Introduction to Health Informatics and Health Information Systems

Introduction to Health Informatics and Health Information Systems

• Health Informatics is the application of information technologies (IT) to optimize the information management function within an organization (health).
• It involves the acquisition, storage, communication, manipulation, and display of data/information in health.

Health Informatics

• It is an umbrella term referring to the application of methodologies and techniques of information science, computing, networking, and communications to optimize health information management.
• It involves five stages: acquisition, storage, communication, manipulation, and display of data/information.

Information Life Cycle

• Data: raw facts represented as numbers, letters, words, pictures, etc. that are meaningless when used alone or out of context.
• Information: data that is interpreted, organized, or structured, and has meaning in a given context.
• Knowledge: a combination of user's experience and skills that allow persons to make use of information in a suitable way.

Health Information Systems (HISs)

• HISs refer to any system that captures, stores, manages, analyzes, or transmits information related to the health of individuals.
• They also manage the activities of organizations that work within the health sector.
• There are four categories of HISs: Clinical Information Systems, Administrative Information Systems, Management Support Information Systems, and Research and Data Analysis Information Systems.

History of Health Informatics

• The USA has strongly given attention to healthcare and health informatics since 1996.
• Key milestones include the passing of HIPAA in 1996, the establishment of ONCHIT in 2004, and the passing of ARRA and HITECH in 2009.
• After 2009, many governmental and private sector health institutions adopted EHR and EHR Systems.

Types of Health Information Systems

• Administrative Information Systems: contain primarily administrative or financial data, used to support the management functions and general operations of the healthcare organization.
• Clinical Information Systems: contain clinical or health-related information relevant to healthcare providers in diagnosing, treating, and monitoring patient care.

Health Informatics Sub-Specialties

• Bioinformatics
• Dental informatics
• Nursing informatics
• Public health informatics
• Clinical informatics
• Pathology informatics
• Imaging informatics
• Pharmacy informatics
• Medical Lab Informatics

Information System Basics

• An Information System (IS) is a set of interrelated components working together to collect, retrieve, process, store, and distribute information for the purpose of facilitating planning, control, coordination, analysis, and decision making in organizations.
• It consists of three components: Technology (IT), People, and Organization.
• Technology (IT) includes hardware, software, database, and telecommunication.