Abstract

Health informatics concerns the use of information and information and communication technologies within healthcare. Health informatics and information science need to take account of the unique aspects of health and medicine. The development of information systems and electronic records within health needs to consider the information needs and behaviour of all users. The sensitivity of personal health data raises ethical concerns for developing electronic records. E-health initiatives must actively involve users in the design, development, implementation and evaluation, and information science can contribute to understanding the needs and behaviour of user groups. Health informatics could make an important contribution to the ageing society and to reducing the digital divide and health divides within society. There is a need for an appropriate evidence base within health informatics to support future developments, and to ensure health informatics reaches its potential to improve the health and well-being of patients and the public.

Introduction

Health care is a complex and information-intensive process in which data concerning the health and medical conditions of individual patients are stored and used for clinical care and management. Additionally, data are aggregated for secondary purposes, such as the management of local health services, the monitoring and surveillance of diseases, and for planning the delivery of health services at regional, national and international levels. Within health care organizations, services and systems, large volumes of data are collected, stored, analysed, transferred, and accessed on a daily basis. In addition to data on individual patients, up-to-date information on how to prevent, diagnose, treat and manage diseases from research is being published and is required by healthcare professionals to provide effective and safe care for patients and the public. Health informatics is a relatively new field that has emerged in the last 20 years and has assumed a growing importance as a discipline. From a Donabedian perspective [1],1 health informatics can be regarded as being concerned with the structures and processes, as well as the outcomes involved in the use of information and information and communications technologies (ICTs) within health. The term ‘e-health’ has been coined to describe the application of these technologies in health and medicine.