Table Of ContentINTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES IN HEALTH
INFORMATICS
Studies in Health Technology and
Informatics
This book series was started in 1990 to promote research conducted under the auspices of the EC
programmes’ Advanced Informatics in Medicine (AIM) and Biomedical and Health Research
(BHR) bioengineering branch. A driving aspect of international health informatics is that
telecommunication technology, rehabilitative technology, intelligent home technology and many
other components are moving together and form one integrated world of information and
communication media. The complete series has been accepted in Medline. Volumes from 2005
onwards are available online.
Series Editors:
Dr. O. Bodenreider, Dr. J.P. Christensen, Prof. G. de Moor, Prof. A. Famili, Dr. U. Fors,
Prof. A. Hasman, Prof. E.J.S. Hovenga, Prof. L. Hunter, Dr. I. Iakovidis, Dr. Z. Kolitsi,
Mr. O. Le Dour, Dr. A. Lymberis, Prof. J. Mantas, Prof. M.A. Musen, Prof. P.F. Niederer,
Prof. A. Pedotti, Prof. O. Rienhoff, Prof. F.H. Roger France, Dr. N. Rossing,
Prof. N. Saranummi, Dr. E.R. Siegel, Prof. T. Solomonides and Dr. P. Wilson
Volume 164
Recently published in this series
Vol. 163. J.D. Westwood, S.W. Westwood, L. Felländer-Tsai, R.S. Haluck, H.M. Hoffman,
R.A. Robb, S. Senger and K.G. Vosburgh (Eds.), Medicine Meets Virtual Reality 18
– NextMed
Vol. 162. E. Wingender (Ed.), Biological Petri Nets
Vol. 161. A.C. Smith and A.J. Maeder (Eds.), Global Telehealth – Selected Papers from Global
Telehealth 2010 (GT2010) – 15th International Conference of the International
Society for Telemedicine and eHealth and 1st National Conference of the
Australasian Telehealth Society
Vol. 160. C. Safran, S. Reti and H.F. Marin (Eds.), MEDINFO 2010 – Proceedings of the 13th
World Congress on Medical Informatics
Vol. 159. T. Solomonides, I. Blanquer, V. Breton, T. Glatard and Y. Legré (Eds.), Healthgrid
Applications and Core Technologies – Proceedings of HealthGrid 2010
Vol. 158. C.-E. Aubin, I.A.F. Stokes, H. Labelle and A. Moreau (Eds.), Research into Spinal
Deformities 7
Vol. 157. C. Nøhr and J. Aarts (Eds.), Information Technology in Health Care: Socio-Technical
Approaches 2010 – From Safe Systems to Patient Safety
Vol. 156. L. Bos, B. Blobel, S. Benton and D. Carroll (Eds.), Medical and Care Compunetics 6
Vol. 155. B. Blobel, E.Þ. Hvannberg and V. Gunnarsdóttir (Eds.), Seamless Care – Safe Care –
The Challenges of Interoperability and Patient Safety in Health Care – Proceedings of
the EFMI Special Topic Conference, June 2–4, 2010, Reykjavik, Iceland
ISSN 0926-9630 (print)
ISSN 1879-8365 (online)
International Perspectives in Health
Informatics
Edited by
Elizabeth M. Borycki
School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria, Victoria,
British Columbia, Canada
John A. Bartle-Clar
Shotbolt Consulting, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Mowafa S. Househ
College of Public Health and Health Informatics, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz
University for Health Science (KSAU-HS), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Craig E. Kuziemsky
Telfer School of Management, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
and
Ellen G. Schraa
School of Health Policy & Management, Faculty of Health and School
of Administrative Studies, Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies,
York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Amsterdam • Berlin • Tokyo • Washington, DC
© 2011 ITCH 2011 Steering Committee and IOS Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without prior written permission from the publisher.
ISBN 978-1-60750-708-6 (print)
ISBN 978-1-60750-709-3 (online)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2011921028
Publisher
IOS Press BV
Nieuwe Hemweg 6B
1013 BG Amsterdam
Netherlands
fax: +31 20 687 0019
e-mail: [email protected]
Distributor in the USA and Canada
IOS Press, Inc.
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fax: +1 703 323 3668
e-mail: [email protected]
LEGAL NOTICE
The publisher is not responsible for the use which might be made of the following information.
PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS
International Perspectives in Health Informatics v
E.M. Borycki et al. (Eds.)
IOS Press, 2011
© 2011 ITCH 2011 Steering Committee and IOS Press. All rights reserved.
Preface
Around the world developed and developing countries are using health information
systems to improve the health of populations, the quality of healthcare, reduce medical
error rates and improve access to health information and health services. Health infor-
mation systems are becoming key to country delivery of healthcare and health services,
and health informatics is now recognized as a separate and unique area of disciplinary
study and professional practice in many countries throughout the world. Countries and
governments are supporting the education of health informatics professionals and en-
gaging researchers to promote the advancement and integration of health information
systems into healthcare.
World wide governments and healthcare organizations are choosing to implement
health information systems such as the following:
• Electronic Health Records
• Clinical Decision Support Systems
• Clinical Information Systems
• E-learning Systems
• Personal Health Records
• Systems that support Online communities
• Public Health Information Systems
• Telehealth and Tele Intensive Care Unit Systems
• Mobile Health Information Systems
Governments, regional health authorities and other healthcare organizations from
around the world are also evaluating the clinical and cost effectiveness of these health
information systems. The goals of this work have included improving the quality of
healthcare while at the same time ensuring the effective use of scarce healthcare re-
sources (i.e. human, monetary and technological) to ensure the long-term sustainability
of healthcare systems. Researchers are designing and developing health information
systems, conducting research, developing new methods for evaluating health informa-
tion systems and moving the science of health informatics forward.
Globally, the situations of countries and regional health authorities are not unique.
Many countries are addressing key issues at the intersection of technology and health-
care such as privacy, ethics, patient safety, efficiency and effectiveness. Researchers
are studying these issues and developing solutions in conjunction with country, re-
gional and local healthcare organizations. There are many lessons that have been
learned and many more that will be learned in the coming years. Many health informat-
ics issues are not unique to one country or one organization. Many of these issues are
present throughout the world – in each country, involving differing healthcare delivery
systems and differing types of health information systems. There is a need for re-
searchers to exchange ideas within this global context and, learn from each other so
that knowledge can be transferred and international solutions and best practices form
the basis of health informatics work. The improvement of our healthcare systems using
vi
health information systems and technologies is dependent upon these international ex-
changes and solutions to address many of the real-world problems we encounter today
and into in the future.
The Information Technology and Communications in Health (ITCH) conference
was first held in 1987 to promote the global exchange of ideas in health informatics.
The conference is hosted by the School of Health Information Science at the University
of Victoria. The theme of the 2011 conference is Health Informatics: International Per-
spectives. The conference provided a unique opportunity to share lessons learned by
both developed and developing countries. In addition this ITCH conference was special
as it honoured Professor Denis Protti’s leadership and contributions to the field of
health informatics. Professor Denis Protti was the founding Director of the School of
Health Information Science at the University of Victoria and has contributed his
knowledge and expertise to guiding health informatics education, projects and initia-
tives in Canada and internationally.
It is hoped that the exchange of knowledge among the participants at ITCH 2011
will lead to increased dialogue and greater improvements to health information systems
and technologies leading to more sustainable healthcare systems worldwide today and
into the future.
Elizabeth Borycki
School of Health Information Science
University of Victoria
Victoria, British Columbia
Canada
vii
ITCH 2011 Steering Committee
Chair – Abdul V. Roudsari
Program Chairs – Andre Kushniruk and Abdul V. Roudsari
Student Poster & Practitioner Poster Co-ordinator – Pasquale Fiore
Workshop Co-ordinator – Alex Kuo
Promotion and Business Co-ordinator – Leslie Wood
Sponsor and Exhibitor Co-ordinators – Al Schyf and Nancy Gault
Proceedings Editors – Elizabeth Borycki and John Bartle-Clar
Technical Co-ordinator – John Bartle-Clar
Members at Large – Jim McDaniel and Colin Partridge
viii
ITCH 2011 Scientific Program
Committee
James Anderson
Purdue University, USA
Riccardo Bellazzi
University Pavia, Italy
Maged Boulos
University of Plymouth, UK
Joe Cafazzo
University Health Network, Canada
Robert Calnan
Vancouver Island Health Authority, Canada
Susan Clamp
Leeds University, UK
Enrico Coiera
Australia
Dominic Covvey
University of Waterloo, Canada
Eric Eisenstein
Duke University Medical Center, USA
Paul Fisher
Universidade Federal do Rio, Grande do Sul, Brazil
Marilynne Hebert
University of Calgary, Canada
Don Juzwishin
Alberta Health Services, Canada
David Kaufman
Columbia University, USA
Jonathan Kay
Oxford John Radcliffe Hospital, UK
ix
Craig Kuziemsky
University of Ottawa, Canada
Kevin Leonard
University of Toronto, Canada
Selma Limam Mansar
Carnegie Mellon University, Qatar
Jim McDaniel
University of Victoria, Canada
Christian Nøhr
Aalborg University, Denmark
Anthony Norris
New Zealand
Grace Paterson
Dalhousie University, Canada
Francesco Pinciroli
Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy
Denis Protti
University of Victoria, Canada
Jan Talmon
Maastricht University, Netherlands
Robyn Tamblyn
McGill University, Canada
Joseph Tan
McMaster University, Canada
Minhong (Maggie) Wang
University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Jens Weber
University of Victoria, Canada
Jeremy Wyatt
Digital Healthcare, UK
