Knowledge Management for Healthcare Organizations: Comparing Strategies with Technical Support

Healthcare organizations are increasingly adopting knowledge management systems (KMS) for clinical use, which have been established in technical support organizations for several years. While a technical support organization can utilize its KMS to directly address customer needs using its infrastructure and established processes, the effectiveness and success of KMS in a healthcare organization relies on the collective practice of healthcare professionals. In this research, the knowledge management processes and infrastructure in the two industries is compared. Seven hypotheses are developed and tested using a survey in two organizations, one in each industry to measure the contributions of different components of knowledge management infrastructure and processes towards organizational effectiveness. The results indicate that culture plays a larger role than structure in healthcare. Knowledge acquisition processes are more important in healthcare, compared with conversion and application in technical support. These results have implications for the selection and implementation of KMS in healthcare.