What is Public Health Informatics?
Public health computer science is a branch of bioinformatics that applies technology to public health problems. They often practice on the government level by various government agencies dealing with public health issues, from the public health department offering services to the public to government facilities where the emerging diseases are studied. Informatics of public health is also a tool used by private organizations. Several universities offer training at this branch of bioinformatics, usually as part of a public health school. This includes the use of technology to collect data related to health issues, from the rate of success in surgery to the results of clinical trials, storing these data and performing data analysis. Informatics include topics such as statistics used for data analysis, as well as the Concernol computer science industry with security and longevity of stored data, and it facilitated medical practice and research. Data systems are used to SLEditing and monitoring communities, with the analysis providing tools for spotting patterns, identifying the success of various public health interventions and finding early signs of new public health problems. Using computer systems is much easier than the beginning of handwritten records, which provides opportunities for timely intervention.
In the example of how public health informatics could be used, the public health agency could monitor the sexually transmitted infection rate (STI) in the community. The data could be used to compare and contrast rates between different age and ethnic groups and to search for emerging formulas, such as increasing the occurrence of a particular STI or a growing number of antibiotics resistant infections. Data could also be used to react to public efforts such as educational programs, free testing for the public orProviding obstacles that can be used during sexual contact to reduce the risk of infection.
Public health experts are strongly relying on public health informatics to perform their work. The ability to analyze and organize computers is very valuable and can shorten the time required to reach important conclusions or discoveries. Public health informatics can also inform public health policy, while public health experts use information processed with public health information to support policy recommendations.