Analysing the Scientific Publications of Peter Reichertz: Reflections from the Perspective of Medical Informatics Knowledge Today.

Abstract

Professor Peter L. Reichertz is one of the most significant pioneers in the field of medical informatics worldwide. In 1969, 50years ago, he became Professor at the Hannover Medical School. On the occasion of this anniversary an attempt was made to report on the scientific work of Peter Reichertz and to reflect on this work in the light of medical informatics knowledge today. The aim of this study was to search publications listings in the Peter L. Reichertz Archive, in Pubmed/Medline, and in the Web of Science. As well as to analyse contents and communication approaches to help in classifying Peter Reichertz's scientific publications. Three comprehensive publication lists were identified: the Print Bibliography (384 publications), the Disc Bibliography (285 publications) and the Selected Publications Bibliography (111 publications). Based on the last bibliography, a classification was built along the semantic dimensions of (1) major topics, (2) fields of publication, and (3) publication languages. Major contents of Peter Reichertz's research in informatics were medical informatics as a field (including education), informatics applications in medicine and health care, and health information systems. Clear shifts over time were observed. To his research on informatics applications, in the 1970s health information systems was added as topic, which then became a major part of his research. While in the 1960s and earlier German was a major publication language, from the 1970s onwards this shifted to English as the major language. Peter Reichertz very early identified the potential of computers in medicine and health care. He did not just use information and communication technology and information processing methodology as if they were other technology, such as microscopes or ultrasonic devices, for improving diagnosis and therapy. He was visionary enough to very early see the revolutionary potential of informatics for biomedicine and health care, with consequential impact on research and education.