Information technology is rapidly reshaping the way medicine is practiced, research is conducted and instruction is delivered in the academic health sciences environment. As a result of the seminal Matheson Report information is now recognized as a strategic necessity in the pursuit of excellence in the academic health center; and technology is seen as the key to accessing and exploiting the utility of information. Recognizing the importance of integrating and managing this information, the University of Washington Health Sciences Center (UWHSC) has committed itself to the Integrated Academic Information Management System (IAIMS) concept to enhance its leadership in academic, research, and clinical missions. Planning for information management systems has proceeded intermittently over the last five years in all UWHSC schools and institutions. Recently there has emerged, under the leadership of the Vice President for the Health Sciences, a commitment to a UWHSC-wide planning process. Reasons for this are several. First, there is an increasing demand for access to costly information resources that can only be met through an integrating approach. Second there is a growing awareness among schools and institutions within the university that without cooperation and collaboration it will be impossible to remain abreast of the rapid advances in technology. Third, there is the recognition that information management and computer skills must be an integral part of the education of health sciences students today. The overall goal of our planning process is to create a comprehensive and transparent information management environment which will complement and, indeed, amplify the technological and organizational diversity of the University of Washington Health Sciences Center (UWHSC) and its affiliated institutions and programs. This means providing students, educators, clinicians, administrators, librarians, researchers and staff with convenient and timely access to the information they need to function optimally regardless of the physical location of the user, the resource or the system or of the format of the information package.
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