Directions for clinical research and genomic research into the next decade: implications for informatics

Medical informatics is defined largely by its host disciplines in clinical and biological medicine, and to project the agenda for informatics into the next decade, the health community must envision the broad context of biomedical research. This paper is a sketch of this vision, taking into account pressures from changes in the U.S. health care system, the need for more objective information on which to base health care decisions, and the accelerating progress and clinical impact of genomics research. The lessons of modern genomics research demonstrate the power of computing and communication tools to facilitate rapid progress through the adoption of open community standards for information exchange and collaboration. While aspects of this vision are speculative, it seems clear that the core agenda for informatics must be the development of interoperating systems that can facilitate the secure gathering, interchange, and analysis of high-quality information and can gain leverage from worldwide collaboration in advancing and applying new medical knowledge.