Biomedical informatics advancing the national health agenda: the AMIA 2015 year-in-review in clinical and consumer informatics

Abstract

The field of biomedical informatics experienced a productive 2015 in terms of research. In order to highlight the accomplishments of that research, elicit trends, and identify shortcomings at a macro level, a 19-person team conducted an extensive review of the literature in clinical and consumer informatics. The result of this process included a year-in-review presentation at the American Medical Informatics Association Annual Symposium and a written report (see supplemental data). Key findings are detailed in the report and summarized here. This article organizes the clinical and consumer health informatics research from 2015 under 3 themes: the electronic health record (EHR), the learning health system (LHS), and consumer engagement. Key findings include the following: (1) There are significant advances in establishing policies for EHR feature implementation, but increased interoperability is necessary for these to gain traction. (2) Decision support systems improve practice behaviors, but evidence of their impact on clinical outcomes is still lacking. (3) Progress in natural language processing (NLP) suggests that we are approaching but have not yet achieved truly interactive NLP systems. (4) Prediction models are becoming more robust but remain hampered by the lack of interoperable clinical data records. (5) Consumers can and will use mobile applications for improved engagement, yet EHR integration remains elusive.

Examining the Use of Real‐World Evidence in the Regulatory Process

“…Integration of EHRs into a large-scale data registry would allow for real-time matching against clinical trials and for physicians to be immediately notified if a patient was a potential fit. 93 After patients were enrolled in the trial, the treatment could be randomized and follow-up could occur at their normal point of care. 94 This would have the potential to massively reduce enrollment and follow-up costs while increasing the diversity of populations included in clinical trials.…”

Current Trends in Biomedical and Health Informatics

“…From publications in the above-mentioned thematic areas, some challenges are evident such as the lack of methods for integrating PGHD with EHRs, data analytics methods, and visualization tools for collaborative decision-making, and understanding the impact of PGHD and decision support systems on clinical outcomes. 3,4 Insufficient interoperability between EHRs hampers both the development and implementation of prediction models and improved consumer engagement through mobile applications. 4 Also, the need for interactive natural language processing systems was articulated.…”

“…3,4 Insufficient interoperability between EHRs hampers both the development and implementation of prediction models and improved consumer engagement through mobile applications. 4 Also, the need for interactive natural language processing systems was articulated. 4 Some recent discussions about the role and trends of BMHI conclude that BMHI is still maturing as an academic discipline at the same time as vendor-supplied applications are often uncritically accepted.…”

“…3 From another perspective, the results of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) 2015 year-in-review in clinical and consumer informatics were organized under three themes: the electronic health record (EHR), the learning health system, and consumer engagement. 4…”

Consumer Health Informatics: Empowering Healthy-Living-Seekers Through mHealth

“…40,41 For example, AMIA recognizes that CHI is about consumer engagement through the use of mHealth applications, where the growing emergence of patient control of data includes increasing access. 42 Since the late 1970s, the term "empowerment" has pervaded contemporary American culture.…”