The European Federation for Medical Informatics Special Topic Conference, EFMI STC 2024, was held in Timisoara, Romania, from 27 to 29 November 2024. This event was organized by the Romanian Society of Medical Informatics, a national member of the European Federation for Medical Informatics, and hosted by University Politehnica Timişoara. The EFMI Working Groups, “Healthcare Informatics for Interregional Cooperation” (HIIC), “One Digital Health” (ODH), “Education” (EDU), and “Evolution and Trends in Medical Informatics” (ETMI), were actively involved in preparing this event, and Professor Lăcrămioara Stoicu-Tivadar and Professor Arriel Benis chaired the Scientific Program Committee.

The theme of EFMI STC 2024 is “Collaboration across Disciplines for the Health of People, Animals, and Ecosystems”. This theme is not just a topic for discussion, but a crucial area in which innovation and collaboration are shaping the future of healthcare. It underscores the significant intersection of healthcare with other fields, offering a future rich with potential. The concept of One Health underscores the complex interconnections between human, animal, and environmental health, and integrating data and technology with the One Digital Health framework across these domains is crucial to building robust health ecosystems that will empower communities to tackle complex challenges and improve public health. This vision is not just a distant goal; it is within reach through the collaborative efforts of our communities, leveraging the power of medical informatics to inform disease surveillance, prevention, and management.

Communication is the cornerstone of effective healthcare, and the digital age has ushered in new paradigms for interprofessional collaboration. Digital tools are not just redefining how healthcare providers, academics, industries, caregivers, and patients interact, they are revolutionizing these interactions. They enhance workflows, promote teamwork, and lead to better health outcomes. The aim of EFMI STC 2024 is to provide each participant with the opportunity to contribute to the crucial development of platforms that break down silos and geographic borders, creating a cohesive environment where every voice is heard and valued. This digital revolution in healthcare is not merely a trend, it is a powerful tool that can empower us to shape a healthier future.

This means that the educational paradigms that shape the entire healthcare landscape must also adapt. In a field that is constantly evolving, continuous learning is essential to equip current and future professionals with the skills they will need to thrive in this complex and dynamic environment. By continuously enhancing the digital literacy of actors in the healthcare system and adapting educational frameworks, learning experiences can be improved and proactive thinking developed, preparing the next generation of practitioners and researchers to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

The evolution of medical informatics is deeply intertwined with cross-disciplinary collaboration. Once centered on electronic health records and clinical data management, medical informatics has expanded to include predictive analytics, telemedicine, and the integration of the One Health and One Digital Health frameworks. Understanding the roots of our field better will allow us to look at the future and reshape the ways in which we collaborate, educate, interact, and support healthcare.

This EFMI STC is an opportunity for knowledge sharing and a call to action. Together, we can profile a future in which digital health and medical informatics lead the way to a healthier world.

These proceedings are published by IOS Press as an e-book in the series Studies in Health Technology and Informatics (HTI). Volumes in this series are submitted (for evaluation) for indexing by MEDLINE/PubMed; Web of Science: Conference Proceedings Citation Index – Science (CPCI-S) and Book Citation Index – Science (BKCI-S); Google Scholar; Scopus, and EMCare.

Timişoara, October 2024

Editors

Lăcrămioara Stoicu-Tivadar, Arriel Benis, Thomas M. Deserno, Sorana D. Bolboacă, Kaija Saranto, Mihaela Crişan-Vida, Parisis Gallos, Oana S. Chirila, Patrick Weber, George Mihalaş and Oscar Tamburis