ABSTRACT
The study of human health is based upon a few foundational concepts such as the cell or the notion of disease. Informatics is similarly built upon the basic concepts of data, models, systems and information. Unlike the study of health, in which core ideas are usually grounded in observations of the physical world, these informatics concepts are abstract ideas. For those used to the study of healthcare, informatics concepts often seem detached from the physical realities of the clinical workplace.
