Nursing and medicine are the leaders in healthcare concerning the study and application of informatics to practice, but all healthcare disciplines are realizing the need to manage and process the vast amounts of information needed to guide their practices. The term “medical informatics,” coined in the mid-1970s, borrows from the French expression informatique médicale. It describes “those collected informational technologies which concern themselves with the patient care, medical, decision-making process” Experts use the term “health informatics,” which he defines as the use of information technology with information management concepts and methods to support the delivery of healthcare. Mandil’s definition encompasses medical, nursing, dental, and pharmacy informatics, as well as all other healthcare disciplines. His definition of health informatics focuses attention on the recipient of care rather than on the discipline of the caregiver.
Each allied health discipline has distinct, discrete information needs based on the scientific basis and practice of that profession. Accordingly, each discipline has particular information requirements and may structure its information processes differently, but the basis of informatics is the same in all disciplines. In the broadest sense, informatics for healthcare professionals is the management and processing of information to support decision making in practice. It encompasses all information needs related to a healthcare practice. Information systems do not have to be electronic, but electronic systems certainly increase accessibility, accuracy, and efficiency. Informatics supports all areas of practice, including education, administration, and research; it also facilitates and guides the management of data.
GOAL OF INFORMATICS
The goal of informatics is to:
• Inform healthcare providers
• Expand knowledge
• Deliver efficient, well-managed care or services
The study of informatics improves the effectiveness of data assimilation, interpretation, and representation so that healthcare professionals can make informed decisions. It is no longer an elective that is “nice to know” but a necessity in today’s competitive and rapidly changing healthcare delivery system.
FUTURE OF INFORMATICS
Healthcare organizations from acute care to outpatient care to home care are automating. These organizations need knowledgeable practitioners to investigate, implement, and use automation to support their practice. In the future, practitioners will be hired not so much for their knowledge of skills as for their ability to handle information to make decisions that produce favorable, cost-efficient results.
Showing posts with label Informatics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Informatics. Show all posts
Monday, November 29, 2010
Healthcare Informatics Science Components
With knowledge of the importance of information in healthcare practice and awareness of the information explosion, a need developed for specialists to manage and process information. The specialty is healthcare informatics. Informatics is multidisciplinary, and healthcare informatics is a combination of:
• Computer science
• Healthcare science
• Information science
• Cognitive science
Computer science refers primarily to the development, configuration, and architecture of computer hardware and software. The size of the memory, storage capacity, processing speed, and method by which computers communicate are all part of computer science. The power of computer hardware doubles approximately every 18 months. “Programs” and “software” refer to the way in which a simple, logical set of instructions (algorithms) is used to solve a problem to generate a product. Algorithms help create expert systems that, along with a set of rules and laws, assist with decision making. Software develops more slowly than hardware. The development of new automated tools has radically altered the understanding of knowledge and knowledge representations.
Healthcare science is the body of knowledge on which the healthcare profession bases its practice. The sciences of anatomy, physiology, and biology, as well as the discrete knowledge that makes each profession distinctive, offer a basis for allied health professions.
Information science and information technology involve the process of sending and receiving messages. Acquiring, transmitting, processing, and perceiving information all contribute to the effectiveness of the information. Various methods communicate information: verbal, visual but nonverbal, written, and digitized. The focus of information technology is application of information tools for the solution of business problems. Information science is interested in the flow and structure of information.
Cognitive science focuses on understanding the functions of the mind. The processes of human thinking, understanding, and remembering are part of this science. It is concerned with the nature of knowledge, its components, its sources, its development, and its deployment. How “user friendly” a computer program or piece of equipment is or how automation can reduce human error is the focus of study in cognitive science. During aur study about nursing informatics, but his observations can apply to all healthcare disciplines’ use of informatics. He suggested that informatics has evolved to include three special interest levels: technology, concepts, and function. He described early definitions ofnursing informatics that focus on technology; he also described the use of hardware, software, and system architecture in managing and processing information. Some later informaticists (Ryan & Nagle, 1994) became interested mainly in the underlying concepts of theory, arguing that without a well-articulated theoretical basis to guide the gathering of data, the practitioner will be inundated with meaningless data and information. They stressed the need for definitions, a standardized language, and criteria for organization of the data. Other informaticists interested in function focused on how the management and processing of information help nurses enter, organize, or retrieve information. They emphasized the usability of the applications to achieve specific purposes. Informatics includes all these areas, but the field has become so large that it is difficult for one person to be knowledgeable in all areas. This textbook gives an overview of all of the areas of informatics.
• Computer science
• Healthcare science
• Information science
• Cognitive science
Computer science refers primarily to the development, configuration, and architecture of computer hardware and software. The size of the memory, storage capacity, processing speed, and method by which computers communicate are all part of computer science. The power of computer hardware doubles approximately every 18 months. “Programs” and “software” refer to the way in which a simple, logical set of instructions (algorithms) is used to solve a problem to generate a product. Algorithms help create expert systems that, along with a set of rules and laws, assist with decision making. Software develops more slowly than hardware. The development of new automated tools has radically altered the understanding of knowledge and knowledge representations.
Healthcare science is the body of knowledge on which the healthcare profession bases its practice. The sciences of anatomy, physiology, and biology, as well as the discrete knowledge that makes each profession distinctive, offer a basis for allied health professions.
Information science and information technology involve the process of sending and receiving messages. Acquiring, transmitting, processing, and perceiving information all contribute to the effectiveness of the information. Various methods communicate information: verbal, visual but nonverbal, written, and digitized. The focus of information technology is application of information tools for the solution of business problems. Information science is interested in the flow and structure of information.
Cognitive science focuses on understanding the functions of the mind. The processes of human thinking, understanding, and remembering are part of this science. It is concerned with the nature of knowledge, its components, its sources, its development, and its deployment. How “user friendly” a computer program or piece of equipment is or how automation can reduce human error is the focus of study in cognitive science. During aur study about nursing informatics, but his observations can apply to all healthcare disciplines’ use of informatics. He suggested that informatics has evolved to include three special interest levels: technology, concepts, and function. He described early definitions ofnursing informatics that focus on technology; he also described the use of hardware, software, and system architecture in managing and processing information. Some later informaticists (Ryan & Nagle, 1994) became interested mainly in the underlying concepts of theory, arguing that without a well-articulated theoretical basis to guide the gathering of data, the practitioner will be inundated with meaningless data and information. They stressed the need for definitions, a standardized language, and criteria for organization of the data. Other informaticists interested in function focused on how the management and processing of information help nurses enter, organize, or retrieve information. They emphasized the usability of the applications to achieve specific purposes. Informatics includes all these areas, but the field has become so large that it is difficult for one person to be knowledgeable in all areas. This textbook gives an overview of all of the areas of informatics.
The Structure Of Information
Experts suggests that keeping abreast of the revolutionary and evolutionary changes in medicine is extremely challenging. He poses the question: “How do we make sense of the roller-coaster ride we have embarked upon?” His answer is that “we turn to professional journals, textbooks, and the proceedings of specialty meetings to find answers.” But medical information in scientific and medical journals has grown beyond a manageable level. Approximately 34,000 references from over 4000 journals are added monthly to the National Library of Medicine’s MEDLINE database. These journals represent only 4 percent of the scientific journals currently published. They also suggests that if someone were to read every potentially important biomedical piece published in these journals, it would be necessary to read 6000 articles a day. By the year 2000, the knowledge available in 1950 has not only doubled but is found in 30 times as many publications which means that one new article is added to the medical literature every 20 seconds.
But the overabundance of information can actually keep an individual from finding the information needed. While drowning in information, the individual may starve for knowledge. Students often feel this way when they have stuffed themselves with information that has no relevance or meaning to them. John Lawton, a veteran reporter speaking to the American Association of Broadcast Journalists in 1995, said, “The irony of the information age is [that] it gives new respectability to the uninformed opinion. The question is “How much information is transferred to the minds of readers and is incorporated into practice or changes of behavior?”
As the body of worldwide information explodes, knowing how to manage and process that information in order to make decisions that support practice is of monumental importance. Information technology provides a solution for managing the abundance of information and has become part of the daily professional life of all allied health disciplines. Throughout the past 3 decades, the literature in all healthcare fields has described the growing impact of technology on health and human services.
But the overabundance of information can actually keep an individual from finding the information needed. While drowning in information, the individual may starve for knowledge. Students often feel this way when they have stuffed themselves with information that has no relevance or meaning to them. John Lawton, a veteran reporter speaking to the American Association of Broadcast Journalists in 1995, said, “The irony of the information age is [that] it gives new respectability to the uninformed opinion. The question is “How much information is transferred to the minds of readers and is incorporated into practice or changes of behavior?”
As the body of worldwide information explodes, knowing how to manage and process that information in order to make decisions that support practice is of monumental importance. Information technology provides a solution for managing the abundance of information and has become part of the daily professional life of all allied health disciplines. Throughout the past 3 decades, the literature in all healthcare fields has described the growing impact of technology on health and human services.
Information Explosion
Experts suggests that keeping abreast of the revolutionary and evolutionary changes in medicine is extremely challenging. He poses the question: “How do we make sense of the roller-coaster ride we have embarked upon?” His answer is that “we turn to professional journals, textbooks, and the proceedings of specialty meetings to find answers.” But medical information in scientific and medical journals has grown beyond a manageable level. Approximately 34,000 references from over 4000 journals are added monthly to the National Library of Medicine’s MEDLINE database. These journals represent only 4 percent of the scientific journals currently published. They also suggests that if someone were to read every potentially important biomedical piece published in these journals, it would be necessary to read 6000 articles a day. By the year 2000, the knowledge available in 1950 has not only doubled but is found in 30 times as many publications which means that one new article is added to the medical literature every 20 seconds.
But the overabundance of information can actually keep an individual from finding the information needed. While drowning in information, the individual may starve for knowledge. Students often feel this way when they have stuffed themselves with information that has no relevance or meaning to them. John Lawton, a veteran reporter speaking to the American Association of Broadcast Journalists in 1995, said, “The irony of the information age is [that] it gives new respectability to the uninformed opinion. The question is “How much information is transferred to the minds of readers and is incorporated into practice or changes of behavior?”
As the body of worldwide information explodes, knowing how to manage and process that information in order to make decisions that support practice is of monumental importance. Information technology provides a solution for managing the abundance of information and has become part of the daily professional life of all allied health disciplines. Throughout the past 3 decades, the literature in all healthcare fields has described the growing impact of technology on health and human services.
But the overabundance of information can actually keep an individual from finding the information needed. While drowning in information, the individual may starve for knowledge. Students often feel this way when they have stuffed themselves with information that has no relevance or meaning to them. John Lawton, a veteran reporter speaking to the American Association of Broadcast Journalists in 1995, said, “The irony of the information age is [that] it gives new respectability to the uninformed opinion. The question is “How much information is transferred to the minds of readers and is incorporated into practice or changes of behavior?”
As the body of worldwide information explodes, knowing how to manage and process that information in order to make decisions that support practice is of monumental importance. Information technology provides a solution for managing the abundance of information and has become part of the daily professional life of all allied health disciplines. Throughout the past 3 decades, the literature in all healthcare fields has described the growing impact of technology on health and human services.
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