HEALTH INFORMATICS

By:- Firoz QureshiDept. Psychiatric Nursing

INTRODUCTION Health informatics is informatics  in health care

(also called health care informatics, medical informatics, nursing informatics, clinical informatics, or biomedical informatics).It is a multidisciplinary  field that uses health information technology (HIT) to improve health care via any combination of higher quality, higher efficiency, and new opportunities.

Cont… The disciplines involved include information

science, computer science, social science, behavioral science, management science, and others. It deals with the resources, devices, and methods required to optimize the acquisition, storage, retrieval, and use of information in health and biomedicine. 

DEFINITIONS The health informatics can be defined as:

“Health informatics is the science that underlies the academic investigation and practical application of computing and communications technology to health care, health education and biomedical research.

The health information system can define as: “a mechanism for the collection, processing, analysis and transmission of information required for organizing and operating health services and also for research and training.”

OBJECTIVES OF HEALTH

INFORMANTS

SUB SPECIALITIES

COMPONENTS OF A HEALTH INFORMATION SYSTEM

A comprehensive health information system requires information and indicators on the following subjects:

Demographic and vital events. Environmental health statistics. Health status: mortality, morbidity, disability

and quality of life. Health resources: facilities, beds, manpower.

Cont… Utilization and non utilization of health

services: attendance, admissions, waiting lists.

Indices of outcome of medical care. Financial statistics (cost, expenditure) related

to the particular objective.

USE OF HEALTH INFORMATION

SOURCES OF HEALTH INFORMATION

1. CENSUSThe census is an important source of health

information. It taken in most of the countries of the world at regular intervals, usually of 10 years. A census is defined by the united nations as the total process of collecting, compiling and publishing Demographic, economic and social data pertaining at the specified time or time to all persons in the country or delimited territory.

2. REGISTRATION OF VITAL EVENTSRegistration of vital events (e.g. births and deaths)

keeps a continuous check on demographic changes. If registration of vital events is complete and accurate, it can serve as a reliable source of health information.

3. SAMPLE REGISTRATION SYSTEMSRS was initiated in mid-1960’s to provide reliable

estimates of birth rates at the national and state levels. The SRS is a dual record system consisting of continuous enumeration of births and death by an enumerator and an independent survey every 6 month by an investigator-supervisor.

4. NOTIFICATON OF DISEASESThe primary purpose of notification is to effect

prevention and control of the disease. Notification is also a valuable source of morbidity data i.e. the incidence and distribution of certain specified diseases which are modifiable.

5. HOSPITAL RECORDSIn India where registration of vital events is

defective ad notification of infectious diseases is extremely inadequate, hospital data constitute a basic and primary source of information about diseases prevalent in the community.

6. DISEASE REGISTERSA register requires that a permanent record be

established, that the causes be followed up, and the basic statistical tabulations be prepared both on frequency and on Survival, morbidity registers exist only for certain diseases such as stroke, myocardial infarction, cancer, blindness, and congenital defects.

7. EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVILLANCEIn many countries where particular diseases are

endemic special control eradication programmes have been instituted. For examples national disease control programmes against malaria, tuberculosis, leprosy etc.

8. ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH DATAHealth statistics provide data on various aspects of

air, water and noise pollution, harmful food additives, industrial toxicants, inadequate waste disposal and other aspects of combination of population explosion.

9. POPULATION SURVEYSThe term health surveys is used for surveys relating

to any aspects of health morbidity, mortality, nutritional status etc. when the mean variable to be studied is disease suffered by the people, the survey is referred as morbidity survey.