Improving Bridging from Informatics Theory to Practice

Abstract

SummaryBackground: In 1962, Methods of Information in Medicine (MIM) began to publish papers on the methodology and scientific fundamentals of managing data, information, and knowledge in biomedicine and health care. Meeting an increasing demand for research about practical implementation of health information systems, the journal Applied Clinical Informatics (ACI) was launched in 2009. Both journals are official journals of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA). Objectives: Based on prior analyses, we aimed to describe major topics published in MIM during 2014 and to explore whether theory of MIM influenced practice of ACI. Our objectives were further to describe lessons learned and to discuss possible editorial policies to improve bridging from theory to practice. Methods: We conducted a retrospective, observational study reviewing MIM articles published during 2014 (N=61) and analyzing reference lists of ACI articles from 2014 (N=70). Lessons learned and opinions about MIM editorial policies were developed in consensus by the two authors. These have been influenced by discussions with the journal's associate editors and editorial board members. Results:The publication topics of MIM in 2014 were broad, covering biomedical and health informatics, medical biometry and epidemiology. Important topics discussed were biosignal interpretation, boosting methodologies, citation analysis, health-enabling and ambient assistive technologies, health record banking, safety, and standards. Nine ACI practice articles from 2014 cited eighteen MIM theory papers from any year. These nine ACI articles covered mainly the areas of clinical documentation and medication-related decision support. The methodological basis they cited from was almost exclusively related to evaluation. We could show some direct links where theory impacted practice. These links are however few in relation to the total amount of papers published. Conclusions: Editorial policies such as publishing systematic methodological reviews and clarification of possible practical impact of theory-focused articles may improve bridging.

Milestones and Outcomes in Health and Human Services Informatics Education Programmes

“…Paradigm shift in BMHI may refer to the historical development from computers as tools to computational ubiquity, the shift to digitalization and social networking, or the shift from disciplinespecific standards and systems to global and universal concepts and structures. Paradigm shift has also been of interest among BMHI researchers [13,[22][23][24][25][26][27].…”

Guiding Methods of Information in Medicine into the Next Generation: Welcome Note from the New Editor-in-Chief

“…Whereas in the 2014 year's analysis some overlap in themes but no direct links were uncovered [10,11], we could find more direct links in the 2015 year's analysis by including citation analysis [12,13]. The methodological basis in Methods from which ACI cited was, however, almost exclusively related to evaluation as topic.…”

“…The methodological basis in Methods from which ACI cited was, however, almost exclusively related to evaluation as topic. Based on this exploratory exercise, systematic methodological reviews, clarification of possible practical implications of theoretical work, or specific focus themes on topics discussing both theoretical gaps and practical applications of methods and theories might be considered in future [13]. Another lesson learned was the fact that the majority of Methods' first authors have European affiliations albeit the journal having the aim of being international with official affiliations to the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA), the European Federation of Medical Informatics (EFMI) and the German Association for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS).…”

Back on Track

“…The scope of MIM includes methodology and scientific fundamentals, and is focused on theory whereas ACI focuses on informatics applied to biomedicine and health care. To study whether theory has an impact on the quality and efficiency of health care, and so on practice, congruencies and interdependencies in publications of ACI and MIM had been explored by previous and current editors in 2014 and 2015 and published in these journals respectively [1][2][3][4].…”