The growth and development of health information systems have been os a scale, and at a pace, that many health professionals are left wondering quite how to relate to the changes that have taken place. This comprehensive text is aimed at both practitioners and students, and it relates systems and management theories to applications found in health settings, and compares the best of international practice. It sets out the basic principles of health management information systems, and illustrates them with examples and case studies from a wide range of health care applications and from a number of different countries, including the USA, the UK, Germany and Australia.