Information is an ethereal commodity.One definition describes it as the data and knowledge that intelligent systems (human and artificial) use to support their decisions.
Health informatics helps healthcare providers with their decisions and actions, and improves patient outcomes by making better use of information—making more efficient the way patient data and medical knowledge is captured, processed, communicated, and applied.
Health information is an integral part of a functioning health system. Health information
systems (HIS) provide evidence for policy and program decisions to support better health outcomes for individuals and for populations overall.
However, the meaning of the term “HIS” varies across sources, often with no clear or precise definition. Importantly, HIS refers to a system involving producers, users, and other factors contributing to the production and use of health information.
Health information is one of six core functions of a health system. Health information generated by an HIS supports evidence-informed decision making at each level of a health system. Health information can inform the planning and targeting of national and subnational health programs to
support the achievement of health equity and universal health coverage.
In addition, an HIS supports a country’s ability to report on progress in meeting the ambitious
goals of global initiatives,such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),controlling the
HIV/AIDS epidemic,preventing child and maternal deaths, and combatting infectious disease threats.
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