University Times

Pitt and UPMC Health System have received a $2.7 million Integrated Advanced Information Management Systems (IAIMS) implementation grant from the National Library of Medicine. The amount of the grant extends over five years.

The primary focus of IAIMS is to integrate electronic information from a wide array of sources and place this information at the fingertips of clinicians and administrators. When an institution has developed its information systems using the IAIMS concept, individuals will be able to complete tasks that may require information stored in several different information systems, such as the patient records system or the library, without any detailed knowledge of where the information is stored or how it needs to come together.

"Institutions pursuing IAIMS do this for reasons transcending the grant money," said Charles Friedman, director of the IAIMS program, professor and director, Center for Biomedical Informatics, and assistant chancellor for biomedical informatics, Health Sciences. "Institutions do this because they see IAIMS as the best way to apply information technology successfully at their institutions."

Additionally, IAIMS is at the forefront of enhanced educational efforts by the Health Sciences schools and UPMC Health System to teach students and residents in ambulatory settings, according to Loren Roth, senior vice president, medical services, UPMC Health System, who also is associate senior vice chancellor, Health Sciences, and professor of psychiatry in the School of Medicine.

Through this concept, a student's experience will be enhanced by access to more comprehensive medical information and by increased exposure to many teachers through electronic classes and teaching sessions, Roth said.

For more information about the IAIMS program, access: http://www.cbmi.upmc.edu