Knowledge management goes beyond data and information capture in computerized health records and ordering systems; it seeks to leverage the experiences of all who interact in healthcare to enhance care delivery, teamwork, and organizational learning. Knowledge management - if envisioned thoughtfully - takes a systemic approach to implementation that includes the embodiment of a learning culture. Knowledge is then used to support that culture and the knowledge workers within it to encourage them to share what they know, thusly enabling their peers, their organizations and ultimately their patients to benefit from their experience to proactively dismantle hierarchy and encourage sharing about what works, and what doesn't to focus efforts on improvement. Knowledge Management in Healthcare draws on relevant business, clinical and health administration literature plus the analysis of discussions with a variety of clinical, administrative, leadership, patient and information experts. The result is a book that will inform thinking on knowledge access needs to mitigate potential failures, design lasting improvements and support the sharing of what is known to enable work towards attaining high reliability. It can be used as a general tool for leaders and individuals wishing to devise and implement a knowledge-sharing culture in their institution, design innovative activities supporting transparency and communication to strengthen existing programs intended to enhance knowledge sharing behaviours and contribute to high quality, safe care
Contents: Foreword, Julie Morath; Preface; Part 1 Nature of Knowledge-Sharing Environments: What is knowledge?, Pam Barnard, Judith Napier and Lorri Zipperer; Healthcare culture and knowledge, Barbara Balik, Michael Leonard and Margaret Moylan Bandy; The healthcare environment and knowledge: blunt-end experience, Lorri Zipperer and Albert Wu; The healthcare environment and knowledge: sharp-end experience, Christine Chastain-Warheit and Lorri Zipperer. Part 2 Knowledge Workers: Insights from the Frontline: What healthcare knowledge workers can teach us about knowledge sharing, Lorri Zipperer and Becky Steward; What healthcare workers have to say about 'tacit knowledge': insights from the front line, Lorri Zipperer and Cathy Tokarski. Part 3 Knowledge-Sharing Metrics: Practicalities and Future Directions: Knowledge sharing effectiveness: assessment, challenges and opportunities, Margaret H. Burnett, Michael G. Dieter and Annette L. Valenta; To boldly go...implementing knowledge management, Lorri Zipperer, Kathryn Eblen Townsend and Heidi A. Heilemann; Strategies for knowledge sharing: lessons from improvisation, Geri Amori, Jan Chindlund and Lorri Zipperer. Part 4 Resources; References, Appendices; Glossary; Index.