The International Academy of Health Sciences Informatics: An Academy of Excellence

The Field of Health Sciences Informatics

For the last 50 years, the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) has served as an important actor for the International community of biomedical and health informaticians. IMIA has been leading efforts to grow and nurture a collaborative global biomedical and health Informatics community that encourages and supports international initiatives to improve health for all. IMIA has brought researchers, scientists, educators, implementers, clinicians, and patients together from around the world to advance biomedical and health informatics science, education, and practice [[1]]. IMIA has achieved this goal through collaboration, development of guidelines and policies, learning, and exchange of knowledge, skills, and ideas.

The past decades have seen a tremendous growth and an increasing maturity in our field. Worldwide electronic health record implementation and health information exchange are on the rise requiring an ever growing, highly skilled, international labor force. Population health and the quantified health experience, as well as efforts in research informatics and translational / applied informatics have accelerated. As result, the maturing of the field has led to a growing group of international leaders and recognized experts in biomedical and health Informatics.

• References

• 1 International Medical Informatics Association. Strategic Plan. 2017 Approved and in print.