Managing knowledge across boundaries in healthcare when innovation is desired

• The purpose of this study is to explore how knowledge can be managed across boundaries when implementing innovations in the healthcare sector is desired, in this specific case a healthcare quality register. The research is based on a qualitative, case study approach and comprises methodologies such as semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Critical incidents analysis is used to discern significant events in the course of innovation implementation. The findings of this study describe knowledge transferred across boundaries on a syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic level. On the syntactic level, knowledge of the innovation was transferred by training sessions for healthcare staff and through information to patients. On the semantic level, knowledge was transferred by knowledge brokering in the professional community of rheumatologists, and by creating collective stories and encouraging rheumatologists to “try” the innovation to find added value. Moreover, allowing the innovation process to take time and realising that knowledge to some extent is tacit, were solutions to some of the challenges on the semantic level. On the pragmatic level, there were explicit conflict of interest between physicians and healthcare authorities as well as resistance from some rheumatologists to share knowledge of patients and treatment. These challenges were met by encouraging the use of the register to improve health status of patients instead of control and further stressing the common goal of healthier patients given the right treatment. The paper is concluded with implications for innovation practice in healthcare drawn from the study and ends with remarks about challenges ahead.

Ämnesord

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Ekonomi och näringsliv -- Företagsekonomi (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Economics and Business -- Business Administration (hsv//eng)

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications (hsv//eng)

Nyckelord

Knowledge management

Knowledge boundaries

healthcare

innovation

healthcare quality register

Publikations- och innehållstyp

ref (ämneskategori)

art (ämneskategori)