Alignment of knowledge management process with clinical process to support evidence based decision in healthcare improvements: The case of selected Ethiopian hospitals

• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/kpm.1654
• Date: 01 January 2021
• Published date: 01 January 2021

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

Alignment of knowledge management process with clinical

process to support evidence based decision in healthcare

improvements: The case of selected Ethiopian hospitals

Mniyichel Belay

1

| Amare Desta

2

| Steve Smithson

3

| Million Meshesha

4

1

Department of Information Science, Jimma

University, Jimma, Ethiopia

2

Professor of Information & Knowledge

Management, Queen Mary University of

London (QMUL), London, UK

3

Department of Management, London School

of Economics, London, UK

4

School of Information Science, Addis Ababa

University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Correspondence

Mniyichel Belay, Department of Information

Science, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.

Email: ethio2000mniyichel@gmail.com

This article aims to explore existing knowledge management (KM) process in

healthcare sectors and argues for an effective KM alignment with the clinical pro-

cesses. Basically, it discusses KM's processes such as knowledge capture, knowledge

store, and knowledge transfer to support decision making. This article uses an ethno-

graphic approach to studying the KM process in selected Ethiopian hospitals.

Methods include qualitative interviews with senior administrators and various levels

medical and administrative staff that record the existing ways of KM, knowledge pro-

cess, medical decision makers, and support of KM for a medical decision maker. It

include both primary and secondary data collected from health professionals in

selected hospitals. A semistructured interview was employed to acquire the required

knowledge from the selected domain. The findings highlight the weak trends of KM

in our sample hospitals. Our results articulated ways to improve KM processes,

increase the quality of health services, and support evidence-informed decision mak-

ing. This article recommends the need for a detail view of KM strategy/policy

supporting or assisting decision makers.

1|INTRODUCTION

Efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare need seamless knowledge

processes that enable and support decision making and interaction

between different actors within healthcare (Stefanelli, 2004).

Rexhepi (2015) also strongly argued that delivering effective and good

quality care is a complex endeavor that is highly dependent on medi-

cal knowledge.

As stated by Farlex (2012), medical knowledge is the body of

information about diseases, mechanisms and pathogenesis, thera-

pies and interactions, and interpretation of lab tests, which is

broadly applicable to decisions about multiple patients and public

health policies. Similarly, it includes an understanding of all

established and evolving biomedical, clinical, epidemiological, and

social-behavioral sciences (Nejim, 2016). The different authors

also pointed out the applicability of medical knowledge in clinical

processes healthcare. Nejim (2016) also argues that the acquisition

of medical knowledge should continually circulate back to the

application of it and provide better and more relevant, quality

patient care.

Nowadays, health sectors are knowledge-intensive environments

involving rapidly changing medical technologies and requiring tools,

skills, and methods with more knowledge resources (Hyun-Sook,-

2017). Similarly, Figurska and Sokół(2014) report that knowledge as

a strategic resource and its competent management is becoming

increasingly important for the competitiveness of the health sector.

Moreover, Shnhoras (2007) note that health sectors require a highly

divergent set of activities, such as providing healthcare, testing, diag-

nosis and treatments, as well as understanding complicated decision-

making processes with managing knowledge.

In healthcare, knowledge management (KM) is seen as a key fac-

tor in realizing and sustaining organizational success from improved

efficiency and innovation (Alawneh, 2009). It is being developed

mainly in the domain of electronic health record management and

health organization management. But healthcare KM raises different

challenges and issues due to its nature (Abidi, 2008). Similarly, KM is

Received: 7 September 2020 Accepted: 18 October 2020

DOI: 10.1002/kpm.1654

Knowl Process Manag. 2021;28:3–10. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/kpm © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 3