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Background. Clinical informatics is the subdiscipline of biomedical informatics that focuses on the representation, collection, retrieval, and use of health information in clinical practice. Purpose. This paper provides a general introduction to the field of biomedical informatics and recommends specific facets of clinical informatics that are germane to education programs in physical therapy. Position and Rationale. In light of the growing importance of information technology in health care, an understanding of clinical informatics is needed for physical therapy practitioners. Discussion. Many avenues and examples are available for incorporating clinical informatics training into the core curriculum of allied health programs. Conclusion. Instruction regarding applied aspects of clinical informatics needs to be considered as a component of a well-rounded education in physical therapy.
Key Words: Physical therapy, Computers, Medical informatics, Education.
INTRODUCTION
What is Biomedical Informatics?
The volume of clinical research literature is exploding. More than 4,500 journals publish biomedical research generating more than 40,000 new articles each month.1 The days when clinicians could stay abreast of the latest advances in health care simply by "keeping up" with their journal reading have passed. In addition, as more laboratory tests and imaging techniques are developed, the amount of clinical and biological data that is collected about individual patients is continuing to increase.
Biomedical informatics is the discipline that has arisen to study and address the generation and handling of information related to human health and disease. As a formal definition, Greenes and Shortliffe2 describe biomedical informatics as "the rapidly developing scientific field that deals with resources, devices and formalized methods for optimizing the storage, retrieval and management of biomedical information for problem solving and decision making." At the root of this discipline is a desire to use health information more effectively to improve the quality, lower the costs, and expand the accessibility of care. As a consequence, the potential benefits of health information technology for health care are being acknowledged from the highest levels of government.3 Additionally, groups such as the Institute of Medicine and the Leapfrog Group, a consortium of over 150 organizations that provide health care benefits, including several Fortune 500 companies, are looking to health information technology as a significant remedy for the "crisis of quality" facing health care in the United States.4,5 Recent...