Health Informatics Chapter 1 Overview Exam Questions with Correct Answers

When did health informatics begin? Correct Answer Why did health informatics develop? Correct Answer 1. Growth and volume of medical knowledge, patient information, understanding of human health. 2. Increase in specializations has created and need to share and coordinate patient information. 3. Clinicians need access to medical information expeditiously regardless of time and day. What are some of the challenges existing today that require an improvement in informatics? Correct Answer 1. Technology is advancing faster than healthcare professionals can assimilate into their practice. 2. Critical limitation of IT that manages data and not information. This creates a mismatch in what clinicians need (information) and what they have (ineffective ways to manage information). What is the definition of informatics? Correct Answer It is a science of information and the blending of people, biomedicine and technology. What is the name for someone who practices informatics? Correct Answer Informaticist or informaticians What is an information hierarchy? Correct Answer What is data? Correct Answer data are symbols or observations reflecting differences in the world. Datum is the singular and is the lowest level of abstraction such as a number in a database. There is no meaning associated with data. Computers process data rapidly and accurately.