Health Informatics in the Information Society

The information societyInformation society refers to: • The rapidly increasing volume of

information being generated in contemporary society

• The speed with which this information can be gathered and exchanged

• The need to manage this information

effectively, efficiently and safely.

The information society

For the past few decades, information technology has been viewed as the means to manage information effectively.

As more and more information is being generated, increasingly sophisticated information systems are being developed to collect, store and process it.

Managing information

Information systems collect and store facts or data– the data is stored in data bases– which are manipulated– to produce information and

knowledge.

Information in Health Services

Health information is an increasingly integral element in the delivery of health care, and effective information management is viewed as the key to achieving increased efficiency and quality of health care.

Information systems are being viewed as the means achieve this.

Information in Health Services

Information technology is revolutionising the way in which the health care sector manages consumer health information…This technology has great potential to save lives as well as money, with the benefits far outweighing the initial implementation costs.

(HealthConnect: an Overview, 2004:1)

Information in Health Services

We are of the view that appropriate use of cutting edge technologies pertaining to the computer, communication and information sciences will result in improved health, lower costs and improved service delivery methods.

(Hovenga et al, 1996, p3)

Information in Health Services

However, the speed by which changes will impact upon health services is determined by, and dependent upon how quickly the health professionals accept the role of these new technologies.

• (Hovenga et al, 1996, p3 )

Health informatics professionals

The health informatics professional will play a pivotal role both in the development of information systems and in encouraging health professionals to adopt them.

Health informatics professionals

The challenge for the health informatics professional is therefore to keep abreast of developments within the discipline—and to ensure that health information systems are applied effectively to achieve the twin goals of efficiency and quality care.

Health informatics: the future

The study of informatics in the twenty-first century will probably be as fundamental to the practice of medicine as the study of anatomy was in the twentieth century.

(CHIME Web site,1999)