This abstract sets out a research agenda for information scientists
and technologists interested in the interrelationships among
patients, health care providers, and information technology. Using
the complex and costly diagnosis of diabetes as a vehicle for
exploration, this work suggests addressing a set of problems that
will improve the lives of patients, their families, and friends, as
well as making the provision of diabetes care more effective and
cost efficient. Information technology tools and methods are
used, but with sensitivity to the social and organization
complexities of health care. I-Schools graduates, with their
interdisciplinary mindset, social science methodologies, and
familiarity with IT and its applications can increase the success
rate of IT interventions in health care. Topics include public
health and community informatics, knowledge dissemination,
information alerts, decision support, clinical guidelines, health
literacy, patient, pharmacy, and laboratory feedback systems,
interface design, reminder systems, consumer informatics, and
privacy and security issues
