Theory, abstraction and design in medical informatics.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the scientific and engineering components of Medical Informatics. A clear characterization of these components should be undertaken to categorize different areas of Medical Informatics and create a research agenda for the future.

METHODS

We have adapted a classical ACM and IEEE report on computing to analyze Medical Informatics from three different viewpoints: Theory, Abstraction, and Design.

RESULTS

We suggest that Medical Informatics can be considered from these three perspectives: (1) Theory, from which medical informaticians formally characterize the properties of the objects of study, creating new theories or using and adapting existing theories (e.g., from mathematics), (2) Abstraction, from which medical informaticians deal with all aspects of medical information and create new abstractions, methods, and technology-independent models, which can be experimentally verified, and (3) Design, from which medical informaticians develop systems or act as information brokers or advisors between medical and technology professionals, to improve the quality of computer applications in medicine.

CONCLUSION

Based on this framework, we suggest that Medical Informatics has an independent scientific character, different from other applied informatics areas. Finally, we analyze these three perspectives using data mining in medicine.