IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics

IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics 2024 – “Digital Health for Precision in Prevention”

The 33^rd edition of the IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics is dedicated to the concept of “Precision prevention”. Precision medicine now marks a pivotal turn in healthcare. Rather than applying uniform treatments, precision medicine customizes diagnosis and therapy based on each person’s genetic makeup, environmental exposures, and lifestyle. This personalized approach is supported by several technologies such as genome sequencing, multi‑omics integration, and comprehensive patient data from Electronic Health Records (EHRs). By leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning, these systems can analyze large, complex datasets to uncover biomarkers, forecast disease trajectories, and tailor treatment plans uniquely for each individual. In contrast to the traditional reactive model of medicine, there is growing momentum toward prevention. Precision prevention aims to apply individualized strategies before disease onset, using methods like risk stratification, polygenic risk scores, AI prediction models, and wearable health sensors. By combining genetic, clinical, behavioral, and psychosocial data, digital health platforms can propose early, targeted interventions. However, obstacles persist—data interoperability, privacy protection, and algorithmic bias present significant challenges. Beyond technical issues, the success of precision prevention depends on aligning healthcare incentives, engaging individuals before they become patients, and fostering societal change through education, behavioral nudges, and supportive environments. In doing so, medicine has the potential to evolve from responding to illness to actively sustaining health and equity.

In this edition of the IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics, in the special topic section, Gallego Evelyn et al. wrote a survey paper entitled “Precision Prevention: Using data to target the right intervention at the right intensity in the right community at the right time” in which precision prevention is “the use of biologic, behavioral, socioeconomic, and epidemiologic data to inform the right intervention at the right intensity in the right community at the right time, in order to prevent or reduce illness and improve health”. The authors present the different types of data that can be used in this context, with particular emphasis on the social determinants of health (SDOH), whose use is now recognized as essential, especially in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic

In this edition of the IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics you will also find eight valuable contributions from IMIA Working Groups (WG) related to the topic of precision in prevention. To name a few: from the Participatory Health WG, Borycki Elisabeth et al. on “Safety and Precision AI for a Modern Digital Health System”, the Participatory Health and Social Media WG, Gabarron Elia et al. on “Precision Prevention through Social Media”, and from the Technology Assessment and Quality Development in Health Informatics WG, Kathrin Cresswell et al. on “Evaluating Information Technology-enabled Precision Prevention Initiatives in Health and Care”.

As usual, you will find for the 13 subfields of biomedical informatics, a survey paper of the subfield covering the last 2-3 years, and the best papers published in 2023 selected for each section. Related to the special topic, the Consumer Health Informatics (CHI) section focused on how AI can enhance efforts to improve precision and security of health surveillance systems. The survey paper by Canfell Olivier et al. entitled “Consumer Health Informatics to Advance Precision Prevention” concludes that CHI and precision prevention represent a potential future vanguard in shifting from traditional and inefficient break-fix to predict-prevent models of healthcare. Meaningful researcher, practitioner, and consumer partnerships must focus on generating high-quality evidence from methodologically robust study designs to support consumer health informatics as a core enabler of precision prevention.

The complete 2024 edition of the IMIA Yearbook was published online April 8^th, 2025 here .

Complete list of Past Editions

About the IMIA Yearbook

Since its inception in 1992 the IMIA Yearbook of Medical Informatics has been one of the most visible and valuable “products” provided by the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) – not only to its members but to the health and biomedical informatics community at large. Starting in 2014, the IMIA Yearbook has been published in an online open access format.

It is designed to present an overview of the most original, excellent state-of-the-art research in the area of health and biomedical informatics of the past year; to provide surveys about recent developments, and comprehensive reviews on relevant topics in this field; and to provide information about IMIA.