This 5th edition of this essential textbook continues to meet the growing demand of practitioners, researchers, educators, and students for a comprehensive introduction to key topics in biomedical informatics and the underlying scientific issues that sit at the intersection of biomedical science, patient care, public health and information technology (IT). Emphasizing the conceptual basis of the field rather than technical details, it provides the tools for study required for readers to comprehend, assess, and utilize biomedical informatics and health IT. It focuses on practical examples, a guide to additional literature, chapter summaries and a comprehensive glossary with concise definitions of recurring terms for self-study or classroom use. Biomedical Informatics: Computer Applications in Health Care and Biomedicine reflects the remarkable changes in both computing and health care that continue to occur and the exploding interest in the role that IT must play in care coordination and the melding of genomics with innovations in clinical practice and treatment. New and heavily revised chapters have been introduced on human-computer interaction, mHealth, personal health informatics and precision medicine, while the structure of the other chapters has undergone extensive revisions to reflect the developments in the area. The organization and philosophy remain unchanged, focusing on the science of information and knowledge management, and the role of computers and communications in modern biomedical research, health and health care.

Every year, significant amounts of expensive drugs are discarded. This is due in part to the growing number of prescription drugs that are administered in variable doses (rather than fixed or flat doses) based on a patient's weight or body size. Strict regulations and guidance generally prohibit or severely restrict the acceptable time frame for sharing medication from single-dose vials among patients, and so the unused amount will typically be discarded. Due to the current system for producing, administering, and paying for drugs in the United States, significant - but indeterminate - amounts of expensive prescription drugs are discarded each year. At the request of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medications in Single Dose Vials: Implications of Discarded Drugs explores the federal health care costs, safety, and quality concerns associated with discarded drugs that result from the weight-based dosing of medicines contained in single-dose vials. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Single-Dose Vials of Weight-Based Drugs 3 Scope of Discarded Drugs from Single-Dose Vials 4 Efforts to Reduce Discarded Weight-Based Drugs 5 Discarded Weight-Based Drugs in Single-Dose Vials 6 Prescription for Reducing Discarded Drugs Appendix A: Glossary Appendix B: Supplemental Figures and Tables from Commissioned Analyses Appendix C: Stakeholder Input Appendix D: Biographical Information Appendix E: Disclosure of Unavoidable Conflicts of Interest