New Edition of Textbook, Health Informatics: Practical Guide

I am pleased to announce that I am Co-Editor of the newly published, Health Informatics: Practical Guide, Seventh Edition. The original editor, Robert Hoyt, MD, asked me to come on as Co-Editor for this edition. I will assume sole editorship starting with the Eighth Edition. Although Bob and his wife Ann Yoshihashi deserve credit for the lion’s share of the painstaking details that books like this require, I am pleased to note that I was also involved in the authorship of eight of the book’s 22 chapters.

Bob and Ann have always used an interesting approach to publishing that has arisen in the Internet era, which is so-called self-publishing. They have used the site Lulu.com, which features print-on-demand as well as electronic versions. Although I mostly prefer electronic books these days, the first picture below shows the smiling Co-Editor with his first paper copy. The second picture below shows the back cover that lists the table of contents of the book.

The book is available for purchase on the Lulu.com Web site in both print and eBook PDF formats. The book will also be made available from the more “traditional” online booksellers, such as Amazon.com. Bob also maintains a Web site for the book that includes a special area for those who use the book as instructors (and can register for a free evaluation copy).

The content of the new book is well-aligned with the well-known introductory biomedical and health informatics course that I teach, which is variably called 10x10 (“ten by ten,” the standalone version) and BMI 510 (one of the initial courses in our graduate program).

The chapters I authored or co-authored include:

• 1) Hoyt, RE, Bernstam, EV, Hersh, WR, Overview of Health Informatics
• 3) Hersh, WR, Hoyt, RE, Computer and Network Architectures
• 5) Hersh, WR, Standards and Interoperability
• 6) Hoyt, RE, Hersh, WR, Health Information Exchange
• 7) Hersh, WR, Healthcare Data Analytics
• 12) Hersh, WR, Gibbons, MC, Shaihk, Y, Hoyt, RE, Consumer Health Informatics
• 14) Hoyt, RE, Hersh, WR, Evidence-Based Medicine and Clinical Practice Guidelines
• 15) Hersh, WR, Information Retrieval from Medical Knowledge Resources

I look forward to getting feedback on the book and suggestions for improvement, especially for the next edition.