Abstract
Background: The discipline of health or medical informatics is relatively new in that the literature has existed for only 40 years. The British Computer Society (BCS) health group was of the opinion that work should be undertaken to explore the scope of medical or health informatics. Once the mapping work was completed the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) expressed the wish to develop it further to define the knowledge base of the discipline and produce a comprehensive internationally applicable framework. This article will also highlight the move from the expert opinion of a small group to the analysis of publications to generalise and refine the initial findings, and illustrate the importance of triangulation.Objectives: The aim of the project was to explore the theoretical constructs underpinning the discipline of health informatics and produce a cognitive map of the existing understanding of the discipline and develop the knowledge base of health informatics for the IMIA and the BCS.Method: The five-phase project, described in this article, undertaken to define the discipline of health informatics used four forms of triangulation.Results: The output from the project is a framework giving the 14 major headings (Subjects) and 245 elements, which together describe the current perception of the discipline of health informatics.Conclusion: This article describes how each phase of the project was strengthened, through using triangulation within and between the different phases. This was done to ensure that the investigators could be confident in the confirmation and completeness of data, and assured of the validity and reliability of the final output of the ‘IMIA Knowledge Base’ that was endorsed by the IMIA Board in November 2009.
Highlights
The discipline of health or medical informatics is relatively new in that the literature has existed for only 40 years
The British Computer Society (BCS) health group was of the opinion that work should be undertaken to explore the scope of medical or health informatics
The aim was to obtain different perspectives on the issue of mapping the discipline of health informatics with the belief that the analysis would provide confidence and confirmation that the data was complete and the final outcomes from all the phases of the project were not just artefacts of one particular method of data collection or analysis. This process of data gathering and systematic analysis reflects the principles of grounded theory where the researcher begins with an area of study and allows the theory to emerge from the data. In this project the area of study was the discipline of health informatics and the knowledge base was derived from data systematically gathered and analysed through the research processes undertaken (Strauss & Corbin 1998)
Summary
The discipline of health or medical informatics is relatively new in that the literature has existed for only 40 years. Once the mapping work was completed the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) expressed a wish to develop it further to define the knowledge base of the discipline and produce a comprehensive internationally applicable framework. Various data extraction methods were used to identify the most commonly used keywords in the health informatics published literature followed by a consensus method to produce a final framework and knowledge base. This mixed method approach was adopted as a pragmatic means to address the development of what the discipline considered the current knowledge base and a reflection of the thoughts and publications of the discipline.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
