5.1. INFORMATION SYSTEM AND MEDICAL INFORMATION SYSTEM CONCEPTS
The transition of the health care system to budget-insurance financing principles required from the healthcare governance bodies, compulsory health insurance funds, medical insurance companies and individual medical organisations to resolve the issues of implementing and providing stable functioning of medical information systems (MIS).
In a broad sense, a «system» as a concept can be defined as a plurality of interconnected elements.
Definition
An Information system (IS) - a set of methodological, software, technical, informational, legislative, and organisational tools supporting the functional process of an organisation implementing information technologies.
There exist various definitions of a medical information system - for example, the definition of a medical information automated system given by A.V. Gusev (2002).
Definition
A Medical automated information system - a set of methodological, software, technical, informational, legislative, and organisational tools supporting
the functional process of an organisation implementing information technologies.
As known, the information system can be either automatic or automated, depending on human involvement. As long as the medical diagnostic process cannot proceed without human participation, the word «automated» is often omitted in the definition.
MIS are represented by support systems for healthcare management personnel and support systems for healthcare practitioners.
5.1.1. Purpose, tasks and functions of the medical information system
The main purpose of any MIS is improving the quality of medical care. Direct tasks of MIS include:
• maximal secure storage for results of patient observations;