Seite - 207 - in Applied Interdisciplinary Theory in Health Informatics - Knowledge Base for Practitioners

this book might be positioned at the intersection ofhealth science with the other domains. Moreover, with theory that is interdisciplinary there are inevitably different ways that ideas can be categorized. Life does not exist in neat boxes, so it is no surprise that health informatics theory and practice has a certain “messiness” [6]. Table 1. Fifteen interdisciplinary theories grouped by AMIA foundational domain [60] AMIA Foundational Domain Theories Information Science and Technology General System Theory and Process Mining Shannon's Information Theory Information Value Chain Theory User-Centred Design and Activity Theory Technology Adoption Models NASSS Social and Behavioural Science Distributed Cognition Actor-Network Theory Collective Mindfulness Boosting Framework Deterioration Communication Management Theory Resilient Health Care Health Behaviour Theory1 Control Theory Normalisation Process Theory We know that there are important topics that we have not been able to include in this volume, some simply because we could not find authors able to write within the given deadline. For example, in the Information Science and Technology section we have not coveredtheory related tobiomedical ontologies[48],clinical information modelling [33] and healthcare information governance [38]. These would all be valuable to add in a future edition. There may also be relevant theories from computer science and statistics, especially relating to machine learning and data science more generally, that are potential candidates for inclusion. The section on Social and Behavioural Science would benefit from extensions on among others: shared mental models [57], decision theory [23], process and knowledge theory [24], practice theory [22] and team chemistry [62]. We hope this book will have regular revisions in the coming years thereby evolving the theory-base. We invite readers to inform us about important missing applied theories in health informatics that we might include in a revised edition. Together we are responsible to mature our discipline and we believe that a theory-base is essential in this transformation. 3. Why it is important to consider theory? “Reliance on theory demonstrates a level of sophistication in any discipline…” [11]. As in many other health care disciplines, informal theory plays an implicit role in how health informatics practitioners undertake their work. According to Davidoff et al., 1 This is a group of theories, not a single theory. P.J.Scott etal. /ReflectingandLooking to theFuture 207