Health Informatics
Emiru Merdassa(MSc, Assistant professor)
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Learning objectives
To provide an understanding of health informatics definitions
Define information management, information system and informatics
Explain the basic principles of informatics
Identify the domains of informatics applications
Computer evolutions
Understand the types of computer and software
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Introduction
Health informatics emerged as a discipline in the 1960s but has only
recently gained recognition as an important component of healthcare.
The growth in the volume of medical knowledge and patient information
that occurred due to better understanding of human health has resulted
in more treatments and interventions that produce more information.
The increase in specialization has also created the need to share and
coordinate patient information.
Furthermore, clinicians need to be able to access medical information
expeditiously, regardless of location or time of day.
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Definitions of Informatics and related terms
It is the discipline concerned with management of healthcare data and information
through the application of computers and other information technologies.
It is more about applying information in the healthcare field than it is about technology
per se.
Technology merely facilitates the collection, storage, transmission and analysis of data.
Health informatics includes data standards and controlled medical vocabularies
It also addresses issues of usability, clinical workflow, and other aspects of optimizing
the use of data and information in healthcare.
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Definition
Informatics
The science concerned with gathering, manipulating, storing, retrieving
and classifying recorded information.
Informatics is the application of information technologies to optimize
the information management function within an organization
Is about information, not technology.
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Health informatics
It is the field concerned with the optimal use of information often aided
by technology to improve individual health, public health, health care,
and biomedical research(Hersh,2009).
Health informatics should help healthcare professionals to provide
better and more cost-effective care and enable healthcare systems to
be more efficient and to adapt better to our patients' needs.
Health informatics may reshape the way we deliver care to meet the
demands of the future.
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Definition
Health informatics is the intersection of information science,
computer science and health care.
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Why Health Informatics emerged?
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Why Health Informatics emerged?
Being proficient in computer science and information systems is not
adequate to design systems that will enhance the delivery of healthcare,
contribute to quality of care, and facilitate cost-effective means of delivery.
One must also be familiar with how the delivery of healthcare is carried out.
Healthcare informatics brings together all of these aspects to enhance
patient care through the use of technology.
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What do you understand?
Charles Friedman theorem
A person working with an information resource is better than that
same person unassisted.
NOT!!
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Informatics in the various healthcare disciplines
Clinical informatics also focuses on informatics in the healthcare
system and may be further subdivided into the healthcare discipline
(Nursing informatics, Dental informatics, Pathology informatics, Public
health informatics, etc.) or a focus on the consumer or patient
(consumer health informatics).
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Public Health Informatics
Public health informatics is the systematic application of
information and computer science and technology to public
health practice, research, and learning.
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Why Health Informatics ?
▪ Health Informatics provides information to make decisions
▪ Better information leads to better decisions
▪ Health care, management, planning and policy all need good/quality
information
▪ Key elements of Informatics:
Acquisition
Manipulation
Storage
Display
Communication
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Health Informatics Principles
Use data and standards
Interoperability
Incremental development and strengthening of systems
Enterprise architecture approach
Collaborative communities
Confidentiality & privacy
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Health Informatics…
Health informatics tools
It includes clinical guidelines, formal medical terminologies, information
& communication systems.
It is applied to the areas of Nursing, Clinical Care, Dentistry, Pharmacy,
Public health and (bio)medical research.
Domains of health informatics
Delivery of care and promotion of health
Information management and technology
Organizational settings of health care
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Introduction to computer
The word computer comes from the word “compute”, which means,
“to calculate”
Thereby, a computer is an electronic device that can perform
arithmetic operations at high speed
It is an electronic device, operating under the control of instructions.
A computer is a device, which accepts the data from the input
devices. It processes the input data to produce the required output
and stores it as required.
(Device) > (Accepts input data) > (Processes data) > (Output) >
(Stores processed data).
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Cont’d…
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Computer Generations
“Generation” in computer talk is a step in technology. It provides
a framework for the growth of computer industry
Originally it was used to distinguish between various hardware
technologies, but now it has been extended to include both
hardware and software
Till today, there are five computer generations
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I. First generation computers(1940 - 1956)
These computers were named Eniac, Edvac, and Univac.
These computers were made of vacuum tubes
They were huge in size and very costly to maintain.
II. Second generation computers (1956 - 1963)
Transistor developed in the place of vacuum tubes.
It is more reliable, much cheaper and smaller. This generation
had more computing power, were smaller in size, easier to
maintain and were more affordable than the previous generation.
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III. Third generation computers (1964 to 1971)
Used integrated circuits.
The transistors were miniaturised and kept on silicon
chips(semiconductors) which drastically increased the speed and
efficiency of computers.
IV. Fourth generation computers (1971 to 2010)
Used microprocessors.
The microprocessors were smaller and had tremendous computing
capabilities.
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VI. Fifth generation computers(2010 onwards)
Used the concept of Artificial intelligence(AI).
The goal of fifth-generation computing is to develop devices that
respond to natural language input and are capable of learning
and self-organization.
AI : The branch of computer science that is concerned with the
automation of intelligent behaviours
Used to solve problems that can not be solved using algorithmic
solution.
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History of Computer
Generations
1 2 3 4 5
2010
1940 - 1956 1956 - 1963 1964 - 1971 1971 - 2010 Onwards
Vacuum Tubes Transistors Integrated Microprocessors Artificial
Circuits Intelligence
Computer Generations
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Types of computer
There are a lot of terms used to describe computers.
Most of these words imply the size, expected use or capability of
the computer.
0 Microcomputers
─ Desktop
─ Personal Computer(PC)
0 Minicomputer
0 Mainframe
0 Supercomputer
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I. Microcomputers
Desktop: A personal or microcomputer sufficient to fit on a desk
Laptop: A portable computer with an integrated screen and
keyboard. Smaller in size than a desktop computer and larger
than a notebook
Palmtop /Digital Diary/Notebook/PDAs: A hand-sized computer.
Palmtops have no keyboard but the screen serves both as an
input and output device.
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Desktop Laptop
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II. Mini Computer
It is a multi-user computer system which is capable of supporting
hundreds of users (up to 250) simultaneously.
Minicomputers lies between microcomputers and mainframe.
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III. Mainframe Computers
It is a computer for their large size, amount of storage, processing power
and high level of reliability.
used by large organizations for special applications requiring high
volumes of data processing.
Example: banks, insurance companies, railways that need on-line
processing of large number of transactions.
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IV. Super-computers
It is a computer that performs at or near the
currently highest operational rate for computers.
very expensive
used for scientific and engineering applications that
must handle very large databases or do a great
amount of computation.
Example: weather forecasting, animated graphics,
fluid dynamic calculations, nuclear energy
research, and petroleum exploration etc.
They can perform over a trillion
calculations per second.
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Basic characteristics of computer
Speed: computer can perform millions (1,000,000) of instructions and even
more per second.
Accuracy: the errors in computer are due to human and inaccurate data.
Diligence: a computer is free from tiredness, lack of concentration, fatigue, etc.
Versatility: It means the capacity to perform completely different type of work.
Power of remembering: any information can be stored and recalled as long as
you require it
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Cont.…
No IQ: computer is a dumb machine and it cannot do any work without
instruction from the user.
No Feeling: It does not have feelings or emotion, taste, knowledge and
experience.
Storage: the Computer has an inbuilt memory where it can store a
large amount of data.
You can also store data in secondary storage devices such as
floppies, which can be kept outside your computer and can be
carried to other computers.
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Components of computer
I. Input Devices: The computer recognizes its input such as a
keyboard, mouse, scanner, from these devices, it accepts the data or
information.
II. Output units : The data is further processed by the system unit and
provides the required information using output devices such as monitor
screen, printer, speaker etc.
III. Storage unit: Memory devices basically store the data or
information or instructions. Further divided into two.
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I. Primary storage
Used to hold running program instructions
Used to hold data, intermediate results, and results of ongoing
processing of job(s)
Fast in operation
Small Capacity
Expensive
Volatile (looses data on power dissipation)
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II. Secondary storage
Used to hold data, stored program instructions and information of stored jobs
To store the processed data for long-term,
The data stored permanently in this storage device such as Hard Disks,
DVD, Flash drives etc
Slower than primary storage
Large Capacity
Cheaper than primary storage
Retains data even without power
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…Components of computer
IV. Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU)
It is the place where the actual executions of instructions takes place during
processing operation
It is a section where all the arithmetic and logical functions are carried out.
V. Controlling unit:
directs all operations inside the computer.
It is known as nerve center of the computer, because it controls and
coordinates all hardware operation
It gives command to transfer data from the input device to the memory (IAS)
of arithmetic and logic unit.
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Central Processing Unit (CPU)
It is the brain of a computer system
It is responsible for controlling the operations of all other units of a
computer system
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The computer system Concept
A system has following three characteristics:
1) A system has more than one element
2) All elements of a system are logically related
3) All elements of a system are controlled in a manner to achieve
the system goal
A computer is a system as it comprises of integrated components
(input unit, output unit, storage unit, and CPU) that work together to
perform the steps called for in the executing program
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Cont.…
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…The computer system Concept
Computers are a combination of hardware and software
Hardware refers to the physical devices of a computer system. Software
is a set of programs.
Software package is a group of programs that solve a specific problem or
perform a specific type of job
Program is a sequence of instructions written in a language that can be
understood by a computer
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Classification of Software
Classification of
Software
System software Application software
(Background software) (End user software)
System Software
System software is designed to controls
and manages the hardware devices and
end-user applications.
❑ It manages to perform all the utility functions, such as booting up
the computer and it is programmed to complete the loading,
executing, retrieval of files from the computer and storing the data
in the secondary storage devices.
Operating System
➢ The Operating System (OS), is most common type of system
software, it is the backbone of a computer system.
➢ It Controls and Manages the entire operations of a computer.
➢ All computers, tablets and smartphones need an Operating
System to function properly.
Application Software
Application software is a group of programs
facilitates the end-user with different features
in the computer to perform certain tasks.
Examples: Microsoft Office, Microsoft Edge, Safari
Application software can be categorized into two types
General-Purpose Specific-Purpose
Application Software Application Software
Word processors, spreadsheets, Air traffic control systems, learning
databases, desktop publishing management systems for universities,
packages, graphics packages, etc. etc.
Logical System Architecture
Fig1. Relationship among hardware, system software, application software, and users of
a computer system.
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Utility software is designed to help analyze, configure, optimize
or maintain a computer.
For Example:
❖ Anti-virus utilities scan for computer viruses.
❖ Backup software can make copies of all
information stored on a disk and restore either the
entire disk (e.g. in an event of disk failure) or
selected files (e.g. in an event of accidental
deletion).
❖ Data compression utilities output a shorter stream
or a smaller file when provided with a stream or
file.
❖ Disk compression utilities can transparently
compress/uncompress the contents of a disk,
increasing the capacity of the disk.
❖ Disk defragmenters can detect computer files
whose contents are scattered across several
locations on the hard disk, and move the
fragments to one location to increase efficiency.
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User Interface Operating Systems
Command Line Interface(CLI): This type of operating system requires
written typing of commands to the computer; also called character-based operating
systems. Example: MS-DOS
Graphical User Interface(GUI): Provides the easy user interface with pointing
devices or touch screens to select the icons from the screen. GUI makes it easier to work on a
computer, even for a novice user.
Example: Windows, MAC, Linux
….Cont.
GUI CLI
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Thank you !
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