Medical Informatics: Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine (Health Informatics)

The practice of modern medicine and biomedical research requires sophisticated information technologies with which to manage patient information, plan diagnostic procedures, interpret laboratory results, and carry out investigations. Medical Informatics provides both a conceptual framework and a practical inspiration for this swiftly emerging scientific discipline at the intersection of computer science, decision science, information science, cognitive science, and biomedicine. Now revised and in its second edition, this text meets the growing demand by practitioners, researchers, and students for a comprehensive introduction to key topics in the field. Authored by leaders in medical informatics and extensively tested in their courses, the chapters in this volume constitute an effective textbook for students of medical informatics and its areas of application. The book is also a useful reference work for individual readers needing to understand the role that computer can play in the provision of clinical services and the pursuit of biological questions. The volume is organized so as first to explain basic concepts and the to illustrate them with specific systems and technologies. The book has been extensively revised and updated for this second edition, and new topics ¿ Standards in Medical Informatics ¿ Ethics of Health Users, Standards, and Outcomes ¿ Evaluation and Technology Assessment ¿ Public Health and Consumer uses of Health Education, Research, Policy, Prevention, and Quality Assurance ¿ Bioinformatics Edward H. Shortliffe, M.D., Ph.D., is professor and chair of the department of Medical Informatics at Columbia University¿s College of Physicians and Surgeons. A member of the Institute of Medicine and a regent to the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine, he is also a fellow of the American College of Medical Informatics and serves on the President¿s Information Technology advisory Committee.