International research on climate change and health informatics
JAMIA focus issue reports IT can help reduce greenhouse emissions and manage the health impacts of climate change
The prestigious international Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association (JAMIA) has released the first academic focus issue on climate change and health informatics, and it is edited by Macquarie University academics.
The Editors of this special issue are Professors Enrico Coiera and Farah Magrabi from the Australian Institute of Health Innovation at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia. Both are internationally recognised leaders in the field of digital health.
Read the journal articles here.
“We used to think of large-scale serious weather events as rare and isolated events, but they have become more common and we must recognise what can be done as individuals and as a profession,” says Professor Coiera.
Health informatics and digital health solutions are fundamental to addressing both the causes and the consequences of global heating, yet this is not widely understood, say Professors Coiera and Magrabi in their editorial for the special issue.
With contributions from around the world, the special issue not only shines a light on what health informatics can do to support communities experiencing the detrimental impacts of climate change (e.g., targeted dissemination of healthcare information during extreme weather events) but also seeks to raise awareness of how health services such as hospitals are contributing to carbon emissions.
Healthcare is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases accounting for 7% of Australia’s emissions, and yet ways of measuring the carbon footprint of a hospital are limited, say Professors Coiera and Magrabi.
This can be addressed in part by the use of telemedicine to reduce the carbon footprint associated with patient movement, and artificial intelligence can be used for more precise diagnosis reducing the 30% of current treatment that is considered unnecessary and possibly wasteful, they say.
IT in healthcare can also support populations to be healthier for instance by disseminating personalised information about health choices (e.g., warnings of the risk of asthma attack during extreme pollen events; or healthy diet information linked to an individual’s electronic medical record) and the availability of services. IT systems can be used to link data and improve communications, thus better integrating care especially for those with chronic and complex conditions such as asthma or diabetes.
In a word of warning however, Professors Coiera and Magrabi point to the vulnerability of the IT systems upon which we increasingly depend being exposed to extreme climate events. Patient electronic record systems have recently failed because of extreme heat or flooding, making the need to disaster-proof these mission critical systems essential.
In addition to Professor Coiera and Professor Magrabi editing the publication, AIHI researchers have contributed papers on the importance of measuring healthcare’s climate footprint, and a scoping review of how health informatics might assist with climate change mitigation and response.
Professors Coiera and Magrabi are available for interview, please contact chrissy.clay@mq.edu.au
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