Medical informatics and information

Medical informatics has now been in existence for approximately 40 years, and it has been rapidly growing in the last decade. Despite major advantages in the science and technology of health care, it seems that the medical informatics discipline has the potential to improve and facilitate the ever-changing and ever-broadening mass of information concerning the etiology, prevention and treatment of diseases, as well as the maintenance of health. Its very broad field of interest covers many interdisciplinary research topics, with consequences for patient care and education.