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This article summarizes the origins of informatics, which is based on the science, engineering, and technology of computer hardware, software, and communications. In just four decades, from the 1950s to the 1990s, computer technology has progressed from slow, first-generation vacuum tubes, through the invention of the transistor and its incorporation into microprocessor chips, and ultimately, to fast, fourth-generation very-large-scale-integrated silicon chips. Programming has undergone a parallel transformation, from cumbersome, first-generation [...]

Development of a general natural-language processor that identifies clinical information in narrative reports and maps that information into a structured representation containing clinical terms.

Direct computer-based physician order entry has been the subject of debate for over 20 years. Many sites have implemented systems successfully. Others have failed outright or flirted with disaster, incurring substantial delays, cost overruns, and threatened work actions. The rationale for physician order entry includes process improvement, support of cost-conscious decision making, clinical decision support, and optimization of physicians' time. Barriers to physician order entry result from the changes required [...]

Careful study of medical informatics research and library-resource projects is necessary to increase the productivity of the research and development enterprise. Medical informatics research projects can present unique problems with respect to evaluation. It is not always possible to adapt directly the evaluation methods that are commonly employed in the natural and social sciences. Problems in evaluating medical informatics projects may be overcome by formulating system development work in terms [...]

To test the effect of diagnosis on training an artificial neural network (ANN) to predict length of stay (LOS) for psychiatric patients involuntarily admitted to a state hospital.

The American Nurses Association (ANA) Cabinet on Nursing Practice mandated the formation of the Steering Committee on Databases to Support Clinical Nursing Practice. The Committee has established the process and the criteria by which to review and recommend nursing classification schemes based on the ANA Nursing Process Standards and elements contained in the Nursing Minimum Data Set (NMDS) for inclusion of nursing data elements in national databases. Four classification schemes [...]

To examine the information needs of health care professionals in HIV-related clinical encounters, and to determine the suitability of existing information sources to address those needs.