Family medicine practice performance and knowledge management

• DOI: 10.1097/01.hmr.0000304489.65028.75
• Publication Date: 2012-07-18T10:32:00Z
• Authors: A. John Orzano; Claire R. McInerney; Alfred F. Tallia; Davida Scharf; Benjamin F. Crabtree
• Keywords: Fieldnotes; Knowledge Sharing; Best practice

Background: Knowledge management (KM) is the process by which people in organizations find, share, and develop knowledge for action. KM affects performance influencing work relationships to enhance learning decision making. Purpose: To identify how family medicine practices exhibit KM. Methodology: A model a template of concepts were derived from comprehensive organizational literature review. Two higher two lower performing purposefully selected existing comparative case studies based on prevention delivery rates innovation. Interviews, fieldnotes operations, clinical encounters coded independently using template. Face-to-face discussions resolved coding differences. Findings: All had processes tools finding, sharing, developing knowledge; however, overall was limited despite implementation expensive technologies like an electronic medical record. Where present, used individuals but not integrated throughout organization. Loss information prominent, finding underdeveloped. The use technical reconfiguration measurement particularly limited. Socially related tools, such as face-to-face-communication sharing knowledge, more developed. As other organizations, tool tailored specific outcomes leveraged capacities. Practice Implications: Differences occur within between may have implications improving practice performance. Understanding interaction patterns explain why costly or externally imposed "one size fits all" interventions mixed results sustainability.