Health informatics professionalism in primary care.

Health Informatics has been defined as ‘the knowledge, skills and tools which enable information to be collected, managed, used and shared to support the delivery of health care and promote health’. However, the profession of ‘health informatician’ is a new, diverse and as yet unorganised entity. Does it have any relevance in primary care? This broad church includes many people working in health care, many of whom in the past would not have considered themselves part of one profession. These include fulltime health informatics professionals, such as information and communication technology (ICT) staff, health records staff, knowledge management staff, information management staff, senior managers, directors of services and clinical informatics staff. It also includes other health professionals who have a major involvement in health informatics, such as managers, clinicians and administrative staff. So what? Are these people really relevant to health care or are they just another grouping of health administrators and managers? Most of the readers of this journal will require little convincing that the good application of computer technology in medicine (health informatics) has a profound effect on patient care and this is extending on a daily basis. The electronic medical record (EMR) has been shown to increase significantly the care patients receive by the use of automated alerts, and so on. Just as importantly, the appropriate use of the EMR has been shown to reduce vastly patient damage and cost by preventing medical errors. It may be thought that the situation in United Kingdom (UK) primary care is so well developed that there is no need for such experts. We have nearly 100% of general practitioner (GP) practices using computers. Over 80% of GPs use their clinical system while consulting with patients. Over 90% of all prescriptions in UK general practice are computer-generated. This latter fact is very important as it means that over 90% of medication items have been checked by the computer systems and possible risks due to interactions and contraindications have been shown to the prescriber. However, we are now facing primary care teamwide systems, communications between GP systems, communications between GPs and hospitals, electronic transfer of prescriptions, care shared between different health sectors and much more. Also the growing demand for data to drive health care means an everincreasing need for people who understand data and information. The Knowledge Revolution means that no clinician can keep up with changes in their field. They need access to appropriate knowledge, validated and available at the appropriate time. This needs staff to understand and deliver appropriate knowledge to those who provide care.