Improving health and public safety through knowledge management

This paper reports on KM in public healthcare and public safety. It reflects the experiences of the author as a CIO (Chief Information Officer) in both industries in Australia and New Zealand. There are commonalities in goals and challenges in KM in both industries. In the case of public safety a goal of modern policing theory is to move more towards intelligence-driven practice. That means interventions based upon research and analysis of information. In healthcare the goals include investment in capacity based upon knowledge of healthcare needs, evidence-based service planning and care delivery, capture of information and provision of knowledge at the point-of-care and evaluation of outcomes. The issue of knowledge management is explored from the perspectives of the user of information and from the discipline of Information Technology and its application to healthcare and public safety. Case studies are discussed to illustrate knowledge management and limiting or enabling factors. These factors include strategy, architecture, standards, feed-back loops, training, quality processes, and social factors such as expectations, ownership of systems and politics

An Ontology Approach for Knowledge Acquisition and Development of Health Information System (HIS)

This paper emphasizes various knowledge acquisition approaches in terms of tacit and explicit knowledge management that can be helpful to capture, codify and communicate within medical unit. The semantic-based knowledge management system (SKMS) supports knowledge acquisition and incorporates various approaches to provide systematic practical platform to knowledge practitioners and to identify various roles of healthcare professionals, tasks that can be performed according to personnel’s competencies, and activities that are carried out as a part of tasks to achieve defined goals of clinical process. This research outcome gives new vision to IT practitioners to manage the tacit and implicit knowledge in XML format which can be taken as foundation for the development of information systems (IS) so that domain end-users can receive timely healthcare related services according to their demands and needs

Knowledge management implementation and the tools utilized in healthcare for evidence-based decision making: a systematic review

Background: Healthcare is a knowledge driven process and thus knowledge management and the tools to manage knowledge in healthcare sector are gaining attention. The aim of this systematic review is to investigate knowledge management implementation and knowledge management tools used in healthcare for informed decision making.Methods: Three databases, two journals websites and Google Scholar were used as sources for the review. The key terms used to search relevant articles include: “Healthcare and Knowledge Management”; “Knowledge Management Tools in Healthcare” and “Community of Practices in healthcare”.Results: It was found that utilization of knowledge management in healthcare is encouraging. There exist numbers of opportunities for knowledge management implementation, though there are some barriers as well. Some of the opportunities that can transform healthcare are advances in health information and communication technology, clinical decision support systems, electronic health record systems, communities of practice and advanced care planning.Conclusion: Providing the right knowledge at the right time, i.e., at the point of decision making by implementing knowledge management in healthcare is paramount. To do so, it is very important to use appropriate tools for knowledge management and user-friendly system because it can significantly improve the quality and safety of care provided for patients both at hospital and home settings.Keywords: Knowledge management, tools, evidence-based medical practice, healthcare, informed decision makin

What can management theories offer evidence-based practice? A comparative analysis of measurement tools for organisational context

Background: Given the current emphasis on networks as vehicles for innovation and change in health service delivery, the ability to conceptualise and measure organisational enablers for the social construction of knowledge merits attention. This study aimed to develop a composite tool to measure the organisational context for evidence-based practice (EBP) in healthcare. Methods: A structured search of the major healthcare and management databases for measurement tools from four domains: research utilisation (RU), research activity (RA), knowledge management (KM), and organisational learning (OL). Included studies were reports of the development or use of measurement tools that included organisational factors. Tools were appraised for face and content validity, plus development and testing methods. Measurement tool items were extracted, merged across the four domains, and categorised within a constructed framework describing the absorptive and receptive capacities of organisations. Results: Thirty measurement tools were identified and appraised. Eighteen tools from the four domains were selected for item extraction and analysis. The constructed framework consists of seven categories relating to three core organisational attributes of vision, leadership, and a learning culture, and four stages of knowledge need, acquisition of new knowledge, knowledge sharing, and knowledge use. Measurement tools from RA or RU domains had more items relating to the categories of leadership, and acquisition of new knowledge; while tools from KM or learning organisation domains had more items relating to vision, learning culture, knowledge need, and knowledge sharing. There was equal emphasis on knowledge use in the different domains. Conclusion: If the translation of evidence into knowledge is viewed as socially mediated, tools to measure the organisational context of EBP in healthcare could be enhanced by consideration of related concepts from the organisational and management sciences. Comparison of measurement tools across domains suggests that there is scope within EBP for supplementing the current emphasis on human and technical resources to support information uptake and use by individuals. Consideration of measurement tools from the fields of KM and OL shows more content related to social mechanisms to facilitate knowledge recognition, translation, and transfer between individuals and groups

An Observation of Healthcare Knowledge Management

Healthcare within the U.S. is reaching a point where the facilities and doctors are collecting large amounts of patient and practice related information. The goal of cost savings is driving investment growth in healthcare technology. The introduction of knowledge management and the ability to leverage IT solutions can provide a means for which the healthcare industry can meet the demand for care that is growing with the increase of population and the gradual retirement of baby boomers. However, the advancements in health informatics along with knowledge management practices currently present challenges in terms of adoption. Therefore, this paper discusses the role of knowledge management and issues of knowledge management implementation in healthcare industry. Knowledge management practices have benefited many industries ranging from banking to retailing. It is widely believed that KM will also benefit the healthcare industry if KM implementation is properly planned and executed. KM may possibly change the way in which hospitals, doctors, and patients interact

Applied Healthcare Knowledge Management for Hospital in Clinical Aspect

Medical industry uses the information as a critical factor in running the three aspects of hospital management which includes administrative, financial and clinical. Objectives to be achieved is to identify healthcare knowledge resources and models of knowledge sharing, identifying culture, strategy and knowledge management supporting facilities, plotting knowledge resources and mapping supporting features of knowledge portals as well as doing analysis and design of healthcare knowledge management portal that developed.In achieving the purpose of analysis and design of healthcare knowledge management portal, is done through several stages of the methodology, where the identification process carried out primary and secondary data collection, while the analysis on the management aspects was performed cultural analysis with OCAI methods and the analysis and design of information systems with OOAD approach using UML models. PELNI Hospital is using for this case study. From analysis and design of healthcare knowledge management portal is expected to get a picture of the current organizational culture and the expected culture, the description of network infrastructure and organizational strategies related to resource and knowledge destination to produce a Knowledge Management Portal

Accounting for knowledge embedded in artefacts within healthcare settings: Defining the direction of the research

This research takes place within the framework of the Knowledge and Information Management (KIM) is an EPSRC funded Grand Challenge Project which brings together expertise from management and engineering disciplines. The project recognises that, 'in response to customers‟ changing needs, organisations across all sectors are increasingly being asked not only to provide products in the first instance, but also to support them throughout their service life' (KIM 2006).Thus, the need to consider ways in which knowledge can be preserved in practices, records and artefacts is considered. The aim of this research, which is in its earliest stages, is to explore multi-disciplinary contributions to this problem from the knowledge management and production management perspectives. The focus is on the role of artefacts in preserving and communicating knowledge. An ethnomethodological approach will be used to produce uniquely adequate (UA) accounts of the situated meaning of artefacts within social processes. The proposed settings for research are healthcare facilities where the researcher will adopt an ethnographic approach to achieve a UA understanding of how patients, staff and visitors in chosen healthcare settings make sense of their built environments

A platform for enterprise-wide healthcare knowledge management

The importance of effective information and knowledge management in enterprises has spurred the development of numerous information and knowledge management software.Whilst emphasis is placed on effective document management, the essence of knowledge management is diluted as the focus is presently on managing uninterpreted data and information in document-type formats.To address this issue of the lack of true knowledge management in enterprises, especially in healthcare enterprises, we propose a Platform for Enterprise-Wide Healthcare Knowledge Management (KM-Platform).This platform is made up of two suites of applications and services, i.e. the Intelligent Agent-Based Knowledge Management Application Suite and the Strategic Visualisation, Planning and Coalition Formation Service Suite

The Significance of Knowledge Management in Improving the Quality of Health Care in the Public Sector in Zimbabwe

The research aims to look at the significance of knowledge management in improving the quality of healthcare in the public health facilities. The research looks at the effect of knowledge management process on reducing new-born mortality, improving retention of patients on ART in health facilities and whether the use of information technology and availability of adequate human capital improves the number of pregnant women booking for antenatal care (ANC) and access to child immunisation. Knowledge management in health care is relatively new and this research provides empirical evidence of the relationship between knowledge management and the quality of healthcare measured by: new-born mortality, retention of women in ANC, retention of patients on ART, and access to immunisation by children. Data was collected through questionnaires distributed to randomly selected nurses in selected health facilities. The number of nurses selected was proportionately distributed across the seven districts in Manicaland based on the total number of nurses per district.  Data analysis revealed that there is evidence of knowledge management practices in health facilities. However, the results show that knowledge management does not have an impact on reducing mortality of new-born babies and information technology does not have an effect on the retention of pregnant women on ANC. When it comes to making sure that the HIV positive patients remain on ART, the results show that the knowledge management process affects the retention of patients on ART. Human capital has an impact on access to immunisation by children. These findings show that healthcare is a complex field where knowledge management implementation can affect some of the components of the healthcare and not all of them as the different components of the healthcare are managed differently. An effective knowledge management system should address the acquisition, sharing and utilisation of knowledge within the health sector. Keywords: Knowledge Management, healthcare, health facilities, qualit