Definitions for informatics

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Key Term Definitions: Knowledge, Informatics, Healthcare Informatics, Privacy, Confidentiality, and Information Security

We will go through these definitions individually and I will provide you with a description of each for a better understanding of the terms.

Knowledge: The definition of knowledge in its simplest form refers to information and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject (Dictionary.com, 2012). It also refers to what is known in a particular subject or in entirety; facts and information about an exacting topic.

Knowledge is one of the most important assets that create value for an organization giving it competitive advantage against its competitors. Knowledge allows limitless usage, is created by human resources, has increasing returns and becomes quickly outdated. It is specific to the context it is used in, is dynamic and created by humans.

Knowledge can be either subjective or explicit (Nonaka, 2006). Subjective knowledge would include things such as technology know-how, technical skills, a person's beliefs and images and a mental image. Explicit knowledge can be expressed in words and formulas and includes things such as formulas, problem solving approaches, manuals, and databases.

Within an organization, these principles are true about knowledge (Nonaka, 2006):
?Sharing and creating tacit knowledge through direct experience
?Articulating tacit knowledge through dialogue and reflection
?Systemizing and applying explicit knowledge and information
?Learning and acquiring new tacit knowledge in practice

Informatics: In the most basic sense, informatics refers to a broad academic field encompassing human-computer interaction, information science, information technology, algorithms, areas of mathematics (especially mathematical logic and category theory), and social sciences that are involved (Wikipedia, 2012).

Informatics includes the science of information, the practice of information processing, and the engineering of information systems. Informatics studies the structure, algorithms, behavior, and interactions of natural and artificial systems that store, process, access and communicate information.

The fundamental focal point of Informatics is the transformation of information - whether by computation or communication, or by organisms or artifacts. Understanding informational phenomena - such as computation, cognition, and communication - enables technological advances.
Informatics has many aspects, and includes a number of existing academic disciplines - Artificial Intelligence, Cognitive Science and Computer Science. Each of these principles takes elements of Informatics as its innate domain. Informatics can help determine the depths and the circumstances the theories of information systems can be applied to natural systems, and how artificial information systems can help to solve problems facing mankind and help to improve the quality of life for all living things.

Health care informatics: Health or Medical Informatics is the "scientific field that deals with biomedical information, data, and knowledge - their storage, retrieval, and optimal use for problem solving and decision making. It accordingly touches on all basic and applied fields in biomedical science and is closely tied to modern information technologies, notably in the areas of computing and communication (medical computer science)" (OC, 2011).

Basically, it is the study of resources and methods for the management of health information. It encompasses systems such as electronic health records and electronic medical records, health information exchange standards, medical terminologies, clinical terms, and portable medical devices for the collection of data.

It deals with effectively organizing, analyzing, managing, and using information in health care for optimum patient care and cost effectiveness. New health care technologies, medications, treatments, and procedures are being developed rapidly, and clinicians are expected to incorporate them into their daily practices. Clinicians are also expected to assimilate both old and new knowledge, apply that knowledge to their patients, remember each patient's ...