Glossary
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Andragogy
The practice of teaching adults, based on assumptions that adults need reasons for learning, need to learn by experience, approach learning as problem solving, and learn best when the topic is of immediate value.
behaviourism
Psychological learning theories that explain learning in terms of conditioning. Stimulus-response theory, pioneered by Ivan Pavlov, is one of the earliest behaviourist theories.
biomedicine
Application of scientific principles of biology and physiology to the understanding and treatment of disease.
bureaucracy
A way of structuring human organisations based on rational decision-making.
clinical decision support system (CDSS)
Information system designed to assist the health professional with clinical decision-making.
cognitive learning theories
Theories that seek to explain how information is taken into the brain, how it is processed, in what form it is exhibited by the learner, and how behaviour can be altered by feedback.
cognitive overload
A condition occurring as the result of excessive demands made on the cognitive processes, particularly memory.
concept
A word or phrase that encapsulates an idea, object or process.
confidentiality
The requirement that information will only be used for the purpose for which it was gathered.
culture
The values, beliefs, assumptions and behaviours that shape the behaviour of a society, community or other organised group of people.
data
Raw, unanalysed facts. A simple example is the numbers 39.5, 37.5 and 38.5. These numbers have no context or meaning.
differentiation
As scientific knowledge increases, it divides, or differentiates into different disciplines and sub-disciplines.
diffusion
The process of communicating information about a new process or idea to members of an organisation or other social system.
diffusion of innovation
A theory used to explain the patterns of adoption of new products or processes. It is used frequently to explain the adoption of technology.
diseases of affluence
Diseases that are attributed to affluent Western lifestyles. They include cancer, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and lung disease.
e-health
The use of information and communication technology to deliver health services. This includes services and activities conducted within the parameters of established health systems and services, and activities available in the broader community, most frequently via the Internet.
empirical knowledge
Knowledge obtained through the senses.
evidence-based practice
The practice of acquiring, analysing and applying current best evidence when making decisions about the care of individual patients.
expert system
An information system that assists with decisions by organising facts and knowledge-which are stored in a database-into rules that are applied to a given set of questions or symptoms.
explicit knowledge
Formal, structured knowledge. It can be expressed verbally or in print and transmitted to others. It is easy to share through such mechanisms as formulae, protocols, care pathways, rules and databases.
fuzzy knowledge
Knowledge that is incomplete or imprecise, and where interpretation is a matter of degree.
HealthConnect
An electronic health records network being developed by the Australian Government.
health consumer
A term being used to convey that 'patients' are being increasingly considered as equal partners, capable of making choices and decisions with regard to their own health and medical care.
health informatics
An emerging scientific discipline that adopts a socio-technical approach to the collection, storage, analysis and communication of health-related data, information and knowledge.
health information system (HIS)
An automated or manual system that includes people, machines and processes for gathering, storing and processing health data, and communicating health information to users at the right time and in the right place.
humanism
An approach to learning that argues that people are in a process of constant personal growth, that they naturally want to learn, and are best able to decide for themselves what and how they should learn.
hypothesis
A measurable (testable) statement that the researcher seeks to prove in the course of the research.
Iindividual knowledge
Individual knowledge resides within individuals and is manifested through individual skills or expertise.
informatics
Science focusing on the use of information technology for the storing and processing of data.
information
Data that is interpreted, organised or structured in a meaningful way.
information society
Term used to indicate the increasing importance of information in contemporary society. Information has become a valuable resource, and is generating wealth for individuals, companies and countries in the same way that manufacturing did in the last century.
innovation
An idea, practice or object that is perceived as new by the individuals or organisation to which it is introduced. Potential users compare the innovation to existing ideas, practices and objects before making a decision about whether to adopt the innovation or not.
interdisciplinary health care
A system of health care that differs from the traditional system in that a team of health care professionals work together with the consumer to determine how care will be delivered.
jargon
Specialised terminology or concepts for a particular area or discipline.
knowledge
The capacity to make sense of and use data and information.
knowledge management
Seeks to make implicit information explicit.
legacy system
An information system that runs on obsolete hardware, is expensive and difficult to maintain, and is almost impossible to expand or integrate with other systems.
MEDLARS
A medical information database developed by the US National Library of Medicine during the 1960s. MEDLARS stands for Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System.
Medline
A large database of abstracts of articles in the international medical journals at the US National Library of Medicine.
MedlinePlus
A large database of health-related information for consumers. It is a service provided by the US National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.
messaging standards
Establish a format and a sequence for data transmission to enable sharing of health information. A medical message, for example, might require the first segment of a message to identify the sending and receiving systems, the type of message and the name, date of birth and unique identifier of the individual who is the subject of the message.
model
A small copy or representation of an object, abstract process or planned entity or process.
MYCIN
An expert system developed during the 1970s for diagnosing and recommending treatment for bacterial infections of the blood.
norms
Rules or guidelines for acceptable behaviour. Norms can be formal, such as protocols for dispensing drugs, or informal, such as ways of addressing particular groups of staff.
organisation
A group of people organised into a stable, structured relationship of clearly defined roles and responsibilities, working together to achieve a common goal.
organisation climate
The climate is the 'atmosphere' of the workplace. An organisation may have a climate that encourages tradition and routine, or it may have a climate that supports experimentation and trying new ways of working. The climate is how you 'feel' about your work environment.
organisational knowledge
Knowledge required to perform business operations or make effective decisions. Individual knowledge contributes to the pool of organisational knowledge. Therefore, organisational knowledge may be viewed as collective knowledge.
personally identifiable data (PID)
Data that can uniquely identify an individual.
personally identified information (PII)
Information that can uniquely identify an individual.
positivist research
An approach to social research modelled on the physical sciences. It stresses evidence acquired through the senses.
power
The ability to achieve your aims or further your own interests even when others disagree or oppose you.
privacy
Refers to the right of an individual to limit access by others to personal information.
product attributes
Characteristics of software such as screen layout, menus and consistency, which impact on the usability of the product.
profession
An occupation requiring specialised knowledge and skills.
rapid applications development (RAD)
An approach to systems development that is inherently designed to provide fast development with better quality results than the traditional waterfall approach.
role
A set of expectations that define how the person occupying a particular status or position should act.
security
Protection of data and information. There are three dimensions of information protection: access, integrity and availability.
security standards
Designed to protect data from unauthorised or inadvertent access to, or disclosure of, information.
silo system
An information system, often a legacy system, serving a department or a purpose, independent of other information systems in the enterprise.
socio-technical
A perspective that seeks to understand the dynamics between technology and the social environment in which it is used.
standard
Widely accepted rules or specifications that enable health professionals to collect, store and share health-related data, information and knowledge in an electronic format.
status
A sociological concept used to describe a position in a social structure. Is also used as a measure of social prestige or social standing.
structure and content standards
Provide descriptions of the data elements to be included in documents to be shared.
subculture
Variations or adaptations of the values, beliefs, assumptions and behaviours that comprise the culture of the organisation.
systems theory
A theory that studies an entity, such as a health organisation, as a system of interacting parts.
tacit knowledge
Derives from personal experience and can involve subjective insight, intelligence and intuition. It resides in people's minds.
theory
The foundation of a discipline. Theories are used to explain what the physical or social world is like, how that world changes and why it changes.
usability
Refers to software attributes including ease of learning, efficiency and effectiveness of use, error minimisation and the feeling of satisfaction experienced by the user.
user orientation
Used in the context of software usability, and includes previous experience with technology, professional role and the nature of the tasks the user may be required to perform.
user performance
Focuses on how well the software enables users to successfully fulfil their work tasks.
vocabularies
Concerned with developing standard terminology to describe symptoms, diagnoses, treatments and care.
workflow
Tasks or procedures broken into a number of steps, with each step being performed by a different individual.
work routine
Routines are repetitive patterns of behaviour that structure our activities and interactions. Health professionals develop routines to enable them to complete their daily tasks more efficiently. They can be informal habits, such as personal routine, or formal and explicit, such as hospital protocols for screening newborn infants.
worldview
Ideas and assumptions that shape the way we view and understand the world.