GIMI: generic infrastructure for medical informatics

Abstract

Breakthroughs in medical informatics have yielded a wealth of data across all aspects of patient care. One of the fundamental goals of e-Science should be facilitate the appropriate use of such data to improve patient care: both in the short-term and the long-term. Developments in Grid technology have brought about the promise of such data being used to, for example, support research into evidence-based patient centred care and facilitate on-demand decision support for practitioners. For such health grid dreams to become reality, however, it will first be necessary to tackle key technical challenges, such as those of interoperability and security. The GIMI (Generic Infrastructure for Medical Informatics) proposes to tackle exactly these generic problems within the context of healthcare in the United Kingdom.