Around the world, healthcare planners and governments are engaged in activities to stimulate innovation and reform health systems as part of the drive to deliver safe, effective, quality care to patients. ICT is both a critical component of health system innovation and key stimulus for reform. This book presents papers from the 23rd Australian national Health Informatics Conference (HIC 2015), held in Brisbane, Australia, in August 2015. The conference brings together researchers, industry groups and healthcare providers from Australia and around the world to share cutting edge research, technology updates and innovations, and the papers included here provide valuable evidence and information about the diverse role that ICT plays in the health, elderly and community care sectors internationally. They encompass a wide spectrum of work, from major theoretical concepts and examples of key applications of new technologies to important new developments in the field of health informatics. The book represents an important contribution to the health informatics evidence base and will be of interest to all those working towards better healthcare provision worldwide.

In the last few decades, health informaticians have established the knowledge base and practical expertise to facilitate the development of ever-more capable technical systems, increased connectivity, expanded access and the greater mobility of e-health and information management systems, and we have witnessed the evolution from simple computer-based records to systems allowing intra-organisational, national, and even international communication and information exchange. This book presents 20 of the papers delivered at the 24th Australian National Health Informatics Conference (HIC 2016), held in Melbourne, Australia in July 2016. The primary theme of the 2016 conference is Digital Health Innovation for Consumers, Clinicians, Connectivity and Community. The papers included here reflect this theme, and highlight the cutting edge research evidence, technology updates and innovations that are fuelling the digital transformation of the healthcare sector. They cover a wide spectrum of fields and encompass major theoretical concepts, examples of key applications of new technologies and important new developments in the field of health informatics. The book provides a current overview of trends in health informatics, and will be of interest to all those involved in the planning, design, implementation and delivery of healthcare today.

The last few decades have seen the digital transformation of healthcare, with health informaticians taking the lead in innovations which have enabled the sector to evolve from rudimentary computer based records to large-scale systems allowing for intra-organisational, national and even international communication and information exchange. Establishing and maintaining strong partnerships between the healthcare community, government, universities and industry is integral to supporting these advances. This book presents 24 selected papers from the 25th Australian National Health Informatics Conference (HIC 2017), held in Brisbane, Australia, in August 2017. The theme of HIC 2017 is Integrating and Connecting Care, and the conference provides the ideal professional and social environment for clinicians, researchers, health IT professionals, industry and consumers to integrate, educate and share their knowledge and debate current and future health systems. The papers in the book reflect the theme of the conference, highlighting the cutting-edge research evidence, technology updates and innovations crucial to the digital transformation of the healthcare sector. Health informatics and e-health play a central role in connecting information systems, being smart with data, and enhancing both practitioner and consumer experience in healthcare interactions, and the book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners alike.

In the early 1990s, a small group of individuals recognized how virtual reality (VR) could transform medicine by immersing physicians, students and patients in data more completely. Technical obstacles delayed progress but VR is now enjoying a renaissance, with breakthrough applications available for healthcare. This book presents papers from the Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 22 conference, held in Los Angeles, California, USA, in April 2016. Engineers, physicians, scientists, educators, students, industry, military, and futurists participated in its creative mix of unorthodox thinking and validated investigation. The topics covered include medical simulation and modeling, imaging and visualization, robotics, haptics, sensors, physical and mental rehabilitation tools, and more. Providing an overview of the state-of-the-art, this book will interest all those involved in medical VR and in innovative healthcare, generally.

Health and Biomedical Informatics is a rapidly evolving multidisciplinary field; one in which new developments may prove crucial in meeting the challenge of providing cost-effective, patient-centered healthcare worldwide. This book presents the proceedings of MEDINFO 2015, held in São Paulo, Brazil, in August 2015. The theme of this conference is ‘eHealth-enabled Health’, and the broad spectrum of topics covered ranges from emerging methodologies to successful implementations of innovative applications, integration and evaluation of eHealth systems and solutions. Included here are 178 full papers and 248 poster abstracts, selected after a rigorous review process from nearly 800 submissions by 2,500 authors from 59 countries. The conference brings together researchers, clinicians, technologists and managers from all over the world to share their experiences on the use of information methods, systems and technologies to promote patient-centered care, improving patient safety, enhancing care outcomes, facilitating translational research and enabling precision medicine, as well as advancing education and skills in Health and Biomedical Informatics. This comprehensive overview of Health and Biomedical Informatics will be of interest to all those involved in designing, commissioning and providing healthcare, wherever they may be.

Context is key in the design, implementation and evaluation of health information technology. Healthcare systems around the world are in transition; adopting technologies to deal with the problems of aging populations, increased numbers of chronically ill patients and limited resources. But a 'one size fits all' approach is not the answer, and may limit those local healthcare system innovations that are so crucial to the development of health informatics. Even the most advanced systems will fail to achieve the desired outcomes if context is not taken into account. This book presents the proceedings of the Context Sensitive Health Informatics (CSHI) conference, held in Curitiba, Brazil, in August 2015. Context sensitive health informatics is about health information technologies and their environments, and the 26 papers included here examine how health informatics systems are developed, implemented and evaluated in a complex environment of many places, many users, many uses and in many contexts. The book is divided into four themes: different users in different contexts; evaluating for context through usability testing and ensuring patient safety; organizational and social issues in different places; and understanding different contexts using theory. This overview of the research and experience critical to ensuring the successful introduction and adaptation of healthcare systems to new countries, contexts and healthcare settings will be of interest to all those involved in improving the quality of healthcare worldwide.

Techno-Anthropology is an emerging interdisciplinary research field focusing on human/technology interactions and relations, and how these can be understood and facilitated in context. Techno-Anthropology also considers how technological innovation, development and implementation can be made in an appropriate and pragmatic way in relation to understanding work practices. Techno-Anthropology has much to offer the health informatics and eHealth fields, and this book presents the work of experienced international researchers who share here how they have applied Techno-Anthropology methodologies to their research. The book is divided into three sections: ethnographic and anthropological perspectives on methodology; ethical and sociotechnical approaches; and users, participation and human factors. Topics covered include: learning the craft of Techno-Anthropology; anthropological approaches in studying technology induced errors; technology and the ecology of chronic illness in everyday life; Techno-Anthropologists as agents of change; and using rapid ethnography to support the design and implementation of health information technologies, as well as many more. Of interest to researchers and practitioners within the health informatics field as well as students and scholars, the book will inspire researchers and practitioners to examine health informatics from a new perspective.