When verifying the general definition of informatics, it mostly aligns with Health Informatics but needs a few clarifications to fully fit this domain. Health Informatics is not just about transforming data — it’s about using information and technology to improve patient care, safety, and health outcomes. This work relies on tools like electronic health records (EHRs), clinical decision support systems, telehealth, and secure data sharing to make sure information is available and meaningful to clinicians, patients, and public health teams (Sumner et al., 2025). A good definition must also include how Health Informatics depends on standards like HL7 and FHIR to ensure systems can work together. It also involves designing user-friendly systems and following strict privacy rules like HIPAA, plus strong ethical practices around consent and data security (Valenta et al., 2018). It’s important to note the growing role of artificial intelligence and remote monitoring in today’s digital health systems too. Overall, Health Informatics clearly goes beyond general IT — it’s an interdisciplinary field that connects clinical care, data science, and technology to support safer, more efficient, and patient-centered healthcare (Mansurjonovich, 2023). When done well, Health Informatics empowers teams to deliver better evidence-based decisions. It also helps reduce errors and supports health equity by improving access to quality information and care.

Rationale: Including these specific elements makes the definition of Health Informatics more accurate because it shows that this domain is not only about handling data but also about applying it responsibly to real healthcare challenges. It highlights how Health Informatics connects people, technology, and policy to improve patient safety and outcomes, which goes beyond what general IT or computer science do on their own. By focusing on ethical, secure, and patient-centered data use, the definition makes it clear how Health Informatics stands apart as a unique and critical field in modern healthcare (Mansurjonovich, 2023; Sumner et al., 2025).

References:

Mansurjonovich, J. M. (2023). Designing an electronic didactic environment to ensure interdisciplinary integration in the teaching of" Informatics and information technologies" during professional education. Conference, 3(03), 78-82.

Sumner, B., Martin, R., Gladman, T., Wilkinson, T. J., & Grainger, R. (2025). Understanding the gap: A balanced multi-perspective approach to defining essential digital health competencies for medical graduates. BMC medical education, 25(1), 1-11.

Valenta, A. L., Berner, E. S., Boren, S. A., Deckard, G. J., Eldredge, C., Fridsma, D. B., Gadd, C., Gong, Y., Johnson, T., Jones, J., Manos, E. L., Phillips, K. T., Roderer, N. K., Rosendale, D., Turner, A. M., Tusch, G., Williamson, J. J., & Johnson, S. B. (2018). AMIA Board White Paper: AMIA 2017 core competencies for applied health informatics education at the master’s degree level. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 25(12), 1657–1668. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocy132