Abstract:
Strong forces of competition and globalisation have created awareness and an urgency to focus on how an organisation controls and nurtures its intellectual capital. The knowledge concept and its management have gained currency and momentum as technology has enabled thoughts and ideas to be more easily generated and distributed. The knowledge management has relevance for all stakeholders involved in healthcare. As a contribution to this debate, this paper describes various knowledge domains at the different levels of healthcare organisations. The paper uses Polanyi¿s knowledge framework to identify issues that need to be considered to ensure knowledge can be progressively applied to the continuous improvement of health services whilst safeguarding the rights of individuals.
