This book is intended for those who develop or use information systems that document, organize, automate, or simplify the work offered in health service delivery units.

In this book:

• The subsystems that make up a Hospital Information System (HIS) are presented.
• The cycle of conducting Laboratory Tests is identified.
• The Laboratory Information System (LIS) is defined.
• Communication between LIS and HIS is explained.
• The necessity of coding medical information is examined.
• ICD, ICPC, SNOMED, MeSH, UMLS, GALEN, GRAIL, READ, DRG, ATC, LOINC, ICPM, etc. are discussed.
• Primary Health Care is distinguished from Secondary and Tertiary Health Care.
• What a Medical Record is and what organization into Episodes means is defined.
• The technological principles governing the operation of Medical Imaging Systems are examined.
• Radiological Information Systems (RIS) are discussed.
• PACS systems are examined.
• The DICOM protocol is developed.
• The basic methods of medical image processing are defined and explained.
• The interoperability of health information systems is defined.
• Interoperability proposals such as GEHR, OpenEHR, HL7, HL7 RIM, HL7 CDA, CEN EHRcom, DICOM WADO, DICOM SR, and IHE are discussed.
• Spreadsheets and their contribution to solving problems for health professions are examined.
• Data management with relational Databases (DB) is defined.
• The capabilities of DBs are studied, from information retrieval and display to the construction of applications for data entry and updating in a medical laboratory.
• A relational schema for HIS is presented.
• The storage and compression of Medical images are examined.