Knowledge management in healthcare settings

Strong forces of competition and globalisation have created awareness and an urgency to focus on how an organisation controls and nurtures its intellectual capital. The knowledge concept and its management have gained currency and momentum as technology has enabled thoughts and ideas to be more easily generated and distributed. The knowledge management debate has relevance for all stakeholders involved in healthcare. As a contribution to this debate, this paper describes various knowledge domains at the different levels of healthcare organisations. The paper uses Polanyi's knowledge framework to identify issues that need to be considered to ensure knowledge can be progressively applied to the continuous improvement of health services whilst safeguarding the rights of individuals. Knowledge management has received the attention of academics and managers over the years with varying degrees of intensity and enthusiasm. This paper will first provide a brief background on the subject. This background will provide a basis on which to examine knowledge management from a health perspective. A framework suggesting knowledge domains will be introduced to enable discussion on the issues that healthcare managers face in gaining a better understanding of the dynamics of knowledge flows in the health environment. The purpose of the paper is to provide a conceptual basis that will stimulate future research and discussion on how knowledge is managed in a healthcare setting.