Information and knowledge processes as a knowledge management framework in health care

1. Introduction

Knowledge management (KM) in organisations has shifted from managing the existing information and from developing information systems towards trying to capture the knowledge of employees to create new knowledge and innovations in order to enhance organisational learning and productivity. Information and knowledge processes (IKPs) ensure that right information and knowledge is available for all the employees in the organisation. In health care, the term KM has been fairly unfamiliar and research of health care KM has been rare (Sibbald et al., 2016; Massaro et al., 2015).

Health care is shifting from the paternalistic approach with the health professionals’ hegemony towards a more patient-centred view. This perspective aims at meeting people’s needs, helping them solve their problems and enabling them to achieve their goals and wishes (Fredericks et al., 2012). Moreover, the idea of creating patient value, defined as health and welfare for both the patients and for society, has been a recent interest (Känsäkoski, 2014; Blumenthal and Stremikis, 2013). The term shared decision making (SDM) has been implemented in health care emphasising the perspective of patient-centred care and the active role of the patients (Charles et al., 1997, 1999). The earlier prevailing view of health care organisations (HCOs), professionals and patients as separate units is moving towards a more collaborative approach which has also been suggested to improve health outcomes (Greene and Hibbard, 2012).

The aim of this paper is to present a new model of IKPs in health care as a KM framework and to inspect how the IKPs are related with SDM. Furthermore, the specific nature of knowledge and knowing in health care and its relationship with the IKPs is considered. The empirical study was conducted in a multiprofessional integrated care pathway (ICP) of childhood obesity in Finnish health care.

The research questions are: RQ1.

What kinds of IKPs can be identified in the ICP?

RO2.

What types of knowing are involved with the IKPs?

RQ3.

How do the identified IKPs support SDM?

The methodology of this study is qualitative aiming at understanding human behaviour and the reasons that govern this behaviour. Bosio et al. (2012) emphasise the need for qualitative research in studying knowledge and practice construction in HCOs and settings. They state that the...