Health Informatics

An Overview

The field of health informatics (or medical informatics as it is sometimes called) is still a relatively young one compared to other areas of biomedicine and the health sciences. Nevertheless, its impact on the quality and efficiency of healthcare is crucial. This second, extensively revised and updated edition of Health Informatics: An Overview includes new topics which address contemporary issues and challenges and shift the focus on the health problem space towards a computer perspective. An overview is provided of the health informatics discipline and the book is suitable for use as a basic text in both undergraduate and postgraduate curricula. Preparing students for practice as health professionals in any discipline, it deliberately avoids focusing on any one speciality. The publication is divided into six sections: an overview, basic concepts, applications supporting clinical practice, service delivery, management and clinical research and education. With contributions from many distinguished authors, this book is a valuable resource for healthcare professionals and students of health informatics alike.