Informatics

Theoretical Links to Informatics

- Information Science - Computer Science - Cognitive Science - Organizational Science

Informatics

like technology, also is a broad term and is derived from the French word informatique—it is the science that encompasses information science and computer science to study the process, management, and retrieval of information

Domains of Informatics

Clinical Informatics - Clinical Health Care Informatics - Clinical Research Informatics Public Health Informatics Translational Bioinformatics

Privacy and Security

A major concern with health care information, as with other highly sensitive personal data, involves privacy and security. The privacy and security rules issued under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 along with multiple state laws create a complex network of laws and regulations that address patient privacy and consent for the use of identifiable personal health information. In 2013, HIPAA rules were modified to reflect new technologies and to enhance personalization and the quality of health care

Translational Bioinformatics

AMIA refers to translational bioinformatics as the development of storage, analytic, and interpretive methods to optimize the transformation of increasingly voluminous biomedical and genomic data into proactive, predictive, preventive, and participatory health. Translational bioinformatics is evolving with the support of the National Institutes of Health road map for medical research. The end product of translational bioinformatics is newly found knowledge from integrative efforts that can be disseminated to a variety of stakeholders, including biomedical scientists, clinicians, and patients.

Cognitive Science

Cognitive science is the interprofessional study of mind, intelligence, and behavior from an information processing perspective. It encompasses how people think, understand, remember, synthesize, access, and respond to stored information and knowledge. Cognitive science provides the scaffolding for the analysis and modeling of complex human performance in technology-mediated settings. Theories from cognitive science inform and shape design, development, implementation, and assessment of health information systems. The mind is frequently compared to a computer, and experts in cognitive science try to model human thinking using the artificial networks of the computer.

Computer Science (detail)

Computer science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation as these techniques relate to implementation and application of computer systems. It is frequently described as the systematic study of algorithmic processes that create, describe, and transform information. Computer science is a broad field of study that focuses on computation, algorithms and data structures, programming methodology and languages, and computer elements (hardware, software, and networks) and architecture. It also includes fields such as software engineering, artificial intelligence, computer networking and communications, database systems, and human-computer interaction.

Peopleware

Informatics is not limited to the hardware and software; it includes people and organizational skills. When talking about widespread use of health IT and informatics, technical skills alone are not sufficient for implementation success. Peopleware, a key component of successful implementation, is a term used to refer to anything that has to do with the role of people in the development and use of computer hardware and software systems. Peopleware involves the sociologic side of informatics implementations and includes issues such as productivity, teamwork, group dynamics, project management, organizational factors, human interface design, and human-machine interaction. When introducing new technologies into an organization, the peopleware issues become as important and at times more important than the technological issues.

Information Science (detail)

Information science is a branch of applied mathematics and electrical engineering that involves the quantification of information. It is a collection of mathematical theories, based on statistics, concerned with methods of coding, transmitting, storing, retrieving, and decoding information. Its application includes the design of systems, such as clinical information systems, that are involved with data transmission, encryption, compression, and other information processing techniques

Organizational Science

Organizational science is an emerging field that focuses on behavior of organizations and includes a wide variety of topics, such as individual, group, and organizational decision making; the management of human resources; and the design of organizations and inter-organizational networks. Understanding an organization and particularly understanding how culture, behavior, and social change impact an organization are essential requirements for successful implementation of health IT and health informatics within and among organizations

Public Health Informatics

Public health informatics and its corollary population informatics are the application of information, computer science, and technology to public health science to improve the health of populations. Application of the principles and practices of public health informatics leads to the development of new tools and methodologies that enable the development and use of inter-operable information systems for public health functions such as bio-surveillance, outbreak response, and electronic laboratory reporting.

Informatics Policy

Responsibility for developing an overall policy infrastructure that supports health IT and HIEs primarily lies with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC). ONC has worked closely with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to assist in establishing policies related to Medicare and Medicaid payment for "meaningful use" of EHRs. ONC rules specify the standards, implementation specifications, and other criteria for EHR systems and technologies to be certified, whereas CMS rules specify how hospitals, physicians, and other eligible professionals must demonstrate their meaningful use of these technologies in order to receive Medicare and Medicaid payment incentives. the ONC health IT policy committee has issued recommendations regarding health information extension centers, workforce training, and privacy and security. Once the policies are established at the federal level, states, professional organizations, and institutions adopt and adapt these fundamental practices at the local level to reduce barriers to health information exchange.

Computer Science

a branch of engineering that studies computation and computer technology, hardware, and software as well as the theoretical foundations of information and computation techniques

Health Informatics

a discipline in which health data are stored, analyzed, and disseminated through the application of information and communication technology. It involves the use of technology and information systems to support the health care industry

Informatician

a person who works in the field of informatics, sometimes called an informaticist

Meaningful Use Criteria

policies related to Medicare and Medicaid payment for "meaningful use" of EHRs. CMS (Centers for Medicare/Medicaid rules specify how hospitals, physicians, and other eligible professionals must demonstrate their meaningful use of these technologies in order to receive Medicare and Medicaid payment incentives.

Information Science

an interprofessional science primarily concerned with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval, and dissemination of information.

Technology

describes the knowledge and use of tools, machines, materials, and processes to help solve human problems

Clinical Informatics

the application of information and communication technologies to the delivery of health care services. Despite some variations, informatics, when used in health care delivery, is essentially the same regardless of the health professional group involved, whether dentists, pharmacists, physicians, nurses, or other health professionals. According to AMIA, clinical informatics has two subdomains: clinical health care informatics and clinical research informatics. Clinical Health Care informatics - Clinical health care informatics seeks to transform health care and enhance human health through a creative and innovative use of informatics. This transformation will be accomplished through a well-educated and properly trained informatics workforce, an enhanced performance of health care processes and systems, appropriate public policy, and a relevant research agenda. Clinical health care informatics includes the development of direct approaches to patients and their families and even to individuals who are not yet patients (consumers) who desire to seek the use of information and communications technology support to preserve and/or improve their health status. Clinical Research Informatics - Clinical research informatics relates to informatics whose objective is to advance the biomedical/health sciences through the humane and ethical use of informatics. Included are issues relating to the use of information and knowledge as well as the sound and socially appropriate collection and maintenance of person-specific and/or de-identified patient data.

Health Information Technology

the application of information processing involving both computer hardware and computer software that deals with the storage, retrieval, sharing, and use of health care data, information, and knowledge for communication and decision making

Clinical Informatics Exemplars

• Bar code medication administration • Clinical decision support systems • Computerized acuity systems • Computerized nursing documentation • Computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems • Disease/patient registries • Electronic health record (EHR) systems • Electronic prescribing (eRx) • Health information exchange (HIE) • Telehealth tools • Population health management tools

Bio-survelliance Tools

• Geographical information system tools • Predictive modeling tools • Disaster preparedness tools • Immunization registries

Bio-Informatics Tools

• Homology and similarity tools • Protein function analysis tools • Structural analysis tools • Sequence analysis tools • Data mining and data analytics tools

Consumer Health Informatics Exemplars

• Personal health records (PHR) • Patient portals • Patient-generated health data tools (PatientsLikeMe) • Social media tools for online support • Health and wellness apps • Chronic disease management apps • Home and self-care monitoring devices • Smart devices and sensors • Public health informatics