Best Practices of Knowledge Strategy in Hospitals: A Contextual Perspective Based on the Implementation of Medical Protocols

Best Practices of Knowledge Strategy in Hospitals: A Contextual Perspective Based on the Implementation of Medical Protocols

Cláudio Reis Gonçalo (Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos – UNISINOS, Brazil) and Edison Jacques Jacques (Universidade do Vale do Rio dos Sinos – UNISINOS, Brazil)
Copyright: © 2010 |Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60566-790-4.ch009

Abstract

This study analyses best practices of knowledge strategies in hospitals considering the implementation of medical protocols. Protocols are research products originated from the based-on-evidence medicine. Knowledge strategy depends on specific organizational context that can be expressed by its barriers and enablers. Eight hospitals were studied in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, involving multidisciplinary teams of the cardiology services which are acknowledged as the area of expertise with more implemented protocols. The same protocols are available in all investigated hospitals and are implemented by different practices in daily activities. A formal structure for the promotion of the organizational context is proposed in relation to the protocol implementation. The following factors were found as critical for the promotion of knowledge strategies’ best practices in hospitals: a common language for sharing information among different professionals; the knowledge gap as a corporate vision, and the particular hole of information technology.
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Organizational Knowledge And Cognitive Barriers

Knowledge has been claimed as one of the most important sources of competitive advantage and sustained performance based on worker’s intelligence, as well as an important source of superior performance in turbulent environments (Prahalad & Hamell, 1990; Spender & Grant 1996; Nonaka et al., 2006).

Organizations are social ‘organisms’ and it is well known that organizational actions happen as the results of dynamic interactions between social and formal systems. The concept of organizational knowledge involving facts and values can, therefore, be explored in both logical constructions (formal and structured systems) and cognitive constructions (informal and unstructured systems).

The analytical life cycle of the organizational knowledge, shown in the Figure 1, involves two dimensions of knowledge: one based on formal systems and another based on cognitive systems. Knowledge based on formal systems includes all the required explicit knowledge for the implementation of any organizational process, such as: strategic planning, managerial model or information system. Knowledge based on cognitive systems mostly depends on people’s understanding on the application of the formal systems including for instance learning process, decision-making process or leadership characteristics. The cycle starts over again as soon as any experience creates new knowledge which will be incorporated in the formal structure.

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