Technological Innovation and the Future of Health Informatics

As the power of computers continues to expand exponentially, computer-driven applications and innovative technologies are evolving and emerging at an incredible rate-and health information technology is at the forefront of this electronic revolution.

Review the information presented in this week's Resources on the evolution of health information technology and the technological innovations that may influence the future growth of health informatics. Identify for further research one of these technological innovations that you believe deserves particular attention from health informaticians on a global level.

Using the Walden Library, review the information on how to evaluate resources as you search for and select articles. (To review this information, select "How Do I . . . ?" on the menu bar at the top of the Walden Library home page, and then select the "Evaluate Resources" link to access the page on "How to Evaluate Research Resources.")

Search the Walden Library for a full-text peer-reviewed article related to the technological innovation that you identified for further research, and then download this article. Next, search either the Walden Library or the Internet for an abstract (or the full text) of a non-peer-reviewed article also related to this technological innovation, and then download this article as well. As you conduct your searches, consider the differences between peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed articles and how you can distinguish one from the other.

Post a comprehensive response to the following:

• What technological innovation do you think will have a significant impact on the future growth of the field of health informatics on a global level? How?

• What driving factors might influence the development of this technological innovation? Why?

• Explain how the peer-reviewed article differs from the non-peer-reviewed article and why this type of article (peer-reviewed) is beneficial to you as a scholar-practitioner in health informatics.

Reading materials:

Video: Laureate Education (Producer). (2009). Introduction to health informatics: Driving forces and future trends[Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Course Text:Handbook of Informatics for Nurses and Healthcare Professionals

Chapter 23, "Integrating Technology, Informatics, and the Internet into Nursing Education

Article: Tan, L. (2008). Surgery with robots. Innovation, 8(1), 65-6 7.

The eHealth Initiative

http://www.ehealthinitiative.org/Health Informatics World Wide.