Health informatics is the application of skills and tools which enable information to be collected, managed, used and shared to support the delivery of health care and to promote health
It takes a concentrated effort to keep pace with the information technology needs in the rapidly changing health care environment and that is impetus behind a new fellowship programme at the Indiana University School of Informatics.
The Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation has awarded a grant to establish the Anthem Fellowships in Health Informatics to support doctoral students at the School's Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus.
Two fellowships, $35,000 each, will be awarded to students in 2006 and 2007.
"The Anthem fellowships will attract the highest caliber of doctoral students and their work will contribute significantly to Indiana's health information technology initiatives," says Darrell Bailey, executive associate dean of informatics at IUPUI.
"This is a successful bridging of academia and the medical care industry." The fellowship programme also taps into the expertise of the nationally acclaimed Indiana Health Information Exchange, a collaboration of several Indiana medical care institutions whose goal is to improve the quality, safety and efficiency of health care and to expand opportunities for researchers.
"Groundbreaking research and innovative programs with the power to transform our health care delivery system are taking place right here in Indiana," said David Lee, vice president of health care management for Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Indiana.
"Anthem is pleased to support these initiatives, which could serve as a national model for a more efficient, effective health care system." Established in 2000, the Anthem Foundation awards grants to programmes and initiatives that help people in Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield communities manage and improve their health and enrich the greater community.
Recipients of the Anthem fellowships will be selected by Bailey; Anna McDaniel, director of the School's Health Informatics graduate programme; and IHIE President Marc Overhage, in consultation with Lee.
"As a national healthcare informatics hub growing out of the work at the Regenstrief Institute, Indiana is advancing science and education," says Overhage, who is also a professor at the IU School of Medicine.
"Through these fellowships, we will be able to attract top talent in this field, which will help us become an even bigger engine for software development and research in healthcare and disease management." The fellows' research will focus on challenges and issues critical to using clinical data to improve the population's health and wellness.
The School of Informatics at IUPUI is located near the IU schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, and health and rehabilitation sciences.
The campus also is home to the internationally acclaimed Regenstrief Institute for Health Care, and the Regenstrief Medical Records System - the world's largest and longest continually operating electronic medical record systems in the world.
