History of Medical Informatics in Europe - a Short Review by Different Approach

Abstract

The panel intended to collect data, opinions and views for a systematic and multiaxial approach for a comprehensive presentation of “History of Medical Informatics”, treating both general (global) characteristics, but emphasizing the particular features for Europe. The topic was not only a subject of large interest but also of great importance in preparing a detailed material for celebration of forty years of medical informatics in Europe. The panel comprised a list of topics, trying to cover all major aspects to be discussed. Proposals of staging the major periods of medical informatics history were also discussed.

History of Romanian Medical Informatics: Learning from the Past to Reshape the Future

“…The emphasis was on industrial applications; however, a couple of small research groups were created, approaching various topics, including medical applications of computer science research, e.g. Dan Farcas and Vasile Baltac from Timisoara worked on the modelling of inter-neuronal connections [3], and Mihai Angelescu and Nicolae Mihalas in Arad proposed a diagnosis system for gastrointestinal diseases 1 . However, the impact of such research was low and collaborations with scientists from other countries were very difficult; we only had access to some East European scientific journals and the participation in international scientific events was very limited.…”

“…All external contacts had to be initiated, or, at least, approved by the authorities. Things started to partially change after a seminar on medical applications of informatics organized in 1969 in Bucharest for the leading staff of the MoH by IBM's Vienna branch where speakers from Karolinska 1 The program was presented in a regional conference without printed volume.…”

“…An important and specific factor for the period was the possibility to keep external contacts thanks to Jana Zvarova's initiative, supported by Jan van Bemmel and other scientists, to organize yearly meetings in Prague (period 1985-1990). The location was excellent: beyond the "iron curtain", inside the communist block, accessible to people from Eastern Europe, but also close and easily accessible from Western European countries [1].…”

“…Moreover, besides the fast-technological advent, the major socio-political changes of the last two decades of the 20 th century, especially in Europe, left their mark over the development of medical informatics in various countries. Therefore, a historical approach to our domain should not be reduced to a mere list of events, actions, or people, but should rather interpret them, highlight the major achievements, and trace the trends throughout each period [1].…”

The IMIA History Working Group: Inception through the IMIA History Taskforce, and Major Events Leading Up to the 50th Anniversary of IMIA

“…Barber and Scholes' comments were about the early developments in health informatics in the UK. Some of the papers were subsequently published in Acta Informatica[18,19,20,21] and later, partly re-published in an edited volume Contributions to the History of Medical Informatics edited by Masic and Mihalas[22].…”