Medical Informatics

Contractual Agreement

Agreement between the German Association for Medical Informatics, Biometry and Epidemiology (GMDS)

and the 

Association for Informatics (GI)

on

Cooperation in the field of medical informatics

Status: September 1999

Preliminary remarks

1.1 The activities of the GMDS in the field of medical informatics take place in the Department of Medical Informatics and in the Expert Committee, the Working Groups and Project Groups of the Department of Medical Informatics. The working groups in particular are methodologically oriented and do not focus on specific sub-areas of medicine. Cross-methodological and cross-disciplinary working groups exist for information processing in specific clinical or other medical theoretical subfields.

1.2 The activities of the GI in the field of medical informatics take place in the Expert Committee 4.7 (Medical Informatics), which belongs to Department 4 (Information Technology and Technical Use of Informatics). The expert committee has a steering committee and can set up expert groups and working groups.

1.3 The governing bodies for medical informatics in GI and GMDS are structured as follows:

In the GMDS, there is an expert committee of the GMDS Medical Informatics Division consisting of 6 members. Of these 6 members (who are elected for a term of 4 years), three positions are filled every two years. The expert committee member who has received the most votes in an election becomes the deputy head of the expert committee and after two years automatically the head of the expert committee and thus a member of the GMDS Presidium.

In the GI, there is a steering committee of the GI Subject Committee 4.7. The speaker of the steering committee is a member of the steering committee of Division 4.

Objective

2.1The GI and the GMDS agree that progress in the field of medical informatics can best be promoted by ensuring that the activities of the professional associations in the field of medical informatics are carried out jointly or in close coordination by the two associations. The cooperation between the two associations should be carried out with emphasis on the respective objectives of the associations as a whole.

2.2 The cooperation is to extend primarily to methodological issues in medical informatics.

2.3 Within the GMDS, application-oriented work related to specific medical subfields should also take place, if necessary together with other medical-scientific associations and taking into account interdisciplinary methodological aspects. In particular, this should promote the adequate application of methods and tools of medical informatics or informatics in medicine and healthcare.

2.4 Within the GI, an exchange of knowledge and experience should take place in particular with those specialist groups or departments that deal with methodological foundations of informatics. This should promote adequate methodological further development of medical informatics.

Realisation

3.1 Both associations encourage dual membership of their members working or interested in the field of medical informatics, among other things through reduced membership fees in the case of dual membership.

3.2 Taking into account the statutes of the two professional associations and the GI's specialist group framework regulations, a joint specialist division ("joint committee") is formed by the GI and GMDS. The committee consists of up to 10 individuals: the 6 members of the GMDS Medical Informatics Specialist Committee and the members of the steering committee of the GI Specialist Committee 4.7. Should the number of members of the steering committee of the GI Specialist Committee 4.7 who are not also members of the GMDS Medical Informatics Specialist Committee exceed 4, it shall elect its members for the joint committee from among its members.

3.3 The spokesperson of the joint committee is either the spokesperson of the GI Expert Committee 4.7 or the GMDS Expert Committee Medical Informatics. He/she is to be elected by mutual agreement of the two governing bodies. It is recommended that the spokesperson of the governing body of the GI Expert Committee 4.7 and the head of the GMDS Expert Committee on Medical Informatics be the same person.

3.4 Representatives of other professional associations active in the field of medical informatics can be invited to the meetings of the joint committee if there is agreement on this between the two governing bodies.

Bonn, Cologne, 1st October 1999

  • (Prof. Dr. G. Barth, President of the GI)
  • (Prof. Dr. R. Klar, President of the GMDS)
  • (Prof. Dr. R. Hofestädt, Spokesperson of the GI Department 4)
  • (Prof. Dr. H.U. Prokosch, Spokesperson of the GMDS Expert Committee Medical Informatics and the Steering Committee of the GI Expert Committee 4.7)

Notes on the cooperation agreement

Members of the GMDS who are interested in medical informatics are advised to also apply for membership in the GI. GI members interested in medical informatics are accordingly advised to also apply for membership in the GMDS.

The members of the GMDS Medical Informatics Expert Committee should belong to the steering committee of the GI Expert Committee 4.7 if they are also GI members. The appointment or election of members should take place every 2 years, as with the GMDS specialist committee elections, possibly following the elections for the GMDS specialist committee on medical informatics.

It is recommended that the GMDS Medical Informatics Expert Committee and the Steering Committee of the GI Expert Committee 4.7 meet together as a matter of principle. The unification of the two bodies should generally correspond to the joint committee of the governing bodies of the GMDS Medical Informatics Division and the GI Division 4.7 anyway.

Members of the GMDS Expert Committee Medical Informatics and the Steering Committee of the GI Expert Committee 4.7: Medical Informatics are expected to be members of both professional associations.

In addition to the spokesperson of the joint committee, a deputy spokesperson may also be elected from among the members of the committee by the two governing bodies if there is agreement on this in both governing bodies.

As a rule, the technical work shall be carried out in the working and project groups of the GMDS Division of Medical Informatics. Working groups of the GMDS may at the same time be working groups of the GI Division 4.7.1 by decision of the steering committee of the GI Division 4.7.

A separate steering committee for the GI section 4.7.1 should not be provided for. This task is taken over by the steering committee of the GI Technical Committee 4.7.

There is a particular closeness of the GI Expert Committee 4.7 and the GMDS Medical Informatics Division to the German Association for Biomedical Engineering (DGBMT), whose members carry out a wide range of method-oriented developments in the field of medical informatics. A representative appointed by the DGBMT should therefore be invited to the meetings of the joint committee as a permanent guest.

The presidents and the managing directors of the two professional associations meet regularly in the discussion group on informatics initiated by the GI.