title: Comparative effectiveness research and medical informatics.
abstract: As is the case for environmental, ecological, astronomical, and other sciences, medical practice and research finds itself in a tsunami of data. This data deluge, due primarily to the introduction of digitalization in routine medical care and medical research, affords the opportunity for improved patient care and scientific discovery. Medical informatics is the subdiscipline of medicine created to make greater use of information in order to improve healthcare. The 4 areas of medical informatics research (information access, structure, analysis, and interaction) are used as a framework to discuss the overlap in information needs of comparative effectiveness research and potential contributions of medical informatics. Examples of progress from the medical informatics literature and the Veterans Affairs Healthcare System are provided.
authors.affiliation: VA Boston Healthcare System, Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Leonard.Davolio@va.gov
authors.forename: Leonard W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: D'Avolio
authors.forename: Wildon R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Farwell
authors.forename: Louis D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Fiore
mesh_terms: D057186:Comparative Effectiveness Research / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D008490:Medical Informatics; D012107:Research Design; D014481:United States; D014493:United States Department of Veterans Affairs