title: Towards creating an informatics infrastructure in home health care.
abstract: Although information technology is utilized successfully in many industries, its use in health care-and home health care in particular--continues to lag. This column summarizes a recent article by Bakken and Hripcsak (2004) examining the potential for informatics to improve patient care quality in home health care by supporting evidence-based practices and patient safety. The authors provide definitions of the basic components of an informatics infrastructure e.g., data mining, digital sources of evidence, etc.--and recommend how to make an informatics infrastructure for the home health care industry a reality. Suggestions include: (1) integrating informatics into education and training; (2) creating public/private partnerships among government agencies, vendors, and industry associations; and (3) performing cost-effective analyses to determine the optimal uses of specific technologies.
authors.affiliation: Center for Home Care Policy and Research, USA. lori.king@vnsny.org
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: Joann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ahrens
mesh_terms: D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000592:standards; D006801:Humans; D008490:Medical Informatics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D012648:Self Care; D014481:United States