Reusable design: A proposed approach to Public Health Informatics system design

BMC Public Health

Correspondence

Blaine Reeder¹  George Demiris²  Debra Revere³  Rebecca A Hills⁴  Jamie Pina⁴ 

[1] Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Box 359442, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA;Biobehavioral Nursing and Health Systems, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Box 359442, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA;Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Box 357240, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA;Department of Health Services, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Box 354943, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA;Medical Education and Biomedical Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Box 357240, 98195, Seattle, WA, USA;

关键词: Participatory Design;    Public Health Agency;    Design Knowledge;    Health Information Exchange;    Public Health Practice;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-11-116

 received in 2010-05-25, accepted in 2011-02-18,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSince it was first defined in 1995, Public Health Informatics (PHI) has become a recognized discipline, with a research agenda, defined domain-specific competencies and a specialized corpus of technical knowledge. Information systems form a cornerstone of PHI research and implementation, representing significant progress for the nascent field. However, PHI does not advocate or incorporate standard, domain-appropriate design methods for implementing public health information systems. Reusable design is generalized design advice that can be reused in a range of similar contexts. We propose that PHI create and reuse information design knowledge by taking a systems approach that incorporates design methods from the disciplines of Human-Computer Interaction, Interaction Design and other related disciplines.DiscussionAlthough PHI operates in a domain with unique characteristics, many design problems in public health correspond to classic design problems, suggesting that existing design methods and solution approaches are applicable to the design of public health information systems. Among the numerous methodological frameworks used in other disciplines, we identify scenario-based design and participatory design as two widely-employed methodologies that are appropriate for adoption as PHI standards. We make the case that these methods show promise to create reusable design knowledge in PHI.SummaryWe propose the formalization of a set of standard design methods within PHI that can be used to pursue a strategy of design knowledge creation and reuse for cost-effective, interoperable public health information systems. We suggest that all public health informaticians should be able to use these design methods and the methods should be incorporated into PHI training.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Reeder et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011