A perspective on integration and outreach: Guiding concepts in the evolution of health informatics

Marion J Ball; Gabriela Mustata Wilson; William M Tierney; Jon Weidanz; Denise Hernandez; George R Kim; Judith V Douglas

doi:10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2024.105638

A perspective on integration and outreach: Guiding concepts in the evolution of health informatics

Int J Med Inform. 2024 Dec:192:105638. doi: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2024.105638. Epub 2024 Oct 2.

Authors

Marion J Ball¹, Gabriela Mustata Wilson², William M Tierney³, Jon Weidanz⁴, Denise Hernandez⁵, George R Kim⁶, Judith V Douglas⁷

Affiliations

¹ Raj and Indra Nooyi Endowed Distinguished Chair in Bioengineering, Presidential Distinguished Professor, and Executive Director, MICHI, University of Texas at Arlington, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Kinesiology and Co-Director, MICHI, University of Texas at Arlington, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
³ Associate Dean, Population Health and Health Outcomes, Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health, Indiana University, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Associate Vice President for Research and Professor of Kinesiology and Bioengineering, University of Texas at Arlington, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁵ Department of Kinesiology and Social Work, University of Texas at Arlington, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁶ Biomedical Informatics and Data Science, Division of General Internal Medicine (Department of Medicine), The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁷ MICHI, University of Texas at Arlington, United States. Electronic address: [email protected].

PMID: 39393124
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2024.105638

Abstract

Background: The National Library of Medicine's Integrated Academic/Advanced Information Management Systems (IAIMS) initiative played a central role in the evolution of health informatics over the project's lifetime (1983-2009) and continues to do so.

Aim: Our objective is to demonstrate how IAIMS and two key IAIMS concepts, integration and outreach, have functioned at very different times during this evolutionary process.

Approach: Using a framework drawn from Lorenzi and Stead's 2021 history of IAIMS, we examine the role of integration and outreach in work at the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB) in the early 1980s and at the University of Texas Arlington (UTA) in 2020.

Results: Guided by these concepts, UMB implemented a campus-wide information utility, while UTA established a center to accelerate research and innovation.

Conclusions: Outreach and integration have been formative in the evolution of health informatics and will continue to hold their power.

Keywords: Health Informatics; IAIMS; Innovation; Integration; Outreach.

Publication types

Historical Article

MeSH terms

Baltimore
Community-Institutional Relations
History, 20th Century
Humans
Medical Informatics*
National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
Systems Integration
Texas
United States