Areas of health informatics

  1. Pharmacy informatics: The term pharmacy informatics deals with the use and integration of data, information, knowledge, technology, and automation in the medication-use process for the purpose of improving health outcomes. It is based on the use of information technologies and drug information to optimize medication usage. It is also defined as
  2. Health information management informatics: Health information management informatics make use of information technology in the practice of acquiring, analyzing, and protecting digital and traditional medical information vital to providing quality patient care.
  3. Clinical informatics: Clinical informatics includes a wide range of topics ranging from clinical decision support to visual images (e.g. radiological, pathological, dermatological, ophthalmological, etc); from clinical documentation to provider order entry systems; and from system design to system implementation and adoption issues. It is the application of informatics and information technology to deliver healthcare services. It is also referred to as applied clinical informatics and operational informatics.
  4. Nursing informatics: This is the application of nursing informatics knowledge is empowering for all healthcare practitioners in achieving patient centered care. Nurse informaticians work as developers of communication and information technologies, educators, researchers, chief nursing officers, chief information officers, software engineers, implementation consultants, policy developers, and business owners, to advance healthcare. It is basically the “science and practice that integrates nursing, its information and knowledge, with management of information and communication technologies to promote the health of people, families, and communities worldwide.
  5. Consumer impact informatics: This focuses is on information structures and processes that empower consumers to manage their own health. This field focuses on patients’ health literacy and consumer education. The term consumer impact informatics is devoted to informatics from multiple consumer or patient views.
  6. Environmental informatics:. In this field the use of information technology is applied across fields as diverse as social sustainable systems, and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem management. It develops and uses analytical and computer-based methods to assess and protect the earth’s natural resources
  7. Medical laboratory informatics: It is the specialized application of information technology aimed at optimizing and extending medical laboratory operations. This branch of informatics encompasses data acquisition, instrument interfacing, medical laboratory networking, data processing, specialized data management systems a laboratory information management system, scientific data management and knowledge management.
  8. Dentistry informatics: This is a sub-discipline of biomedical informatics. Many confuse dental informatics with the mere application of computers Informatics is a research discipline, and much of its basic research is about information, not computers. Dental informatics is the application of computer and information science to improve dental practice, and management.
  9. Biomedical informatics: This field of informatics is basically deals with the optimal use of information, often aided by the use of technology and people, to improve individual health, health care, public health, and biomedical sciences.
  10. Medical automated informatics: This branch of health informatics deals with medical data processing that deals the acquiring, storing, retrieving, computing, disseminating and communication of medical information in an automated means. Medical automated informatics makes use of specialised programmes that work in an automated format unaided.

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