Editorial

Abstract

The current Applied Medical Informatics supplement issue is dedicated to the 38^th RoMedINF conference organized by the Romanian Society of Medical Informatics (RSMI) dedicated this year to digitalization of healthcare. The 38^th RoMedINF edition is organized as a hybrid event hosted by University of Medicine and Pharmacy Craiova with West University of Timişoara and Politehnica University of Timişoara as co-organizers.

The 38^th RoMedINF conference stands as a torch of progress in evolving medical informatics and digitalization of health and healthcare, with good and bed as well as benefits and challenges. Our invited speakers will drive the audience in specific topics such as the role of medical informatics in digital health, one digital health, big data, the role of requrements and regulation of medical device in the context of healthcare digital innovation, trends and challenges in medical image processing and how to translate research in clinical impact.

This annual international event serves as a nexus for researchers, healthcare professionals, and industry experts to converge and explore the cutting edge of health informatics and technology. The active participants, from junior reserachers to experts will present specific digital solutions able to solve explicit problems. The heterogeneity of topics ensures that RoMedINF remains at the forefront of addressing the most pressing challenges and opportunities in modern healthcare. RoMedINF's multifaceted approach to knowledge dissemination, featuring keynote speeches, oral presentations, poster sessions, and demonstrations, fosters an environment of active learning and engagement.

The benefits of digitalization could be classified based on whom are reflected. On healthcare systems, digitalization can reflects in costs (better monitorization and lower readmissions or early diagnosis with lower long-term costs), proactive care by real-time montoring (e.g., wearable devices), and public health surveillance (e.g., monitorization of disease spread, track vaccination rates etc.). Digital solutions could help healthcare providers to become more efficient (e.g., automation – appointments, administrative tasks), to identify trend and to support clinical decisions. Patients could benefit by a timely access to care (see for example telemedicine) and better personal engagement suppoted by apps and dedicated portals. However, the challenges exists and must be considered. The high implementation costs (upfront investment and ongoing maintenance), interoperability (making systems talk the same language), data privacy and security, ethical issues in artificial intelligence assisted healthcare, resistance to change and divide (e.g., access inequalities and tech fatigue) remain the mai issues of digitalization in medicine.

The 38^th RoMedINF abstract cover specific topics, such as application of artificial intelligence in pattern recognition, classifications and medical image processing and interpretation, one digital health, medical device regulations, digital literacy evaluation, automated hand writing recognition, HealthTech startups, implementation of technologies in healthcare daily workflow, ethics of artificial intelligence assisted medicine, communication technologies in medicine, biostatistics, bioinformatics, healthcare management, deep learning applicartions in medicine, technology and disease monitorization.