The future of Informatics

Informatics is now, not a thing of the future. With online queries in the millions, and with service providers on the scale of Kaiser Permanente implementing informatics systems, not only is informatics here, it is rapidly entering the mainstream. Nevertheless, a number of significant issues and barriers remain. These include:

Reliability and availability of technology systems themselves;
Concerns about protecting consumers' privacy while making essential information available to health providers;
Health providers' resistance to relying on technology, and to the changing relationships with consumer that accompany broad information access;
Problems with compatibility and a lack of standardization among hardware, software, and health-care data;
Costs for developing, implementing, and maintaining technology systems.