| GHIFT | |
| (Gateway to Health Informatics For Teaching) | ||
The term Health Informatics has been used as an umbrella phrase to embrace Nursing Informatics, Medical Informatics and Dental Informatics.
There are many definitions of the subject matter. The following examples convey the breadth of the field:
"...Informatics is an emerging discipline that has been defined as the study, invention, and implementation of structures and algorithms to improve communication, understanding and management of medical information. The end objective of biomedical informatics is the coalescing of data, knowledge, and the tools necessary to apply that data and knowledge in the decision-making process, at the time and place that a decision needs to be made. The focus on the structures and algorithms necessary to manipulate the information separates Biomedical Informatics from other medical disciplines where information content is the focus." (Source: Aamir M. Zakaria., MD "Medical Informatics Frequently Asked Questions", Duke University)
"Nursing informatics is the specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science in identifying, collecting, processing, and managing data and information to support nursing practice, administration, education, research, and the expansion of nursing knowledge." (Source: ANA Scope of Practice for Nursing Informatics)
"IM&T (Information Management and Technology) is a term which covers the use and management of information and information systems. This applies to organised systems of all forms, whether based on human endeavour, paper methods or information technology. The emerging electronic world offers enormous benefits to organisations of all types. However, if the NHS is to gain the most from innovation and technology it must approach IM&T systematically in a controlled and well planned environment." (Source: the UK IMG Web site)
"Dental informatics is the application of new information technologies to dental practice, education, and research." (Source: Louis M. Abbey and John L. Zimmerman, editors, Dental Informatics, published by Springer)
Informatics: "The use of information systems, computer technology and telecommunications to improve patient care, research and education." (Source: Westmead Hospital, Westmead, N. S. W. Australia, Web site)
"The role of the information sciences in medicine continues to grow, and the past few years have seen informatics begin to move into the mainstream of clinical practice. The scope of this field is, however, enormous. Informatics finds application in the design of decision support systems for practitioners, in the development of computer tools for research, and in the study of the very essence of medicine - its corpus of knowledge. The study of informatics in the next century will probably be as fundamental to the practice of medicine as the study of anatomy has been this century." (Source: Coiera E (1995) Medical Informatics , BMJ, 1995;310:1381-7)
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