Informatics in the service of health, a look to the future

The paper attempts a balanced look at the directions of health informatics required in the future. In a high level review of impediments to health and health care a number of issues are identified that may be amenable to improvement by contributions from health informatics. Attention is drawn to the improvement of the collection and dissemination of knowledge in addition to the analysis of morbid conditions as a focus for health informatics. On this basis a review of the current state of health information systems is undertaken. The importance of adaptable user interfaces for end users and systems personnel, privacy and confidentiality protection, and linkage among clinical support systems and knowledge repositories is stressed. These improvements hinge on advancements in medical concept representation. Canadian contributions to these developments, particularly the instigation of Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) are briefly reviewed.