[Informaticopia] Health informatics 2.0?

[Nursing Informatics News]

Readers of this blog will know that we have discussed Web 2.0 (or WWW2.0) tools at intervals - indeed, blogging seems to be one of the quintessential elements of Web 2.0.


This got me thinking - what are the implications for health informatics (or nursing informatics, or [bio-]medical informatics - take your pick of term or speciality)? Many Web 2.0 tools can be explored for their use by health informaticians; but what about customising them for health informatics uses? - or even building health informatics applications using Web 2.0 tools and principles?


Among the key elements of Web2.0 are collaboration, building communities, fostering interactions, sharing of resources, etc. - tools such as blogs, RSS feeds, swickis, folksonomy applications. What might be their implications for developing health informatics? Could they put some of the sacred cows out to grass? For example, what are the implications for the whole debate and set of work on terminologies if people can create their own keywords and categorisations? What are the implications for the silo approach to health records if people can build their own and share links and information? Do we have the opportunity to create 'Health informatics 2.0'?


In addition to exploring the use of existing Web 2.0 tools, I and interested colleagues will be exploring these and other issues. Our thoughts will be added at intervals here, through www.hi-blogs.info and through various conference presentations and discussion papers. We invite anyone interested to share in the debate and provide their own perspectives.


Peter Murray




Technorati Tags: Web 2.0, health informatics

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