Integrating and Connecting Care

Book excerpt: The last few decades have seen the digital transformation of healthcare, with health informaticians taking the lead in innovations which have enabled the sector to evolve from rudimentary computer based records to large-scale systems allowing for intra-organisational, national and even international communication and information exchange. Establishing and maintaining strong partnerships between the healthcare community, government, universities and industry is integral to supporting these advances. This book presents 24 selected papers from the 25th Australian National Health Informatics Conference (HIC 2017), held in Brisbane, Australia, in August 2017. The theme of HIC 2017 is Integrating and Connecting Care, and the conference provides the ideal professional and social environment for clinicians, researchers, health IT professionals, industry and consumers to integrate, educate and share their knowledge and debate current and future health systems. The papers in the book reflect the theme of the conference, highlighting the cutting-edge research evidence, technology updates and innovations crucial to the digital transformation of the healthcare sector. Health informatics and e-health play a central role in connecting information systems, being smart with data, and enhancing both practitioner and consumer experience in healthcare interactions, and the book will be of interest to researchers and practitioners alike.