IAIMS: An interview with Dick West

Richard T. West, IAIMS (Integrated Advanced information Management Systems) Program Officer at the National Library of Medicine for 13 years, reflects on the origin, development, effectiveness, and future of IAIMS efforts. He dwells on the changes that have taken place as the concept of IAIMS has ev olved from a technology-based to an organization-based level of integration . The role of IAIMS in patient care, education, and research is discussed, along with the role of the librarian in the implementation of IAIMS program s. He sees a need for training for librarians, informaticians, and others i n preparation for these efforts and for the development of academic reward systems that encourage them. He expresses a desire for those working in inf ormation technology in hospitals to gain a clearer understanding of IAIMS, because the concept fits hospitals as well as academic health science cente rs. He exhorts informaticians to bring to reality the futuristic fantasies of a new information world.