TDT4210: Health informatics
Lecture 1
GEN251
A scientific discipline that concerns itself with the cognitive, information processing and communication tasks of health care practice, education and research, including the information science and technology to support these tasks.
Hasman et al
(…) is the discipline concerned with the systematic processing of data, information and knowledge in medicine and health care.
Coiera
Health informatics is the study of information and communication systems in healthcare, and focuses on:
- Understanding the fundamental nature of these systems and describe their shaping principles.
- Developing interventions in order to improve these systems.
- Developing methods and principles for designing such interventions.
- Evaluating the impact of these interventions on healthcare.
Main objectives of health informatics
- Generate knowledge about the health care domain and/or use of information technology in the domain (either quantitative or qualitative).
- We want to solve existing problems by developing new information technology, so we have to come up with a solution and prove that it works.
Four key characteristics
- Design – Artifact: computer-based information system; application; model (standards, architecture); method
- Relevance – Does it address a real problem?
- Innovative: Does it contribute something new?
- Validated: Does it work (solve the real problem)?
The main issues
- Interoperability
- Collaboration/coordination
- Flexibility/dynamics
- Character of medical work
- Medical data is expensive, reuse required
- Privacy/security
- Data volume increases
- Impact on efficiency and efficacy
Coordination reform
- Introduced in 2012
- Digital communication will be the normal mode of communication
- The use of ICT will enable good collaboration
- 99% of the communities (municipalities) communicate with the hospital via PLO-messages (pleie og omsorgsmeldinger)
How is ICT (IKT) used in Norwegian health care to support the goals of the Coordination reform?
What are the effects on:
- Efficiency
- Patient safety
- Quality (access and effectivity)