Editorial for special issue: ACM IHI 2010 best papers

The ACM IHI 2010 conference took place in Arlington, Virginia during November 11 and 12. This special issue includes 9 contributions, showcasing extended versions of the conference best papers as well as the best and most representative papers of the different areas covered by the conference. It is a pleasure to write the introduction to this special issue of Springer’s Journal of Medical Systems. Dr Smalheiser and I were the two program committee cochairs for the 2010 ACM International Health Informatics Symposium (IHI 2010), the inaugural event for the new ACM Special Interest Group on Health Informatics (SIGHIT). IHI 2010 included a very diverse set of papers drawn from 246 submitted contributions, with authors from more than 30 countries. The conference, held in November 2010, featured oral as well as poster presentations of a subset of those contributed papers. Nine of these papers were selected as being the best examples of the type of research contributions that should become the hallmark of IHI in the years to come, but they also embody some of the most exciting research carried out by the lively community that supports both IHI and SIGHIT. This JOMS issue includes longer versions of these nine papers, which allowed the authors to considerably expand the papers and add additional information concerning their original research. It was also our aim to cover some of the most representative research areas seen during the conference. Therefore, it is our privilege to welcome you to read the following papers