In Medical Informatics three types of processes play a central role: organizational, patient-related and decision making-related processes. The first type deals with settings, such as a hospital care setting or a primary care setting; the second is related to health and disease (i.e. to patients); the third type of process aims at assisting in decision making and therapy and evolves in the brains of healthcare professionals. Hence, in all domains data, information and knowledge play a key role. As these three processes evolve, dealing with individuals – patients, doctors and nurses – because of that human factor there are obviously limitations imposed by formalization and standardization. In the past, there have been some unrealistic expectations regarding the possible contributions of medical informatics to healthcare. However, such contributions appeared to be very modest, to say the least. The same applies to the overly optimistic expectations regarding the introduction of electronic health records. Although the technology is widely available, all these developments appear to be far more complex than expected. The need for an improved understanding of the nature of medical knowledge to better serve health remains to be emphasized.

In Medical Informatics three types of processes play a central role: organizational, patient-related and decision making-related processes. The first type deals with settings, such as a hospital care setting or a primary care setting; the second is related to health and disease (i.e. to patients); the third type of process aims at assisting in decision making and therapy and evolves in the brains of healthcare professionals. Hence, in all domains data, information and knowledge play a key role. As these tree processes evolve, dealing with individuals - patients, doctors and nurses - because of that human factor there are obviously limitations imposed by formalization and standardization. In the past, there have been some unrealistic expectations regardingthe possible contributions of medical informatics to healthcare. However, such contributions appeared to be very modest, to say the least. The same applies to the overly optimistic expectations regarding the introduction of electronic health records. Althugh the technology is widely available, all these developments appear to be far more complex than expected. The need for an improved understanding of the nature of medical knowledge to better serve health remains to be emphasized.

Medical informatics is increasingly central to the effective and efficient delivery of healthcare today. This book presents the proceedings of the European Federation for Medical Informatics Special Topic Conference (EFMI STC 2017), held in Tel Aviv, Israel, in October 2017. The theme and title of the 2017 edition of this annual conference is ‘The practice of patient centered care: Empowering and engaging patients in the digital era’. The aim of the conference series is to increase interaction and collaboration between the stakeholder groups from both health and ICT across, but not limited to, Europe by providing a platform for researchers, data scientists, practitioners, decision makers and entrepreneurs to discuss sustainable and inclusive digital health innovations aimed at the engagement and empowerment of patients/consumers. The book is divided into 3 sections: full papers, short communications, and posters, and covers a wide range of topics from the field of medical informatics. It will be of interest to healthcare planners and providers everywhere.

Presents the perspective of a distinct form of e-health that is patient-focused, patient-aware, patient-empowered, and patient-active. Addresses the special characteristics of the e-health domain through a user-centered design, providing foundational topics in areas such as patient-centered design methods, psychological aspects of online health communication, and e-health marketing.

The debate over eHealth is alive as never before. Supporters suggest that it will result in dramatic innovations in healthcare, including a giant leap towards patient-centered care, new opportunities to improve effectiveness, and enhanced wellness and quality of life. In addition, the growing market value of investments in health IT suggests that eHealth can offer at least a partial cure for the current economic stagnation. Detractors counter these arguments by claiming that eHealth has already failed: the UK Department of Health has shut down the NHS National Program for IT, Google has discontinued its Health flagship, and doubts have arisen over privacy safeguards for both patients and medical professionals. This book briefly explains why caregivers, professionals, technicians, patients, politicians, and others should all consider themselves stakeholders in eHealth. It offers myth-busting responses to some ill-considered arguments from both sides of the trench, in the process allowing a fresh look at eHealth. In addition, it describes how the technical failures of previous eHealth systems can be avoided, examines the legal basis of eHealth, and discusses associated ethical issues.​

Despite a rich literature examining the application of organizational learning to engineering and management contexts, learning in the health care sector has received far less empirical attention. These papers collectively address which organizational factors are precursors to learning within quality improvement collaboratives (QICs) and how participation in QICs impacts patient-centered outcomes. The first paper examines the organizational attributes associated with physician practices’ propensity to participate in QICs. The second paper explores the implementation of a shared decision making intervention within the High Value Healthcare Collaborative (HVHC) and investigates its impact upon hip and knee osteoarthritis patients' treatment preferences and decision certainty. Finally, the third paper interrogates whether surgical utilization varies across patients engaged in shared decision making compared with patients receiving usual care within HVHC.

This book explores the benefits of digital patient engagement, from the perspectives of physicians, providers, and others in the healthcare system, and discusses what is working well in this new, digitally-empowered collaborative environment. Chapters present the changing landscape of patient engagement, starting with the impact of new payment models and Meaningful Use requirements, and the effects of patient engagement on patient safety, quality and outcomes, effective communications, and self-service transactions. The book explores social media and mobile as tools, presents guidance on privacy and security challenges, and provides helpful advice on how providers can get started. Vignettes and 23 case studies showcase the impact of patient engagement from a wide variety of settings, from large providers to small practices, and traditional medical clinics to eTherapy practices.

Rapid progress in health research has led to generation of new knowledge and innovative practices in management of illness. This has resulted in a significant challenge for health professionals: if today we discovered a new therapy through research, when will this discovery be regularly prescribed or utilized to treat all patients suffering from this condition? Knowledge translation is the non-linear and often complicated process of translating knowledge into routine health practices. Technology enabled knowledge translation (TEKT) is the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) to accelerate knowledge translation. With the ubiquity of the internet, the proliferation of different approaches in communication and social networking, and the continuously improving technologies from netbooks to smartphones, there are rich opportunities for TEKT in health education, service delivery, and research.

This book demonstrates different statistical techniques for analyzing health-related data as well as providing new techniques for forecasting and/or projecting the incidence of diseases/disorders. It presents information on a variety of health related issues from the developed and developing world. Featuring cutting edge research from distinguished applied demographers and public health specialists, the book bridges the gap between theory and research. Each chapter provides methods and materials that can be used to conduct further research aimed at promoting public health issues. This book is intended for public health professionals, health policy makers, social epidemiologists, administrators, researchers, and students in the fields of applied demography and public health who are interested in exploring the potential of ground-breaking research or who want to further develop their existing research techniques. It complements another volume in the Applied Demography Series, Applied Demography and Public Health (Springer, 2013), which describes how applied demographic techniques can be used to help address public health issues.