The papers presented are refereed and from all over the world. They reflect the breadth and depth of the field of biomedical and health informatics, covering topics such as; health information systems, knowledge and data management, education, standards, consumer health and human factors, emerging technologies, sustainability, organizational and economic issues, genomics, and image and signal processing. As this volume carries such a wide collection, it will be of great interest to anyone engaged in biomedical and health informatics research and application.

Chapter 1 offers an overview of the basic computer technology. Each succeeding chapter, describes the problems in medicine, followed by a review in chronological sequence of why and how computers were applied to try to meet these problems. Only the technical aspects of computer hardware, software, and communications are discussed as they are necessary to explain how the technology was applied. This approach generally led to defining the objectives for applications of medical informatics. At the end of each chapter, the author summarizes his personal views and interpretations of the chapter contents. Although the concurrent evolution of medical informatics in Canada, Europe, and Japan certainly influenced workers in the United States, the scope of this historical review is limited to the development of medical informatics within the United States. Furthermore, this review is limited to electronic digital computers; it excludes mechanical, analog, and hybrid computers.

This volume contains the proceedings of the twenty-second International Conference on Medical Informatics Europe MIE 2009, that was held in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 30 August to 2 September 2009. The scientific topics present in this proceedings range from national and trans-national eHealth roadmaps, health information and electronic health record systems, systems interoperability and communication standards, medical terminology and ontology approaches, and social networks to Web, Web 2.0, nd Semantic Web solutions for patients, health personnel, and researchers. Furthermore, they include quality assurance and usability of medical informatics systems, specific disease management and telemedicine systems, including a section on devices and snsors, drug safety, clinical decision support and medical expert systems, clinical practice guidelines and protocols, as well as issues on privacy and security. Moreover, bioinformatics, biomedical modeling and simulation, medical imaging and visualizatio and, last but not least, learning and education through medical informatics systems are parts of the included topics.

The need for joint medical and midwifery care is stressed in the latest CEMACH report, with a recommendation that contemporary midwifery education prepares midwives for problems in pregnancy and adverse pregnancy outcome. Pre-conception care for women with medical disorders has also been stressed. Medical Disorders in Pregnancy is one of the first texts written specifically for midwives that provides an outline of common medical disorders that may be affected by pregnancy or which may cause pregnancy complications. For ease of use, all conditions are presented on two page templates, and each addresses: An explanation of the condition; Standard ‘Non-pregnancy’ treatment; Pre-conception care; Antenatal care; Intrapartum care, and Postnatal care. The management, treatment and care by both doctors and midwives are provided to allow a mutual understanding of each others roles and responsibilities.

This is a meticulously detailed chronological record of significant events in the history of medical informatics and their impact on direct patient care and clinical research, offering a representative sampling of published contributions to the field. The History of Medical Informatics in the United States has been restructured within this new edition, reflecting the transformation medical informatics has undergone in the years since 1990. The systems that were once exclusively institutionally driven – hospital, multihospital, and outpatient information systems – are today joined by systems that are driven by clinical subspecialties, nursing, pathology, clinical laboratory, pharmacy, imaging, and more. At the core is the person – not the clinician, not the institution – whose health all these systems are designed to serve. A group of world-renowned authors have joined forces with Dr Marion Ball to bring Dr Collen’s incredible work to press. These recognized leaders in medical informatics, many of whom are recipients of the Morris F. Collen Award in Medical Informatics and were friends of or mentored by Dr Collen, carefully reviewed, editing and updating his draft chapters. This has resulted in the most thorough history of the subject imaginable, and also provides readers with a roadmap for the subject well into later in the century.

The E-Medicine, E-Health, M-Health, Telemedicine, and Telehealth Handbook provides extensive coverage of modern telecommunication in the medical industry, from sensors on and within the body to electronic medical records and beyond. Telemedicine and Electronic Medicine is the first volume of this handbook. Featuring chapters written by leading experts and researchers in their respective fields, this volume: Describes the integration of—and interactions between—modern eMedicine, telemedicine, eHealth, and telehealth practices Explains how medical information flows through wireless technologies and networks, emphasizing fast-deploying wireless body area networks Presents the latest developments in sensors, devices, and implantables, from medical sensors for mobile communication devices to drug-delivery systems Illustrates practical telemedicine applications in telecardiology, teleradiology, teledermatology, teleaudiology, teleoncology, acute care telemedicine, and more The E-Medicine, E-Health, M-Health, Telemedicine, and Telehealth Handbook bridges the gap between scientists, engineers, and medical professionals by creating synergy in the related fields of biomedical engineering, information and communication technology, business, and healthcare.

Current demographic, economic and social conditions which developed countries are faced with require a paradigm change for delivering high quality and efficient health services. In that context, healthcare systems have to turn from organization-centered to process-oriented and finally towards individualized patient care, also called personal care, based on ehealth platform services. Interoperability requirements for ubiquitous personalized health services reach beyond current concepts of health information integration among professional stakeholders and related Electronic Patient Records. Future personal health platforms particularly have to maintain semantic interoperability among systems using different modalities and technologies, different knowledge representation and domain experts’ languages as well as different coding schemes and terminologies to include home care, as well as personal and mobile systems. This development is not restricted to regions or countries, but appears globally, requiring a comprehensive international collaboration. This publication within the series Studies in Health Technology and Informatics presents papers from leading international experts representing all domains involved in ehealth.