justified on grounds of
cost and improved information in organizations of a critical size.

At the time of that article, computers, databases, and geographic information systems
were still in their infancy and tools like the
Global Positioning Systems of today were yet invented. Management
database systems for business were more prevalent. Over the next 30 years,
computers became more powerful, smaller, and less
expensive. Relational database management systems had become
commonplace in business, interrogating the computer system had become
standardized with languages like SQL, and faster networks for data and
information integration have become highly integrated. In that time,
geographic information systems that could run on desktop computers
and could be customized for various tasks were also developed, but as
separate systems.

Within the last 10 years, specialized fields of study at the
University level are offered at the several forestry schools where
students learn the principles of quantification, modeling, descriptive
and predictive analyses of natural resources attributes needed for
sound management of forested ecosystems.

Software specifically devoted to analyzing management decisions for
forested ecosystems have been developed, and used in several large
scale planning projects. For example, the
Ecosystem Management Decision Support (EMDS) system is an [[application framework]] for
knowledge-based decision support of ecological analysis and
planning. Open source software solutions have also become more widely
accepted as well, as is seen in the expansion of ecological extensions
for statistical tools like R. A recent example would be the book
written by Andrew Robinson and Jeff D. Hamann about using R for forest
analytics<ref>http://www.springer.com/statistics/life+sciences,+medicine+%26+health/book/978-1-4419-7761-8</ref> .

In 2006, the United Nations declared 2011 to be International Year of Forests.

Forest Informatics, Inc. has developed a postgresql template, a
set of software agents, and a collection of reports, maps, and
data feeds. The application uses an intelligent agent
architecture to preemptively generate possible strategic, tactical,
and operational solutions for forest managers.

== References ==

<references/>

== Contributing Disciplines ==

Math
Artificial intelligence
Computer science
Information science
Information theory
Information technology
Biodiversity Informatics
Ecoinformatics
Evolutionary informatics
Geoinformatics

Mathematical logic
Graph theory
Computational geometry
Geographic Information Systems

== See also ==

[[Category:Forest informatics]]

Category:Ecoinformatics

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[[Category:Environmental informatics]]

Ecoinformatics

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''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Ecoinformatics''', or ecological informatics, is the science of information ([[Informatics (academic field)|Informatics]]) in Ecology and Environmental science. It integrates environmental and information sciences to define entities and natural processes with language common to both humans and computers. However, this is a rapidly developing area in ecology and there are alternative perspectives on what constitutes ecoinformatics.

A few definitions have been circulating, mostly centered on the creation of tools to access and analyze natural system data. However, the scope and aims of ecoinformatics are certainly broader than the development of pedestrian metadata standards to be used in documenting datasets. Ecoinformatics aims to facilitate environmental research and management by developing ways to access, integrate [[database]]s of environmental information, and develop new algorithms enabling different environmental datasets to be combined to test ecological hypotheses.

Ecoinformatics characterize the semantics of natural system knowledge. For this reason, much of today's ecoinformatics research relates to the branch of [[Computer Science informatics|computer science]] known as Knowledge representation, and active ecoinformatics projects are developing links to activities such as the Semantic Web.

Current initiatives to effectively manage, share, and reuse ecological data are indicative of the increasing importance of fields like Ecoinformatics to develop the foundations for effectively managing ecological information. Examples of these initiatives are National Science Foundation Datanet projects, DataONE and Data Conservancy.

==External links==
*[http://www.ecoinformatics.org ecoinformatics.org] -- Online Resource for Managing Ecological Data and Information

*[http://ecoinformatics.uvm.edu Ecoinformatics Collaboratory] -- Research links and public wiki for discussion.

*[http://ecoinformatics.oregonstate.edu Ecoinformatics Education]-- Ecosystem Informatics at Oregon State University

*[http://www.bui-berlin.de industrial Environmental Informatics]-- Industrial Environmental Informatics at HTW-Berlin, University of Applied Sciences

*[http://www.waite.adelaide.edu.au/ISEI/ International Society for Ecological Informatics]

*[http://www.science.uottawa.ca/~jkerr Canadian Facility for Ecoinformatics Research] -- Ecoinformatics at the University of Ottawa, Canada

*[http://www.ecoinfoindia.org ecoinfoindia.org -- Ecoinformatics Centre at ATREE, India] -- Eco Informatics Centre at the Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE)

*[http://www.nceas.ucsb.edu/ecoinfo Ecoinformatics program at the National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis]

*[http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/705192/description Ecological Informatics: An International Journal on Ecoinformatics and Computational Ecology]

*[http://www.ecologicaldata.org/ Ecological Data]

*[http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2007/nsf07601/nsf07601.htm NSF DataNet call for proposals]

*[http://www.dataone.org DataONE]

*[http://www.dataconservancy.org Data Conservancy]

[[Category:Ecoinformatics]]

Category:Environmental informatics

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{{cat main}}

[[Category:Laboratory informatics]]

Environmental informatics

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''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Environmental informatics''' is the science of information applied to [[environmental science]]. As such, it provides the information processing and communication infrastructure to the interdisciplinary field of environmental sciences<ref>L.M. Hilty, B. Page, F.J. Radermacher and W.-F. Riekert. Environmental Informatics as a new discipline of applied computer science. N.M. Avouris and B. Page (eds.), Environmental Informatics (1995), pp. 1-11. Kluwer Academic Publishers. The Netherlands. ISBN 0-7923-3445-0</ref> aiming at data, information and knowledge integration, the application of computational intelligence to environmental data as well as the identification of environmental impacts of information technology. The UK Natural Environment Research Council defines environmental informatics as the "research and system development focusing on the environmental sciences relating to the creation, collection, storage, processing, modelling, interpretation, display and dissemination of data and information".<ref>http://www.nerc.ac.uk/funding/application/topics.asp</ref>

Environmental informatics emerged in early 1990 in Central Europe.<ref>B. Page, V. Wohlgemuth. Advances in Environmental Informatics: Integration of Discrete Event Simulation Methodology with ecological Material Flow Analysis for Modelling eco-efficient Systems, Procedia Environmental Sciences, Volume 2, International Conference on Ecological Informatics and Ecosystem Conservation (ISEIS 2010), 2010, Pages 696-705, ISSN 1878-0296, DOI: [http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.proenv.2010.10.079 10.1016/j.proenv.2010.10.079]</ref>

Current initiatives to effectively manage, share, and reuse environmental and ecological data are indicative of the increasing importance of fields like environmental informatics and [[Ecoinformatics]] to develop the foundations for effectively managing ecological information. Examples of these initiatives are National Science Foundation Datanet projects, DataONE and Data Conservancy.

==External links==
*[http://www.lec.lancs.ac.uk/research/environmental_informatics/ Lancaster Environment Center]: Centre for environmental informatics
*[http://www.iba.muni.cz/index-en.php?s=environmental-informatics Masaryk University]: Division of environmental informatics and modeling
*[http://www.nuigalway.ie/eci/research/environmental_informatics.html NUI Galway]: Environmental informatics
*[http://www.mta-taki.hu/en/departments/wgenvirionmentalinf RISSAC]: Department of environmental informatics, research institute for soil science and agricultural chemistry, Hungarian academy of sciences
*[http://www.stanford.edu/group/ei/ Stanford University]: Sustainable development & environmental informatics
*[http://kmi.tugraz.at/research/focus_areas/environmental_informatics TU Graz]: Research focus area in environmental informatics
*[http://www.ics.uci.edu/faculty/area/area_environmental.php University of California, Irvine]: Bren school environmental informatics research
*[http://www.udayton.edu/engineering/institutes_and_centers.php University of Dayton]: Center of excellence for strategic energy and environmental informatics
*[http://www.uef.fi/envi University of Eastern Finland]: Division of environmental informatics within the department of environmental science at Kuopio Campus
*[http://agis-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/asi/forschung/umweltinformatik/ University of Hamburg]: Research in environmental informatics
*[http://www.informatics.unlv.edu/cognates/environmental.htm University of Las Vegas, Nevada]: Environmental informatics undergraduate program
*[http://snre.umich.edu/degree_programs/environmental_informatics/overview University of Michigan]: Environmental informatics GIS and modeling graduate program
*[http://www-ui.informatik.uni-oldenburg.de/ University of Oldenburg]: Division of environmental informatics
*[http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/faculties/apsc/centres/cei/ University of Sunderland]: Centre for environmental informatics
*[http://www.dataone.org DataONE]
*[http://www.dataconservancy.org Data Conserancy]
== References ==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Environmental Informatics}}
[[Category:Environmental informatics]]

Category:Engineering informatics

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{{cat main}}

[[Category:Laboratory informatics]]

Engineering informatics

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#REDIRECT [[Engineering Informatics]]

Engineering Informatics

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''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Engineering Informatics''' is an [[engineering]] discipline combining information technology (IT) – or [[Informatics (academic field)|informatics]] – with engineering concepts; It is an interdisciplinary scientific area focusing on the application of advanced computing, information and communication technologies to engineering.

==Engineering technology areas==

It encompasses engineering technology areas in:

*Distributed Engineering and Business Services
*Sensing, Monitoring, Control and Structural Dynamics
*Human and Social Modelling for Design Simulations
*Computational Engineering
*Networking computing for Engineering
*IT Applications in Engineering
*Systems and Network Technologies
*Interactive Media and Internet Development
*Logistics Management

==Universities and institutions offering Engineering Informatics==
Engineering Informatics is a field of undergraduate study in some universities and polytechnics:

===Hungary===
*Budapest University of Technology and Economics

===Lithuania===
*[http://medeine.vgtu.lt/programos/programa.jsp?sid=D&prog=6464102&rus=U&fak=10&klb=en Vilniaus Gedimino technikos universitetas]
===Singapore===
*Nanyang Polytechnic of Singapore ([http://www.nyp.edu.sg/SIT/ei_main.html Engineering Informatics Programme])

==Publications==
* [http://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~ley/db/journals/aei/ Advanced Engineering Informatics] is a journal publication in the field of engineering informatics.
* [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=658512 The Need for a Science of Engineering Informatics]. [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=AIE Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing (AI-EDAM)], 2007, 21:1(23–26).
* [http://www.asmedl.org/dbt/dbt.jsp?KEY=JCISB6&Volume=8&Issue=1#MAJOR1 JCISE Special Issue, March 2008] This special issue has a guest editorial and a few research papers in the Engineering Informatics domain.

==Research==
* [http://eil.stanford.edu/ Engineering Informatics Group], a research group at Stanford University, USA

[[Category:Engineering informatics]]

Engineering Informatics

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Mikelong88888: Changes to page

''(This article was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Engineering Informatics''' is an [[engineering]] discipline combining information technology (IT) – or [[Informatics (academic field)|informatics]] – with engineering concepts; It is an interdisciplinary scientific area focusing on the application of advanced computing, information and communication technologies to engineering.

==Engineering technology areas==

It encompasses engineering technology areas in:

*Distributed Engineering and Business Services
*Sensing, Monitoring, Control and Structural Dynamics
*Human and Social Modelling for Design Simulations
*Computational Engineering
*Networking computing for Engineering
*IT Applications in Engineering
*Systems and Network Technologies
*Interactive Media and Internet Development
*Logistics Management

==Universities and institutions offering Engineering Informatics==
Engineering Informatics is a field of undergraduate study in some universities and polytechnics:

===Hungary===
*Budapest University of Technology and Economics

===Lithuania===
*[http://medeine.vgtu.lt/programos/programa.jsp?sid=D&prog=6464102&rus=U&fak=10&klb=en Vilniaus Gedimino technikos universitetas]
===Singapore===
*Nanyang Polytechnic of Singapore ([http://www.nyp.edu.sg/SIT/ei_main.html Engineering Informatics Programme])

==Publications==
* [http://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/~ley/db/journals/aei/ Advanced Engineering Informatics] is a journal publication in the field of engineering informatics.
* [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=658512 The Need for a Science of Engineering Informatics]. [http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayJournal?jid=AIE Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing (AI-EDAM)], 2007, 21:1(23–26).
* [http://www.asmedl.org/dbt/dbt.jsp?KEY=JCISB6&Volume=8&Issue=1#MAJOR1 JCISE Special Issue, March 2008] This special issue has a guest editorial and a few research papers in the Engineering Informatics domain.

==Research==
* [http://eil.stanford.edu/ Engineering Informatics Group], a research group at [[Stanford University]], USA

[[Category:Engineering informatics]]

Informatics (academic field)

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#REDIRECT [[informatics]]

Category:Geoinformatics

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{{cat main}}

[[Category:Earth Science informatics]]

Geoinformatics

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Mikelong88888:

''(This page was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Geoinformatics''' is the science and the technology which develops and uses information science infrastructure to address the problems of geography, geosciences and related branches of [[engineering]].

==Overview==

Geoinformatics has been described as "the science and technology dealing with the structure and character of spatial information, its capture, its classification and qualification, its storage, processing, portrayal and dissemination, including the infrastructure necessary to secure optimal use of this information"<ref>P.L.N. Raju, Fundamentals of Geographic Information Systems</ref> or "the art, science or technology dealing with the acquisition, storage, processing production, presentation and dissemination of geoinformation".<ref>M. Ehlers, Geoinformatics and digital earth initiatives: a German perspective</ref>

Geomatics is a similarly used term which encompasses geoinformatics, but geomatics focuses on surveying. Geoinformatics has at its core the technologies supporting the processes of acquiring, analyzing and visualizing spatial data. Both geomatics and geoinformatics include and rely heavily upon the theory and practical implications of geodesy.

Geography and earth science increasingly rely on digital spatial data acquired from remotely sensed images analyzed by geographical information systems (GIS) and visualized on paper or the computer screen.<ref>Bouloucos and Brown, ITC Courses in Remote Sensing, GIS and Photogrammetry</ref>

Geoinformatics combines geospatial analysis and modeling, development of geospatial databases, information systems design, human-computer interaction and both wired and wireless networking technologies. Geoinformatics uses geocomputation and geovisualization for analyzing geoinformation.

Branches of geoinformatics include:

<gallery>
Image:Hereford_Mappa_Mundi_1300.jpg|Cartography
Image:Geoid_height_red_blue.png|Geodesy
Image:Qgis08_grass6_toolbox.png|Geographic Information Systems
Image:GPS_Satellite_NASA_art-iif.jpg|Global Navigation Satellite Systems
Image:Alpha2000.jpg|Photogrammetry
Image:Island_of_Hawai'i_-_Landsat_mosaic.jpg|Remote sensing
Image:Worldwind.png|Web mapping
</gallery>

==Applications==

Many fields benefit from geoinformatics, including urban planning and land use management, in-car navigation systems, virtual globes, public health, local and national gazetteer management, environmental modeling and analysis, military, transport network planning and management, agriculture, meteorology and climate change, oceanography and coupled ocean and atmosphere modelling, business location planning, architecture and archeological reconstruction, telecommunications, criminology and crime simulation, aviation and maritime transport.
The importance of the spatial dimension in assessing, monitoring and modelling various issues and problems related to sustainable management of natural resources is recognized all over the world. Geoinformatics becomes very important technology to decision-makers across a wide range of disciplines, industries, commercial sector, environmental agencies, local and national government, research, and academia, national survey and mapping organisations, International organisations, United Nations, Emergency services, public health and epidemiology, crime mapping, transportation and infrastructure, information technology industries, GIS consulting firms, Environmental management agencies), tourist industry, utility companies, market analysis and e-commerce, mineral exploration etc. Many government and non government agencies started to use the spatial data for managing their day to day activities.

== References ==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.opengeospatial.org Open Geospatial Consortium]
*[http://www.icaci.org International Cartographic Association (ICA)], the world body for mapping and GIScience professionals
* [http://www.isprs.org International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing]
* [http://www.iugg.org/ International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG)]

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Informatics

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''(This page was taken from Wikipedia)''

'''Informatics''' is the science of information, the practice of information processing, and the engineering of information systems. Informatics studies the structure, algorithms, behavior, and interactions of natural and artificial systems that store, process, access and communicate information. It also develops its own conceptual and theoretical foundations and utilizes foundations developed in other fields. Since the advent of computers, individuals and organizations increasingly process information digitally. This has led to the study of informatics that has computational, cognitive and social aspects, including study of the social impact of information technologies.
Loosely, it can be thought of as "''studying how to design a system that delivers the right information, to the right person in the right place and time, in the right way,"'' and is intimately tied to workflow discussions and standards.

== Etymology ==

In 1957 the German computer scientist Karl Steinbuch coined the word ''Informatik'' by publishing a paper called ''Informatik: Automatische Informationsverarbeitung'' ("Informatics: Automatic Information Processing").<ref>[http://citeseer.ist.psu.edu/cache/papers/cs2/334/http:zSzzSzhelios.informatik.uni-kl.dezSzeuology.pdf/unknown.pdf Karl Steinbuch Eulogy – Bernard Widrow, Reiner Hartenstein, Robert Hecht-Nielsen ]</ref> The English term ''Informatics'' is sometimes understood as meaning the same as computer science. However, the German word ''Informatik'' is the correct translation of English ''computer science''.

The French term ''informatique'' was coined in 1962 by Philippe Dreyfus<ref>Dreyfus, Phillipe. ''L’informatique.'' Gestion, Paris, Jun 1962, pp. 240–41</ref> together with various translations—informatics (English), also proposed independently and simultaneously by Walter F. Bauer and associates who co-founded ''Informatics Inc.'', and ''informatica'' (Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Portuguese, Dutch), referring to the application of computers to store and process information.

The term was coined as a combination of "information" and "automatic" to describe the science of automating information interactions.
The morphology—''informat''-ion + -''ics''—uses "the accepted form for names of sciences, as conics, linguistics, optics, or matters of practice, as economics, politics, tactics",<ref>Oxford English Dictionary 1989</ref> and so, linguistically, the meaning extends easily to encompass both the science of information and the practice of information processing.

The naming for computer science is derived from the concept of [[computation]] which may or may not involve the existence of information. For example, quantum computation and digital logic do not involve information.

== History ==

This new term was adopted across Western Europe, and, except in English, developed a meaning roughly translated by the English ‘computer science’, or ‘computing science’. Mikhailov et al. advocated the Russian term ''informatika'' (1966), and the English ''informatics'' (1967), as names for the ''theory of scientific information'', and argued for a broader meaning, including study of the use of information technology in various communities (for example, scientific) and of the interaction of technology and human organizational structures.
:''Informatics is the discipline of science which investigates the structure and properties (not specific content) of scientific information, as well as the regularities of scientific information activity, its theory, history, methodology and organization.''<ref>Mikhailov, A.I., Chernyl, A.I., and Gilyarevskii, R.S. (1966) "Informatika – novoe nazvanie teorii naučnoj informacii." ''Naučno tehničeskaja informacija'', 12, pp. 35–39.</ref>

Usage has since modified this definition in three ways. First, the restriction to scientific information is removed, as in business informatics or legal informatics. Second, since most information is now digitally stored, computation is now central to informatics. Third, the representation, processing and communication of information are added as objects of investigation, since they have been recognized as fundamental to any scientific account of information. Taking ''information'' as the central focus of study, then, distinguishes ''informatics,'' which includes study of biological and social mechanisms of information processing, from ''[[computer science]],'' where digital computation plays a distinguished central role. Similarly, in the study of representation and communication, informatics is indifferent to the substrate that carries information. For example, it encompasses the study of communication using gesture, speech and language, as well as digital communications and networking.

The first example of a degree level qualification in Informatics occurred in 1982 when Plymouth Polytechnic (now the University of Plymouth) offered a four year BSc(Honours) degree in Computing and Informatics – with an initial intake of only 35 students. The course still runs today <ref>BSc(Hons) Computing Informatics – University of Plymouth [http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/courses/undergraduate/1926/BSc+(Hons)+Computing+Informatics/ Link]</ref> making it the longest available qualification in the subject.

A broad interpretation of ''informatics'', as "the study of the structure, algorithms, behaviour, and interactions of natural and artificial computational systems," was introduced by the University of Edinburgh in 1994 when it formed the grouping that is now its School of Informatics. This meaning is now (2006) increasingly used in the United Kingdom.<ref>For example, at [http://www.henley.reading.ac.uk/IRC/ University of Reading], [http://www.sussex.ac.uk/informatics/ Sussex], [http://www.soi.city.ac.uk/ City University], [http://www.infc.ulst.ac.uk/ Ulster], [http://www.inf.brad.ac.uk/home/index.php Bradford], [http://www.informatics.manchester.ac.uk/ Manchester] and [http://www.ncl.ac.uk/iri/ Newcastle]</ref>

Informatics encompasses the study of systems that represent, process, and communicate information.
However, the theory of computation in the specific discipline of theoretical computer science which evolved from Alan Turing studies the notion of a complex system regardless if information actually exists. Since both fields process information, there is some disagreement among scientists as to field hierarchy; for example Arizona State University attempted to adopt a broader definition of informatics to even encompass cognitive science at the launch of its [http://sci.asu.edu/index.php School of Computing and Informatics] in September 2006. The confusion arises since information can be easily stored on a computer and hence informatics could be considered the parent of [[computer science]]. However, the original notion of a computer was the name given to the action of computation regardless of the existence of information or the existence of a von neumann architecture. Humans are examples of computational systems and not information systems. Many fields such as quantum computing theory are studied in theoretical computer science but not related to informatics.

The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise, of the UK Funding Councils, includes a new, ''Computer Science and Informatics,'' unit of assessment (UoA),<ref>[http://www.rae.ac.uk/pubs/2006/01/docs/f23.pdf UoA 23 Computer Science and Informatics, Panel working methods]</ref> whose scope is described as follows:
:''The UoA includes the study of methods for acquiring, storing, processing, communicating and reasoning about information, and the role of interactivity in natural and artificial systems, through the implementation, organisation and use of computer hardware, software and other resources. The subjects are characterised by the rigorous application of analysis, experimentation and design.''

At the Indiana University School of Informatics and Computing ([http://www.soic.indiana.edu Bloomington], [http://informatics.iupui.edu Indianapolis] and [http://www.informatics.ius.edu/ Southeast]), informatics is defined as "the art, science and human dimensions of information technology" and "the study, application, and social consequences of technology." It is also defined in Informatics I101, Introduction to Informatics as "the application of information technology to the arts, sciences, and professions." These definitions are widely accepted in the [[United States]], and differ from British usage in omitting the study of natural computation.

At the University of California, Irvine [http://www.ics.uci.edu/informatics/ Department of Informatics], informatics is defined as "the interdisciplinary study of the design, application, use and impact of information technology. The discipline of informatics is based on the recognition that the design of this technology is not solely a technical matter, but must focus on the relationship between the technology and its use in real-world settings. That is, informatics designs solutions in context, and takes into account the social, cultural and organizational settings in which computing and information technology will be used."

At the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor [http://informatics.umich.edu/ Informatics interdisciplinary major], informatics is defined as "the study of information and the ways information is used by and affects human beings and social systems. Key to this growing field is that it applies both technological and social perspectives to the study of information. Michigan's interdisciplinary approach to teaching Informatics gives you a solid grounding in contemporary computer programming, mathematics, and statistics, combined with study of the ethical and social science aspects of complex information systems. Experts in the field help design new information technology tools for specific scientific, business, and cultural needs."

In the English-speaking world the term ''informatics'' was first widely used in the compound, ‘medical informatics’, taken to include "the cognitive, information processing, and communication tasks of medical practice, education, and research, including information science and the technology to support these tasks".<ref>Greenes, R.A. and Shortliffe, E.H. (1990) "Medical Informatics: An emerging discipline with academic and institutional perspectives." ''Journal of the American Medical Association'', 263(8) pp. 1114–20.</ref> Many such compounds are now in use; they can be viewed as different areas of applied informatics.

One of the most significant areas of applied informatics is that of organisational informatics. Organisational informatics is fundamentally interested in the application of information, information systems and ICT within organisations of various forms including private sector, public sector and voluntary sector organisations.<ref>Beynon-Davies P. (2002). Information Systems: an introduction to informatics in Organisations. Palgrave, Basingstoke, UK. ISBN 0-333-96390-3</ref><ref>Beynon-Davies P. (2009). Business Information Systems. Palgrave, Basingstoke, UK. ISBN 978-0-230-20368-6</ref> As such, organisational informatics can be seen to be sub-category of [[Social Science informatics|social informatics]] and a super-category of business informatics.

A practitioner of informatics may be called an ''informatician'' or an ''informaticist.''

In 1989, the first International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) was held in Bulgaria. The olympiad involves two days of intense competition for five hours each day. Four students are selected from each participating country to attend and compete for Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. The 2008 IOI was held in Cairo, Egypt.

==Contributing disciplines==
* Computer science
* Communication studies
* Complex systems
* Didactics of informatics (Didactics of computer science)
* Information science
* Information theory
* Information technology

==Notes==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/publications/online/0139.pdf informatics]: entry from International Encyclopedia of Information and Library Science
* [http://www.softwarehistory.org/history/Bauer1.html Software History Center]: First usage of ''informatics'' in the US
* [http://informatics.iupui.edu/overview/what_is_informatics.php What is Informatics? : Indiana University – Indianapolis]
* [http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/homes/cam/informatics.shtml What does ''informatics'' mean?]
* [http://www.ics.uci.edu/informatics/qa/ Q&A about informatics]
* [http://www.priorartdatabase.com/IPCOM/000129939/ Prior Art Database]: Informatics: An Early Software Company
* [http://www.cepis.org The Council of European Professional Informatics Societies (CEPIS)]
* [http://informatics.nku.edu/about/whatis.php ''An Informatics Education: What and who is it for?'' Northern Kentucky University

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Informatics

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