OVERVIEW

Medical informatics has to do with all aspects of understanding and promoting the effective organization, analysis, management, and use of information in health care. While the field of medical informatics shares the general scope of these interests with some other health care specialties and disciplines, medical informatics has developed its own areas of emphasis and approaches that have set it apart from other disciplines and specialties. American Medical Informatics Association

Edward Shortliffe breaks down biomedical informatics into the following hierarchy:

• Public Health — Populations and society
• Clinical — Individuals and patients
• Imaging — Tissues and organs
• Bioinformatics — Molecular and cellular processes

BIOINFORMATICS

This now emerging as a separate field, and is concerned with the collection, classification, storage, and analysis of biochemical and biological information using computers especially as applied to molecular genetics and genomics. — Webster's Dictionary Online, 2006

• Bioinformatics is beyond the scope of this wiki

CLINICAL INFORMATICS

Clinical informatics is the scientific discipline that aims to enhance human health by developing novel information technology, computer science and knowledge management methodologies to prevent disease, deliver more efficient and safer patient care, increase the effectiveness of translational research, improve knowledge access and facilitate technology-enhanced education. It is truly an interdisciplinary field, involving clinicians, biomedical and computational scientists, knowledge management professionals, educators and healthcare consumers. Stanford Center for Clinical Informatics

NURSING INFORMATICS

Nursing informatics is a specialty that integrates nursing science, computer science, and information science to manage and communicate data, information, and knowledge in nursing practice. Nursing informatics facilitates the integration of data, information and knowledge to support patients, nurses and other providers in their decision-making in all roles and settings. This support is accomplished through the use of information structures, information processes, and information technology.

(ANA Scope and Standards of Nursing Informatics Practice, 2001, pg vii)

PUBLIC HEALTH INFORMATICS

Public health informatics is the "systematic application of information and computer sciences to public health practice, research, and learning. It is the discipline that integrates public health with information technology. The development of this field and dissemination of informatics knowledge and expertise to public health professionals is the key to unlocking the potential of information systems to improve the health of the nation." Public Health Informatics (CBM 2001-2)

ACADEMIC PROGRAMS

MEDICAL INFORMATICS

Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston

Pharmacy Fellowship in Outcomes Reserach/Informatics; requires Doctor of Pharmacy degree.

Cleveland Clinic Foundation

Medical Informatics Fellowships; for MDs only.

College of St. Scholastica Duluth, MN

MA in Health Information Management.

Columbia University

MA and Ph.D in Clinical Informatics and post-graduate courses in Medical Imaging Informatics.

Columbia University

Intensive Program in Biomedical Informatics; this 1 week course has no academic requirements.

Columbia University

Executive MS in Biomedical Informatics; open to MDs, RNs and other healthcare professionals.

Drexel University

MLIS with specialization in Medical Information.

Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences

MS in Bioinformatics; requires advance healthcare degree (MD, RN, DDS, etc).

Indiana University School of Informatics

MS in Chemical Informatics and Health Informatics.

Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital

Post-doctoral training in medical informatics.

Medical College of Wisconsin and Wisconsin School of Engineering (joint program)

MS in Medical Informatics; requires advance medical or healthcare degree or background in compuer science.

University of Minnesota

Health Informatics

University of New Mexico

Health Sciences Library and Informatics Center

University of Pittsburgh

Department of Biomedical Informatics

University of Texas Houston Health Sciences Center

Certificate in Health Informatics; bachelor's degree required.

University of Utah

Multiple programs Health Information Systems, Medical Imaging Informatics and Biomedical Informatics.

University of Virginia

MS in Health Evaluation Services

University of Washington

MS and Ph.D and Biomedical and Health Informatics.

University of West Florida

Certificate in Medical Informatics.

University of Wisconsin, Madison

MS and Ph.D in Medical Informatics.

University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

MS in Healthcare Informatics and Ph.D in Medical Informatics

Vanderbilt University

MS, Ph.D and post-doctoral training in Biomedical Informatics.

Yale University School of Medicine

Post-doctoral training in clinical informatics; requires an MD or Ph.D in a cinical or biological science.

CLINICAL INFORMATICS

Duke University School of Medicine

MS and Ph.D in Clinical Informatics.

NURSING INFORMATICS

Eastern University

Nursing Informatics certificate; requires BS in nursing or bachelor's degree in a health-related field.

Excelsior College Albany, NY

Healthcare Informatics certificate; requires bachelor's degree in health-related field.

Excelsior College Albany, NY

MS in Clinical Systems Management

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Post-Master's certificate in Nursing Informatics.

Loyola University Chicago

MS in Nursing with Informatics emphasis; or post-Master's certificatein Healthcare Informatics or Outcomes Performance Management.

University of South Florida

Post-master's certificate in Nursing Informatics.

University of Utah

Post-masters certificate in Nursing Informatics.

University of Washington,

MS in Clinical Informatics and Patient Care Technologies.

PUBLIC HEALTH INFORMATICS

Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, GA

Fellowship Program; IS students welcome to apply.

Columbia University

MA, Ph.D or post-docotoral training in Public Health Informatics.

George Washington University, School of Public Health and Health Services

Master of Public Health (MPH) in Health Information Systems.

University of Utah

Certificate in Publich Health Informatics.

University of Washington,

Training fellowships in Public Health Informatics sponsored by the National Library of Medicine; IS students welcome to apply.

JOURNALS

Artificial Intelligence in Medicine

Publishes original articles from a wide variety of interdisciplinary perspectives concerning the theory and practice of artificial intelligence (AI) in medicine, human biology, and health care. Particular attention is given to: AI-based clinical decision making, medical knowledge engineering, knowledge-based and agent-based systems, computational intelligence in bio- and clinical medicine, intelligent medical information systems, AI in medical education, intelligent devices and instruments, automated reasoning and metareasoning in medicine, methodological, philosophical, ethical, and social issues of AI in medicine.

Biomedical Medical Informatics Decision Making

This open access journal publishes original peer-reviewed research articles in information management, systems and technology in healthcare and the study of medical decision making.

Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine

Covers computing methodology and software systems derived from computing science for implementation in all aspects of biomedical research and medical practice. It is designed to serve: biochemists; biologists; geneticists; immunologists; neuroscientists; pharmacologists; toxicologists; clinicians; edipemiologists; psychiatrists; psychologists; cardiologists; chemists; (radio)physicists; computer scientists; programmers and systems analysts; biomedical, clinical, electrical and other engineers; teachers of medical informatics and users of educational software.

Evidence-Based Healthcare and Public Health

Provides health managers and policy makers with the evidence about the financing, organization and management of healthcare. The journal covers studies in evaluations of financing and organisation of healthcare, evidence-based patient and public choice, health economics, health technology assessment, managing healthcare, promotion of evidence-based clinical practice, public health policym, and purchasing.

Health Data Management

Foriginal content on HIPAA compliance, electronic medical records, health care information systems, and IT outsourcing.

Health Informatics Journal

Provides an international forum for the exchange of practice, innovation, and research. Articles are from the fields of informatics and telematics, the health professions, computer science, engineering and management.

Health Information and Libraries Journal

Provides practitioners, researchers, and students in library and health professions an international and interdisciplinary forum to discuss and to disseminate developments at the frontiers of information management and libraries.

Informatics in Primary Care

Provides information, help, and guidance to all those concerned with information technology and information management in primary care, both nationally and internationally.

The Informatics Review

The e-journal of the Association of Medical Directors of Information Systems aims to provide busy medical and information system professionals interested in the latest academic developments in clinical informatics and computing stay abreast of this rapidly evolving field.

Information Technology in Nursing

The official journal of the British Computer Society Nursing Specialist Group covers information and communications technologies, directly or indirectly influenced by and/or influencing nursing and the professions allied to medicine, in the UK, Europe and the wider international community.

International Journal of Medical Informatics

• Covers information systems, including national or international registration systems, hospital information systems, departmental and/or physician's office systems, document handling systems, electronic medical record systems, standardization systems integration etc.;
• Organizational, economic, social, ethical and cost-benefit aspects of IT applications in health care;
• Computer-aided medical decision support systems using heuristic, algorithmic and/or statistical methods as exemplified in decision theory, protocol development, artificial intelligence, etc.
• Evaluations of educational computer based programs pertaining to medical informatics or medicine in general.
• The emphasis is on the description of clinically evaluated systems.

International Journal of Technology Assessment in Healthcare

Serves as a forum for the wide range of health policy makers and professionals interested in the economic, social, ethical, medical and public health implications of health technology. It covers the development, evaluation, diffusion and use of health technology, as well as its impact on the organization and management of health care systems and public health.

Journal of Medical Internet Research

This peer-reviewed journal covers all aspects of research, information and communication in the healthcare field using Internet and other eHealth technologies. This field has also significant overlaps with what is called "consumer health informatics." As the field evolves, despite having "Internet" in its title, the journal also publishes original research on development, evaluation, and application of other (non-Internet e-technologies in the health care setting.

Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association

Publishes peer-reviewed material to assist physicians, informaticians, scientists, nurses, and other health care professionals to develop and apply medical informatics to patient care, teaching, research, and health care administration.

Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare

Features conference diaries, news, technology updates, research tutorials and reports from various telemedicine organizations, in addition to peer-reviewed papers on all aspects of telemedicine and telecare, including telehealth, online health, and e-health.

Journal of the Medical Library Association

This international, peer-reviewed journal aims to advance the practice and research knowledgebase of health sciences librarianship.

Medical Decision Making

This journal offers approaches to decision making that are designed to improve the health and clinical care of individuals and to assist with health policy development. The journal presents theoretical, statistical, and modeling techniques and methods from a variety of disciplines, including decision psychology, health economics, clinical epidemiology, and evidence synthesis.

Medical Informatics and the Internet in Medicine

Promotes the application of analysis, inference and reasoning to medical information, including expert systems and the use of artificial intelligence techniques. The journal is also concerned with the gathering and organization of data and knowledge, and with applications to medical education.

Methods of Information in Medicine

Discusses the basic methodology and scientific fundamentals of processing data, information and knowledge in medicine and health care. It publishes original papers, reviews, reports, opinion papers, and editorials in medical informatics/health informatics and related disciplines such as medical biometry.

ORGANIZATIONS

American Health Information Management Association

AHIMA provides medical records professionals with educational resources and programs.

American Medical Informatics Association

AMIA is active in the development of global health information policy and technology with particular emphasis on using health information technology to meet the health needs of underserved populations.

American Nursing Informatics Association

Provide networking, education and information resources that enrich and strengthen the roles of nurses in the field of informatics. The field of nursing informatics includes the domains of clinical information, education and administration decision support.

eHealth Initiative

Consumers, health care providers, and those responsible for population health will have ready access to timely, relevant, reliable and secure information and services through an interconnected, electronic health information infrastructure to support better health and healthcare. The eHealth Initiative aims to to drive improvement in the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare through information and information technology.

Health Information and Mangement Systems Society

HIMSS is the healthcare industry's membership organization exclusively focused on providing global leadership for the optimal use of healthcare information technology (IT) and management systems. It leads healthcare public policy and industry practices through its advocacy, educational and professional development initiatives.

Medical Library Association, Health Informatics Section

MLA's Medical Informatics Section, established in 1988, provides a forum for education and communication among medical librarians, health professionals and other information sciences professionals.

TOOLS AND RESOURCES

Classification of Diseases and Functioning & Disability

This site is hosted by the CDC and provides information about ICD-10.

Health Level Seven

This website for the HL7 medical record provides information on the application of XML and clinical documentations.

Health Informatics World Wide

This website hails itself as "The First and Most Comprehensive Health Informatics Index Site." You'll find a wealth of information here.

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology

The site run by the Department of Health and Human Services provides information related to HIPAA, E-prescribing, health informatics, electronic medical records, and other health information technologies.

Unified Medical Language System

NLM produces and distributes the UMLS Knowledge Sources (databases) and associated software tools (programs) for use by system developers in building or enhancing electronic information systems that create, process, retrieve, integrate, and/or aggregate biomedical and health data and information, as well as in informatics research.

Stanford Center for Clinical Informatics

In operation since September 2004, the Center's mission is to foster the development of an interdisciplinary academic program focused on novel applications of information technology and computer science to health care, translational & clinical research, biomedical knowledge management and education.

University of Virginia, Division of Clinical Informatics

The Division of Clinical Informatics conducts original research and and provides instruction to advance the field of health informatics, and provides key collaborations, consultations and services in informatics to support the academic, research and healthcare missions of the School of Medicine and the University of Virginia Health System. It also manages the Clinical Data Repository, a large-scale integrated database of clinical and population data optimized for research.