The adoption of information technology in healthcare is anticipated not only to improve the delivery of patient care, but also to revolutionize the way healthcare is organized.
Health informatics and information management (HIIM) is an applied research discipline that integrates health, computer science, and business. Researchers in an applied discipline answer the questions of why and how. Policy makers, who can be leaders of health systems, legislators, or regulators at governmental agencies, are often the sources of these questions.
The demand for healthcare data and information has grown exponentially with increased efforts to improve quality of care, decrease healthcare costs, and implement more efficient and productive means of conducting medical research.
The protection of individuals’ sacred medical stories and a commitment to “safeguard[ing] the confidentiality of medical records” have long been fundamental roles of the health information management (HIM) professional, inherent in the HIM profession throughout its 80-year history.
