Informatics and e-health: advancing knowledge and improving cancer care V.E. KNOTT, BA, HONS PSYCH, PHD, RESEARCH FELLOW, Epidemiology & Health Systems Division, Menzies School of Health Research, Brisbane, Australia, & D. WELLER, MBBS(ADEL), MPH, PHD, FRACGP, FRCGP, FAFPHM, FRCP(EDIN), JAMES MACKENZIE PROFESSOR OF GENERAL PRACTICE, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, and CHAIR, Cancer and Primary Care Research International Network (Ca-PRI), Edinburgh, UK KNOTT V.E. & WELLER D. (2014) European Journal of Cancer Care 23, 713–715 Informatics and e-health: advancing knowledge and improving cancer care Keywords: e-health, informatics, tele-health, telematics for health, tele-medicine. We are pleased to share with EJCC readers the collection of papers on e-health and informatics in our themed section – we hope it gives our readers an idea of the extraordinary breadth of work in this area. The papers take a range of interdisciplinary approaches to examine the potential impact of e-health and informatics in cancer control. In its simplest form ‘e-health’ means the transfer of healthcare by electronic means. The World Health Organization (WHO 2014) applies a composite term ‘telematics for health’ to refer to ‘any health-related activities carried out over distance by means of informa- tion communication technologies’. This definition includes activities related to tele-medicine (for example the use of telecommunications to treat disease) and tele- health, which is a broader term and refers to the use of telecommunications for health surveillance, manage- ment, health promotion, and to access literature and medical knowledge (WHO 2014). The field of health informatics sits at the intersection of information, computer science, social and behavioural science and healthcare. There has been considerable debate over the definition of ‘informatics’ as applied to health (see Bernstam et al. 2010). Due to the need to specify core competencies required in the field of biomedi- cal informatics, a recent white paper developed by the American Medical Informatics Association proposes a useful ‘working’ definition. Key features of this definition include a focus on the use of scientific inquiry (data and information) across levels (molecular through population health) to inform decision making to improve human health (Kulikowski et al. 2012). The application of health informatics in health has led to immense growth in cancer intelligence in many countries. Through the creation of large datasets, often at a population level, informatics has enabled the interrogation and linkage of datasets to address a range of key questions about the quality and delivery of cancer prevention and management activities. PAPERS IN THE THEMED SECTION Whop et al. (2014) examine the issue of cervical screening amongst Indigenous Australian women. To assess the effectiveness of screening initiatives, we need high quality information systems, which allow recruitment and follow-up to be conducted in a systematic way. These authors discuss the importance of including Indigenous status in cancer registries for the purposes of assessing the uptake of cancer screening in this population. They also note the need for reliable data with regard to other indices, including hospital utilisation and comorbidities. Good cancer intelligence with robust registries and potential to link datasets should become the norm if we are to take a measured and careful approach to cancer control. David Roder and colleagues explore these issues and highlight some of the barriers around releasing data (Roder et al. 2014). The authors are critical of the lack of Correspondence address: Vikki E. Knott, Epidemiology & Health Systems Division, Menzies School of Health Research, PO Box 10639, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia (e-mail: Vikki.Knott@menzies.edu.au). Accepted 1 October 2014 DOI: 10.1111/ecc.12268 European Journal of Cancer Care, 2014, 23, 713–715 Editorial © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd