Innovation and Knowledge Management in the Health Care System - Coursework Example

Innovation and Knowledge Management Essay Introduction With reference to Ealderly and Uden in their book “Innovation of knowledge management”, the phrase creativity and innovative design has been used severally. The phrase is several times used in describing different processes and activities used in various organizations. It points out, generate, replicate, share, replace, and encourage the use of applicable human opinions and experience. The said opinions; views and experiences may be developed in personal mental systems or group/organization process, practices or documented. Knowledge management has entails sectors such as business management and administration, management information systems, information technology, learning and psychological development, and library information sciences. The latest inclusions into knowledge management research are health and the public health policy (Eardley and Uden, 2011). Several big commercial companies and non-profit entities have put up a big efforts and resources to knowledge management as part of their strategies, information layout, or human resource. With consulting firms providing advice and expertise to knowledge management to other both in policy formulation and management operations, knowledge management is focused on organizational goals and objectives (Khan and Ansari, 2012). These objectives include optimum performance, competitive advantage, innovation, and quality improvement processes. Knowledge management objectives are synchronized with existing organizational directions such as; organizational learning, total quality management and business engineering (Berkowitz and McCarthy, 2013). The distinction between knowledge management and other units are; its focus on managing knowledge as a strategy application asset and facilitating knowledge sharing. Knowledge management can thus help members of an organization to share significant group learning facts and reduce chances of redundancy at the organization (Epstein et al., 2010). Innovative concept in our basic daily activities innovation is often misunderstood as a synonym for research and development. The organization for economic co-operation and development (OECD) defines innovation as a continuous repetitive process setup by a new opportunity in either market or goods and services for a technological invention. The invention has to be processed in production and marketing for it to reach the market (Oecd.org, 2006). Thomas McGraw in his book “prophet of innovation” discusses how Joseph Schumpter proposed five types of innovation. They include innovation in a new product and new methods of production. It also involves innovation in developing new market, developing new sources of raw material supply and creation of new market structures in the industry. The root of innovation classification is a dual perspective view. Macro perspective focuses on the world, market/industry with respect to outside factors. In a micro view, innovation is firm or customer focus based. Furthermore, innovation non-development roots from a technological or marketing perspective. Product innovation needs market development to evolve or improved marketing skills while product innovation requires a change in the level of science and technology. These include research and development resources and shift in the production process. Joseph schumpter further categories innovations as radical, new, and incremental. Radical innovations contain both marketing and technological non-continuousness at both macro and micro level. Innovations include non-continuousness in either marketing or technology at micro levels and constant non-continuity at macro level. Incremental innovations provide non-continuousness only at the micro level (McGraw, 2007). UNESCO institute for statistics further identify organizational innovation as the setting up of new organization’s methods in the firm’s practices in business activities, workplace processes and procedures and external relationships (UNESCO, 2005). Innovation in healthcare Health care innovation is the reason for the struggle to balance between cost reduction and quality health care. Zaltman et al. considers innovation as a significant factor in business production and strives for survival amidst competition. He further argues that innovation in production is relevant to any profit making organization since they increase revenue while improving internal capabilities. Any product must undergo change and changes or else be phased out and become obsolete. Health care innovations are relative to products, processes and structures (Varkey, et al, 2008). The product consists of goods and services and it is what the customer pays for in compensation. A process innovation comprises of improvements in the product manufacture or delivery method that adds relative value to the client. Structural innovation usually leads to modification of both the internal and external networks thus creating new models for the business (shortell, et al., 2001). Health care innovation can be defined as introducing a new idea, process, product, or concept. The aim is to improve research methods, disease treatment diagnosis, prevention, education. The objective of this is to ensure long-term objective of effectiveness, efficiency, quality and cost reduction. Information thus remains an important factor in healthcare innovation (Gupta, 2008). An increase in resources inadequacy in the health care system has led to a sudden growth of outsourcing diagnostic services. This, as a result, has led to mushrooming of health facilities whose primary core is diagnostic related services which include consultation, X-ray, and mammogram. Telemedicine serves as a means of work distribution and cost reduction. An example of telemedicine is teleradiology, where the results of an X-ray scan are taken and transmitted to a different location for treatment prescription. Due to diverse emergencies with the increasing population and inadequate health personnel, telemedicine comes on hand to assist all both within and far of (Gupta, 2008). Robots use in the health care industry has been the significance of the reduction of human related errors such as fatigue and variations in performance. Robots use in rehabilitation therapy for stroke victims has had a significant impact since they deliver quality treatment that is essential for the reduction of joint paralysis among victims of stroke. Other mechanized forms of medical treatment include the use of video scopes by surgeons in body scanning and the Da Vinci surgical system that applies robotic hands in complex minute organs. These robotic hands improve accuracy and eliminate the natural human hands tremor, and patients can recuperate within two days (Riezenman, 2008). Patients bound at home especially the elderly and in need of constant and continuous scrutiny of chronic medical problems. For instance, high blood pressure has a simple computer programmed that assist in keeping and managing their homes. Using health care gadgets and apparatus like thermometer and sugar readers, patients can read recommendations and insights on the correct course of action (Clark, 2008). Learning has also been made easier in the learning process of the healthcare practitioners and research work. The use of the microchip modelling clinic trials where the chip has been done to replace human organs replicating the complex interworking between blood vessels and body organs. The use of animal species to replace humans does not yield adequate results due to several factors like intelligent quotient, basic body physique, and internal structure. Microchips are more similar to human cells and with 3-D effects that facilitate active practical, as well as a theoretical study (Honigman, 2013). Among the micro factors that increase or reduce innovation in health care systems are the human relations. A strong leadership, well-set crystal goals and objectives, task allocation, participative problem solving with adequate resources are catalysts for innovativeness in the health care department (Becker et al., 2000). Payment re-design in health care is also a major innovation in the health care system. With the aged system where people pay when sick, most people were inconvenienced since sickness came unannounced and when they faced financial difficulties. With the creation of the health insurance, cover where one can plan when to pay for premiums and be treated for their convenience is an important breakthrough in the medical system. The insurance premiums are considered cheaper and cater for huge medical bills unlike from one’s pocket (Advisory committee on innovation, 2007). How hospitals cultural barriers affect the relationship between knowledge management and innovative outcomes Cultures can be as beliefs, values, processes, and practices shared by people in an organization (Schein, 1985). Health care systems are rooted in the traditional hierarchy of conservatively reserved roles. As health care is being forced to change on new dimensions thus health care workers, have to work in different roles and settings hence new health care roles. This old conservative system makes the process timely and expensive to enable an adjustment through training (Gesler, 1992) The health care workforce is set to have a massive exodus for retirement within the next 10-15 years. This comes at a time when health care is in the demand due to the increasing population. Since the age limit for retirement is at averagely sixty years, a new workforce won’t be able to implement innovation effectively. This is because they would not have known the technicalities of the health care system and how to improve it (Pope and May, 2000). The society as a whole tends to view the health care system with so much morality hence sees it as communist in nature. The communism nature fails to correctly identify its customer needs and wants thus killing any innovative development incentives (Chernichovsky, 2009). Things such as employee motivation, open communication in all departments of the organization and implementation of a client feedback system are enhanced. This tends to make innovation impossible (pope, 2005). The patients who are customers bring with them their expectation whenever they require health services. The innovations and opinions aimed at improving the health care system are although they need support in making personal health care decisions (Landro, 2008). The health care management face an impossible task in trying to balance between costs and quality of health care produced. This is because health care processes are with bureaucratic red tapes and bottlenecks that finally affect quality and attention. This is because of laid down rules and regulations of the quality of care metrics forcing health care facilities to operate in a particular way minus the much-needed financial resources. With tougher economic decisions and legal-political constraints, innovation is a definite impossibility (Huntington et. al, 2000). In most countries, qualification related hindrances such as the education system are still analogist in the sense that it focuses on memorization rather than innovative technique. It also encourages the use of technical competence at work (Lehoux, 2006). Hostile stakeholders in the industry or the absence of helpful ones are a hindrance to consumer-focused innovativeness. Organizations with mechanistic administrations see innovations as a threat to their power. An example is the resentment by physicians towards direct marketing of pharmaceuticals to consumers or provision of health care services in convenient places. Such areas include; malls use their power to resist such moves using legal or illegal means like sabotage (Organization for economic development, 2013). Consumer based innovations have faced stiff competition from the healthcare industry including hospitals, Doctors and several other significant industry stakeholders for whom innovation is a major threat in terms of competition. Larger and credible service providers who face competition from an innovative smaller health care provider tends to undermine the innovations of the smaller firm by exploiting the public trust and citing a lack of confidence in other sabotage issues (Williams, 2007). On-profit making health care providers lacks the ability to merge since they have no capital to buy each other hence pool resources for innovation research and development. On the other hand, capital availability by profit making health care service providers hence can be able to merge but emergence of conflicts and diverse objectives tend to prevent that merger (Harvard Business School, 2011). Lack of adequate funding also plays a significant role in the inability of the health sector to develop their ideas to actualization and finally implement them. In the place of adequate funding, there are so many bureaucratic red tapes in the name of procurement and accountability that by the time financial assistance arrives favourable factors may have fluctuated (Aspden, 2002). Conclusion In conclusion, I could openly say that innovation with favourable conditions such as financial, legal, and administrative backbone has made significant contributions in the health care sector. These has been in areas such as; technology, systems, and processes, education to mention just but a few. These innovations have made the healthcare system more effective and efficient in service production (Tavana et, al, 2014). Cultural factors, on the other hand, are acting as barriers to innovation in the health care industry and significantly reducing the level of innovation. The health care system is facing several challenges as a result of cultural barriers including the retiring workforce which if solved through innovation would make the health care system more efficient and effective. Innovation is a necessary force behind the invention of great ideas for increasing efficiency and effectiveness (Saito, 2010). Great inventors once had to be highly innovative in order for them to develop present day advancements in all aspects of technology to systems and others. The reduction of cultural barriers in all areas of healthcare would facilitate significant innovation and efficiency. Reference List Aspden, P. (2002). Medical innovation in the changing healthcare marketplace conference summary.Washington, DC, National Academy Press. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10358. Berkowitz, L., and McCarthy, C. (2013). Innovation with information technologies in healthcare. London, Springer. http://www.springerlink.com/openurl.asp?genre=book&isbn=978-1-4471-4326-0. Chernichovsky, D. (2009). Innovations in health system finance in developing and transitional economies. Bingley, UK, JAI Press/Emerald Pub. Group. . Clark, D., 2008. ―Intel takes Step into Home Health Care.‖ The Wall Street Journal, p. B3. Eardley, A., & Uden, L. (2011).Innovative knowledge management: concepts for organizational creativity and collaborative design. Hershey, PA, Information Science Reference Epstein, m. J., Manzoni, j. F., and Davila, A. (2010).Performance measurement and management control innovative concepts and practices. Bingley, UK, Emerald.http://public.eblib.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=533107. Gesler, W. (1991). The cultural geography of health care. Pittsburgh, Pa.: University of Pittsburgh Press. Gupta, A., 2008. ―Prescription for Change.‖ the Wall Street Journal, October 20, p. R6. Harvard Business School. (2011). Harvard business review on fixing health care from inside & out. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN=675141.  Honigman, B. (2013). Seven Biggest Innovations in Health Care Technology in 2014 [Info graphic]. [Online] referral | Worlds Leading Healthcare Referral Network. Available at: http://getreferralmd.com/2013/11/health-care-technology-innovations-2013-infographic/ [Accessed 4 Dec. 2014]. Huntington, J. S. Gilliam, and R. Rosen. 2000. Organizational Development for Clinical Governance, British Medical Journal, vol. 16: 679-682. Khan, M. A., and Ansari, A. Q. (2012). Handbook of research on industrial informatics and manufacturing intelligence: innovations and solutions. Hershey, PA, Information Science Reference. Mccraw, T. K. (2007). Prophet of innovation Joseph Schumpeter and creative destruction. Cambridge, Mass, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Http Oecd.org, (2006). Search Results - OECD. [Online] Available at: http://www.oecd.org/general/ innovationofscienceandtechnology [Accessed 4 Dec. 2014]. Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development. (2013). Regions and innovation: collaborating across borders. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264205307-en. Pope, C. 1995. Qualitative Research: Reaching the Parts Other Methods Cannot Reach: An Introduction to Qualitative Methods in Health and Health services. British Medical Journal, vol. 311: 42-45. Pope, C. M. and Mays, N. 2000.Qualitative Research in Health Care. London: BMJ Books. Riezenman, M. J. 2008. Robots in Rehab. The Institute, p. 6. Saito, M. (2010). Redesigning innovative healthcare operation and the role of knowledge management. Hershey, PA, Medical Information Science Reference. Schein, E. (1985), Organizational Culture and Leadership, Jossey) Bass, San Francisco, CA. Short ell, S. M., C.L. Bennett, and G.R. Byck. 1998. Assessing the Impact of Continuous Quality Improvement on Clinical Practice: What it will take to Accelerate Progress. Milbank Quarterly, vol. 76:593-624. Tavana, M., Ghapanchi, A. H., and Talaei-khoei, A. (2014). Healthcare informatics and analytics: emerging issues and trends. . The Advisory Committee on Measuring Innovation in the 21st Century Economy 2007, Federal Register: Vol. 72: 18627-18628 UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2005.Oslow Manual, The Measurement of Scientific, and Technological Activities, 3 rd Edition, p.34. Varkey, P., A. Horne, and K.E. Bennet. 2008. Innovation in Health Care: A Primer. American Journal of Medical Quality, vol. 23: 382-388.Workshop on Performance Measurement and Management Control, Williams, R. A. (2007). Eliminating healthcare disparities in America beyond the IOM report. Totowa, N.J., Humana Press. . Read More