Although the data in healthcare comes from and relates to patients, it has generally been the clinician and not the patient who has been seen as the end-user of health information or health information technology. This seems set to change though, as the evolution of new online tools and mobile applications has led to the growth of a grass-roots effort from patients to change their role and involvement in their own health management. This book presents papers from the Information Technology and Communications in Health conference, ITCH 2015, held in Victoria, Canada, in February 2015. The theme of this conference is patient-centered care, and not only were contributors asked to consider the role and voice of the patient, but patients themselves were invited to contribute papers describing their experiences in healthcare and their use of their own data. The papers included here reflect not only informatics innovations in the field, but also explore how to involve patients in the design process, implementation and long-term use of health information systems, and will be of interest to researchers, health practitioners and patients alike.

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.

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.

Traditionally, medicine has involved therapies chosen according to clinical guidelines, often arrived at through clinical trials which categorized patients into patient groups. Such clinical guidelines would dictate that all patients within a specific group should be treated in exactly the same way. More recently, the paradigm has shifted towards personalized medicine, and in future, individual treatment plans will depend more on the specific characteristics of individual patients, including genomic data. This book presents the proceedings of the 9th scientific eHealth conference, the eHealth Summit Austria, held in Vienna, Austria, in June 2015. Among the main topics addressed at the conference were: active and ambient assisted living (AAL); eHealth education; electronic patient and health records; ethical legal and economic aspects of eHealth; ICT for integrated treatment, research and personalized medicine; patient portals and personal health records; semantic interoperability of information systems; and visualization of clinical or epidemiological data. One of the first fields of application for personalized medicine has been oncology, with current diagnostic tools including molecular risk factors, biomarkers and individual genomes. The next step in personalized medicine will be to extend these to a more general, personalized health approach. Such individual risk assessment and preventive strategies promise to have a huge impact on our healthcare systems, and this book will be of interest to all those involved in healthcare research, provision and practice.

Informatics and technology have long been indispensable to the provision of healthcare and their importance continues to grow in this field. This book presents the 65 full papers presented at the 13th annual International Conference on Informatics, Management, and Technology in Healthcare (ICIMTH 2015), held in Athens, Greece, in July 2015. The conference attracts scientists and practitioners from all continents and treats the field of biomedical informatics in a very broad framework, examining the research and applications outcomes of informatics from cell to population, and covering a number of technologies such as imaging, sensors and biomedical equipment as well as management and organizational subjects such as legal and social issues. The conference also aims to set research priorities in health informatics. This overview of current research and development will be of interest to all those whose work involves the use of biomedical informatics in the planning, provision and management of healthcare.

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.

Health information technologies are revolutionizing and streamlining healthcare, and uptake continues to rise dramatically. If these technologies are to be effectively implemented, capacity must be built at a regional, national and global level, and the support and involvement of both government and industry will be vital. This book presents the proceedings of the 2017 Information Technology and Communications in Health conference (ITCH 2017), held in Victoria, BC, Canada, in February 2017. The conference considers, from a variety of perspectives, what is required to move the technology forward to real, sustained and widespread use, and the solutions examined range from improvements in usability and training to the need for new and improved design of information systems, user interfaces and interoperable solutions. Government policies, mandates, initiatives and the need for regulation are also explored, as is the requirement for improved interaction between industrial, governmental and academic partners. With its focus on building the next generation of health informatics and the capacity required to deliver better healthcare worldwide, this book will be of interest to all those involved in the provision of healthcare.