Communications of the ACM
Online Newsletter Targets Informatics Professionals
A new online publication, targeted to health professionals working in the global informatics community, has been launched by the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) for informatics professionals. The Standards Standard provides a single online destination for healthcare information, communications, and technology experts who require a reliable periodic update on the activities and initiatives of the world's major biomedical and healthcare standards- setting organizations. Its editor is AMIA member Dr. Dipak Kalra, Clinical Professor of Health Informatics and Director of the Centre for Health Informatics and Multiprofessional Education at University College, London. The launch was announced at MedInfo, a global conference on medical and health informatics.
Following a pilot tested about a year ago, The Standards Standard was re-imagined by Dr. Kalra, who included Interoperability Reviews in the inaugural edition released earlier this year. In addition to providing a centralized source of information unavailable elsewhere, the publication has been improved over the last several months to feature an interactive component, enabling readers of the publication—international leaders in informatics—to comment on and discuss articles focused on implementation and workability of electronic health information systems. The test pilot and first edition are available online. Subscription to the publication is free of charge to professionals who emal their name, title, institutional affiliation, and email address to [email protected].
"This publication supports a community of healthcare professionals who are working to make global health a reality," says Dr. Kalra. "Before consistent, quality care can be delivered, informatics methods, applications, and standards must become fully integrated within the healthcare landscape. Communication with and to professionals working toward reaching those twin goals is our main objective in initiating this publication."
Dr. Kalra established an editorial board comprised of experts who bring broad understanding of the challenges of standards adoption, usage, and usefulness, and who can speak officially on behalf of their respective organizations, notes Associate Editor Don E. Detmer, M.D., immediate Past President of AMIA and a Professor at University of Virginia, who has helped develop and define the medical subspecialty of clinical informatics. "We are optimistic that as the Standard matures, it will become a very useful adjunct to greater understanding of the role of standards and to their continued development," Dr. Detmer says.
A list of the publication's Editorial Board is available online.
The next edition of The Standards Standard is scheduled for December 2010.
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