Education, training and the development of healthcare informatics

Abstract

Since the mid-1980s, there has been an enormous investment in information technology and information systems in the health sector. The return on this investment has been comparatively poor and many systems have failed to live up to their promise. A major cause of the poor performance is the lack of an equivalent investment in the education and training needed for all aspects of information systems development, implementation and operation. This paper considers the nature of healthcare information and traces the emergence of the discipline of healthcare informatics, a discipline which attempts to provide the necessary foundation for appropriate education and training in the use of information by healthcare professionals. The paper also discusses the content and delivery of healthcare informatics courses and the relationship between the academic and health-care sectors. Finally, it outlines the roles of international collaboration and professional recognition in advancing the field of healthcare informatics and its application to high-quality and cost-effective healthcare.

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