Clinical Information System and Applications

School of Medicine

The digitization of healthcare data and delivery of care functionality has been occurring on the small scale for nearly 50 years in clinical information systems. Clinical information systems are comprised of multiple components that comprise clinical information. Beginning in the 1990s, electronic health record (EHR) systems began to emerge as a foundational tool for clinical information systems that brought together various aspects of healthcare such as billing, documentation, and order entry. By the mid-2000s the basic underpinnings of a comprehensive EHR were understood, but uptake was still very low. This situation changed fundamentally over the past decade and EHRs and related clinical information systems are now ubiquitous. The goal of this course is to provide a framework to understand the underpinnings of modern clinical information systems and the integration of these systems that enable their basic and extended functionalities. Furthermore, with healthcare consumers having more opportunities to be involved with their health information, we will explore the evolution of consumer informatics. Finally, we will discuss emerging trends in the digitization of healthcare data including mobile health, telemedicine, and voice technologies.