Professor Stumpf defines health information system (HIS) as the “enterprise where
everything goes.” In addition, according to Michael Bieber from New Jersey Institute of
Technology, an information system “is a computing application that helps you do
something you need to do.” He adds that an information system is “the interface between
people, organizations, and technology” (Bieber, “What is Information System”). On the
other hand, health information technology (HIT) involves “tools” needed to collect, store
and communicate information (Stumpf).
Mobile apps are computer programs that run on tablets and smartphones. Some
examples are calendar, email client, web browsers, etc. According to Topol on his article
The Future of Medicine is in your Smartphone, some apps can be used “to take blood
pressure readings or even do an electrocardiogram. Mobile apps are both HIT and HIS
depending on the situation. If the app doesn’t do analysis of data, that would just be a
“tool” (Stumpf). However, if the data has been recorded and interpreted, that would be
HIS. For example, a patient used his phone to do an electrocardiogram and found out that
he was in atrial fib (Topol). The patient self-diagnosed himself even though he had to ask
his physician what to do.
Big data, as defined by Adam Tanner in his book What Stays in Vegas, is the “analysis
of vast amounts of quantitative information in search of useful patterns” (Levinson). Big
data is an example of HIS. With companies’ use of big data, they are “gaining deeper
insights into patients’ health and creating exceptional customer experience” (“Big Data &
