ORIGINAL ARTICLE Advancing oral medicine through informatics and information technology: a proposed framework and strategy T Schleyer 1 , U Mattsson 2 , R Nı´ Rı´orda´in 3 , V Brailo 4 , M Glick 5 , RB Zain 6 , M Jontell 2 1 Center for Dental Informatics, School of Dental Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA; 2 Oral Medicine and Pathology, Sahlgrenska Academy, Institute of Odontology, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; 3 Oral Medicine Unit, University Dental School and Hospital, Cork, Ireland; 4 Department of Oral Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia; 5 Oral Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dental Medicine, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA; 6 Department of Oral Pathology, Oral Medicine and Periodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Malaya, Malaysia The implementation of information technology in healthcare is a significant focus for many nations around the world. However, information technology support for clinical care, research and education in oral medicine is currently poorly developed. This situation hampers our ability to transform oral medicine into a Ôlearning health- care discipline’ in which the divide between clinical prac- tice and research is diminished and, ultimately, eliminated. This paper reviews the needs of and require- ments for information technology support of oral medi- cine and proposes an agenda designed to meet those needs. For oral medicine, this agenda includes analyzing and reviewing current clinical and documentation prac- tices, working toward progressively standardizing clinical data, and helping define requirements for oral medicine systems. IT professionals can contribute by conducting baseline studies about the use of electronic systems, helping develop controlled vocabularies and ontologies, and designing, implementing, and evaluating novel sys- tems centered on the needs of clinicians, researchers and educators. Successfully advancing IT support for oral medicine will require close coordination and collaboration among oral medicine professionals, information technol- ogy professionals, system vendors, and funding agencies. If current barriers and obstacles are overcome, practice and research in oral medicine stand ready to derive significant benefits from the application of information technology. Oral Diseases (2011) 17 (Suppl. 1), 85–94 Keywords: oral medicine; dental informatics; information tech- nology; patient records, computerized; research; review I have applied everywhere for information, but in scarcely an instance have I been able to obtain hospital records fit for any purpose of comparison […] If wisely used, these improved statistics would tell us more of the relative value of particular operations and modes of treatment than we have means of ascertaining at present. (Florence Night- ingale, 1863, Nightingale, F. (1863), Notes on Hospitals (3rd ed), London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, and Green.) Introduction and motivation The implementation of information technology in healthcare practice and research is a significant focus for many nations around the world (Duftschmid et al, 2004; Thompson and Brailer, 2004; Christensen and Grimsmo, 2005; Anderson et al, 2006). Judicious and appropriate use of information technology is expected not only to bring greater efficiency and efficacy to clinical practice, but also to our ability to generate knowledge from clinical observations (van der Lei, 2002; UK Clinical Research Collaboration and Wellcome Trust, 2007). However, there is a significant gap between the capabilities, adoption and use of health information technology (HIT) in practice, and our ability to generate meaningful insights from the data collected. The experience in oral medicine (OM) illustrates this gap. In 2006, participants in the World Workshop in Oral Medicine IV (WWOM IV) in Puerto Rico evalu- ated different treatment strategies for common oral medicine conditions. Data necessary for providing evidence-based recommendations was often found to be missing and the systematic reviews conducted revealed the need for high quality research. It became evident that international collaborations, based on methodologies appropriate for systematic reviews, have Correspondence: Titus Schleyer, DMD, PhD, Center for Dental Informatics, Salk 339, 3501 Terrace Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. Tel: +412 648 8886, Fax: +412 648 9960, E-mail: titus@pitt.edu Received 26 December 2010; accepted 27 December 2010 Oral Diseases (2011) 17 (Suppl. 1), 85–94. doi:10.1111/j.1601-0825.2011.01794.x Ó 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S All rights reserved www.wiley.com