MIAS is one of two working groups of the Section for Medical Information Management and Imaging of the Medical University of Vienna. The working group's main working areas lie in the fields of Medical Information- and Retrieval Systems.

Medical Information Systems as for example Hospital Information Systems, Clinical Information Systems or Systems for general practitioners represent a central area of research in the field of Medical Informatics. By means of fast and clear presentation of patient data as well as support of medical data exchange, they can substantially contribute to the effort of improving patient care.

Medical Retreival Systems build an essential part of modern clinical research as they enable the scientific utilization of all medical data, captured in patient care and in clinical studies. They serve as a means for planning in healthcare and can be efficiently used for clinical quality control.