Healthcare knowledge management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Healthcare knowledge management - Research Paper ExampleThis paper is a critical analysis of a qualitative health care learn titled, Healthcare Knowledge Management The Art of the Possible by Syed Sibte Raza Abidi. It was published by Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg in 2008. Problem Statement Healthcare and the field of medicine are areas which are characterized by rich knowledge. However, this knowledge is often underutilized especially during times of care or need There is exponential growth, in the healthcare sector, in the understanding of diseases, procedures for discourseand measures of patient care.On the other hand, thissignifi toleratetgrowthhas resulted in healthcareknowledgetotendto a flux because of thegenerationof new knowledge at a fast pace.It is necessary to note that the utilization of thisknowledgeimportantly impacts healthcare delivery, health outcomes and patient care. The ability of the clinicalpersonnelor staff is also not congruent in the appropriate dissem ination,applicationand definitionof the healthcareknowledgethatis currently generatedin the clinical practice (Jackson, 2000). This form of knowledge is usually available in a different medium, but occurs in large volumes thus posing a challenge to the healthcare experts to be aware andimplementthe pertinent andrelevantparts to the decisions of patient care. These decisions need to curse on the close to relevant,appropriateandcurrentknowledgeavailable, and implement alongside the availabledataon point-of-care patient as well as in line with the therapeutic references of the patients. Recent studies have also proven that healthcare professionals have limited access and implementation of the current healthcareknowledge, and this ultimately affects the mostsensitivepartwhich is the optimal healthcare delivery to patients. Several surveys and studies have reported over 98,000 deaths of patients each year due to preventable errors. Another study revealed that 11% patients admitted to ho spitals experienced or encountered adverse events, 48% of the occurrences wouldhave been preventedif therightand relevantknowledgeisapplicable(Bates et al, 2003). These evidencesshowthe under utilization of the continuously generated healthcareknowledge, which results towrongclinical decisions, under utilization of resources, medical errors and high costs of healthcare delivery. Purpose and Research Questions Healthcareknowledgeishighlycritical in decision making, in clinical situations involving the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. Implementation of this knowledge in thecorrectway ensures good diagnostic decisions andsubsequentworkingtherapeutic regimes. Decision making by clinical experts occurs in a cyclicwaycharacterized byapplicationof the healthcareknowledgein validating the initial hypotheses, which meets the requirements of the final decision and deals withpotentialchallenges (Montani&Bellazzi, 2002).There isdynamiccontextualization of the healthcareknowledgein interp reting the health status of a patient, and finding the righttreatmentinterventions that suit each patient, in aspecificsituationor clinicalcondition.The key to achieving suchsuccessfulandeffectivedecisions and treatment regimes is by making therelevant, current andcorrectknowledgeavailable toclinicalprofessionals inlineto theirclinicalcontext. The author believes that the timely and effective use of suchknowledgecantransformthepotentialandnatureof healthcare practices. This has thesurepotentialof yieldinghighand quality levels ofteamcare, patient care, patient centeredness, quality care, and cost effective healthcare (Bali &Dwivedi, 2006). The aims of management of healthcareknowledgeare to address the gaps in knowledge applicable to the system of healthcare,