The persistent challenge of health informatics

ABSTRACT

Healthcare is the recipient of significant expenditure throughout the world today. With ageing populations, rising expectations, and the development of advanced health treatments, expenditure is not only significant, but also increasing. Control of rising costs has been a common theme of health technology projects, particularly those in health informatics. Yet application of advanced technique to the management of health and health information lags behind many other industries. This paper considers the relationship between three potential drivers of technology projects in health: technologists, management, and medical practitioners. It places each of these in the context of general information technology projects. It concludes with current developments that may advance or hinder the future success of health-related technology initiatives.

KEYWORDS:

• e-Health
• health information systems
• project failure

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Greg Adamson is president of the IEEE Society on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT), a Principal Fellow in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne, and chair of the IEEE 2016 Conference on Norbert Wiener in the 21st Century. His research is focussed on barriers to uptake for socially beneficial technologies. [email: [email protected]].