[Knowledge management in health organizations].

Area of Science:

• Health Services Management
• Information Science
• Organizational Learning

Context:

• The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) initiated a strategic decision in 2002 to implement knowledge management (KM) across the organization.
• The IDF Medical Corps was selected as a pilot site for establishing a KM system within a health organization (HO).
• This initiative aimed to improve information accessibility and decision-making processes.

Purpose:

• To describe the process of establishing a KM system within the IDF Medical Corps.
• To identify critical knowledge challenges and propose solutions for effective knowledge sharing and utilization.
• To analyze the medical rendezvous (MR) as a central process for KM intervention.

Summary:

• Analysis revealed that the MR is pivotal for clinical and administrative decision-making, but practitioners face significant knowledge gaps.
• Existing medical and administrative knowledge is fragmented, difficult to retrieve, inconvenient to assimilate, and often outdated.
• A comprehensive KM solution, including a knowledge portal with diagnostic indexing and indexed knowledge services, was proposed for the MR.

Impact:

• The proposed KM system aims to create a knowledge community by linking clinical, administrative, quality assurance, and educational services.
• This integration is expected to improve the accessibility and quality of information, supporting optimal and efficient managed care.
• The study provides insights into implementing KM in military healthcare settings, applicable to other health organizations.