Innovation and Knowledge Management - Coursework Example

Innovation Management In most cases, companies/organizations are at the forefront and centre of innovation in their specific area of specialization. Effective information and knowledge resource management is a driver of competiveness (Bwalya 2014). The same case applies in the case of healthcare where hospitals and research facilities and universities that deal with healthcare have innovated in order to improve their field. It these institutions that technologies, inventions, process, products, and ideas have come into the market. The majority of large hospitals and healthcare research centres have entire sectors dedicated to innovation. Many have entire teams of dedicated research and development (R&D) personnel and laboratories that are involved in research. There has also been a great effort at information and research sharing across healthcare stakeholders on a global scale in an effort to further innovation in healthcare products, facilities and implements. New discoveries in the field of medicine and healthcare are happening at a tremendous rate, these calls for management of the knowledge, and its application in this field, which is as ancient as man is. Management of knowledge is crucial for an organizations survival if it is to survive completion and maintain a completive edge (Frame 2003). Knowledge Management The healthcare knowledge management bests works through sharing and, the application of experiential knowledge so that improvement is made in better healthcare. This will assist healthcare consumers of the healthcare system and in the long run enable all the stakeholders plus technological programs in using and managing knowledge. Then with the documentation and analysis of healthcare, the sector can implement development. It can also greatly improve its ability in knowledge sharing in terms of health techniques, health practices, and assist technical programmers manage and use knowledge documents and analysis (Larson 2009). These steps will widen and significantly improve health developments and create milestones, trends and change perspectives in knowledge management. Development of expertise can be furthered by extracting and applying lessons learnt in healthcare in order to improve the use of knowledge through peer networking. It also pays to make evidence-based e-Health frameworks along with guidelines and tools, which support policies and practices in healthcare systems. The technical programmers also provide technical assistance, which is very useful in management for planning, monitoring, controlling and decision making in the improvement of e-Healthcare services. Utilization of ICT tools are another very important method of building up capacity in the health sector within the healthcare systems. Development and utilization of public and private partnerships in the ICT sector is integral in addressing key issue in healthcare systems. According to experts in the healthcare sector, the fostering of enabling environments will have the effect of promoting a culture of innovation and change, which is good for all stakeholders as improvements of methods and practice, produces better results and is what everybody is aiming for in the first place (Project Management Institute 2013). The healthcare sector also needs to encourage routine capturing, monitoring, sharing and application of knowledge in order for better performance and results. There should also be a concerted effort at continuous training for building up capacity with the emphasis on better and improved innovation and knowledge sharing. Better knowledge management also means having greater support for technical programs and collaborating more with healthcare stakeholders. The technical programs and other partner organizations also need to identify properly knowledge challenges and opportunities, in order to more efficiently develop and implement management plans (Weiss 1992, p. 201). Innovation The organizations that are responsible for innovation also need the services of other stakeholders in the health care system to implement change in the healthcare sector. These partners and institution form a system that is known as the innovation system. They include the government, manufacturing companies, customers, suppliers, fostering agencies, universities, competitors, research centres and other partners who have a stake in the innovation system such as investors and financiers. These partners play the very important role of research, investment, production and development (Stackpole 2009, p. 978). There is a strong move towards the open innovation model/ open innovation. In this, model companies search outside of their R&D centres in order to fish ideas or projects, which add competitive advantages to their products/inventions. Innovation has become one of the leading drivers in the healthcare industry. This is best evidenced by the scientific breakthroughs made in the most recent past in genetics and nanotechnology (Martin 1997). The increased knowledge of biological processes has brought on radial changes in innovation processes in various sectors. The example of the pharmaceutical industry is a demonstration of the effect of; new technological breakthroughs and how they have enabled the invention of new processes and new products. There are many products on the market today products such as human insulin and many new vaccines, which, were never even conceived of only half a century ago. The rising costs of healthcare have rendered quality healthcare costs unsustainable against an ever-increasing demand for better healthcare from more informed healthcare consumers. This has pushed the industry to looking for better and more innovative ways, tools and products that are both cost effective and of good quality (Marcum 2008). The healthcare sector has made significant moves towards more sophisticated IT approaches as they developed digital strategies in order to improve the quality of care, improve efficiency and broaden access. Investment in IT is becoming a must do in all healthcare sectors in order to support the functions of management sect as planning, monitoring, control and decision making which is made easier by technology. This is because just as in tall other service provision sectors in the world healthcare providers will need to focus more on improving customer experience and customer engagement. This may mean making more use of mobile and internet enabled devices and other third platform technologies in order to accomplish this efficiently and quickly. HealthCare The healthcare sector despite the unfavourable backdrop of a not so ideal health care reform plus an even more unfavourable controversial medical device tax is forging ahead in changing the way medical care is delivered and the culture of healthcare on a global scale (Ferraro 2005). Concentrating on the readily available global markets the medical technology companies have taken to focusing more on products that are cheaper and that deliver faster and more efficient healthcare. They have managed to influence the U.S. Food & Drug Administration regulators to assist them reduce long and complex bureaucratic reviews and approval processes to shorter more efficient ones in order to speed up the approval for new for new medical devices. These have the effect of changing the way medicine is practiced as healthcare facilities adapt to embrace innovations. This also has the impact of putting competitive pressure on healthcare facilities as they strive to attain higher customer satisfaction levels (Walker, 2002). The culture of long delays in approving the healthcare is set to change with the introduction of the Medical Device Innovation Consortium (MDIC) who is to take charge of simplifying the process of testing and designing of new technologies. They will have imputes from government, healthcare industry stakeholders, and non-profit organizations who have a healthcare interest. This will speed up sharing and garner resource for the healthcare industry so that it can be better equipped to enable safe and effective devices that are cost effective and of high quality. The regulators, politicians, and corporate have also found it prudent to work out the details of the healthcare industry in such a way that it benefits all stakeholders for the efficient and mutual benefit of them all. The operational side of the i.e. healthcare industry who are the industry engineers and scientists also continue to continue to push new ideas for improvement and management of human health (Larson 2004). Thought leaders in the healthcare industry are of the opinion that better and more improved technologies should become part of the healthcare sector. Notable new technologies that will change the culture of treatment, processes and health in technological innovation devices include: Melanoma Biopsies The management of skin cancer is changing due to innovation and the way knowledge is being utilized in health facilities. This will change the culture and practice of patient handling in the course of treatment and make treating and diagnosis of the deadly skin cancer more easy. This is the goal of knowledge management (Larson 2009). According to the FDA “The most deadly form of skin cancer, melanoma, and a huge number of dangerous-looking moles are actually harmless, but has always been impossible to know for sure without an invasive surgical biopsy. Today dermatologists have new help in making the right call — a handheld tool approved by the FDA for multispectral analysis of tissue morphology. The goal is to reduce the number of patients left with unnecessary biopsy scars, with the added benefit of eliminating the cost of unnecessary procedures” (Services 2014). In healthcare, that is efficiency as a result, of planning. This will ensure the consumer who is the patient undergoes less invasive procedures with the same results and therefore enhance the satisfaction of the customer who is the patient. Electronic Aspirin The most common causes for doctors’ visits are headaches, which is a symptom of many illnesses. There are those” who suffer from migraines, cluster headaches, and other causes of chronic, excruciating head or facial pain, a headache. The system involves the permanent implant of a small nerve-stimulating device in the upper gum on the side of the head normally affected by headache. The lead tip of the implant connects with the SPG bundle, and when a patient senses the onset of a headache, he or she places a handheld remote controller on the cheek nearest the implant. The resulting signals stimulate the SPG nerves and block the pain-causing neurotransmitters” (Services 2014). This will satisfactorily treat repeat patients in an effective way (Project Management Institute 2013). Needle-Free Diabetes Care Diabetes self-care is a pain—literally. It brings the constant need to draw blood for glucose testing, the need for daily insulin shots and the heightened risk of infection from all that poking. Continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps are todays best options for automating most of the complicated daily process of blood sugar management – but they dont completely remove the need for skin pricks and shots. A new technology from Echo Therapeutics is developing technologies that would replace the poke with a patch. The technology involves a handheld electric-toothbrush-like device that removes just enough top-layer skin cells to put the patients blood chemistry within signal range of a patch-borne biosensor. The sensor collects one reading per minute and sends the data wirelessly to a remote monitor, triggering audible alarms when levels go out of the patients optimal range and tracking glucose levels over time. Sapiens Trans catheter This innovation technology will revolutionize the way medicine is done. It will reduce hospitalization periods and repeat hospitalization’s, which will make it more cost effective for patients with heart conditions and enable them use their healthcare (Martin 1997). “The Sapiens Trans catheter aortic valve is a life-saving alternative to open-heart surgery for patients who need new a new valve but cannot endure the rigors of the operation. Manufactured by Edwards Life Sciences .The Sapiens valve is guided through the femoral artery by catheter from a small incision near the grown or rib cage. The valve material is made of bovine tissue attached to a stainless-steel stent, which is expanded by inflating a small balloon when correctly placed in the valve space. A simpler procedure that promises dramatically shorter hospitalizations is bound to have a positive effect on the cost of care” (Services 2014). Conclusion The idea that “Human beings create knowledge as a result of interaction with others…… collective knowledge management can be strategically promoted through these interactions in order to enhance a firms competitiveness” is what knowledge management is all about (Horaguchi 2014). The healthcare knowledge management bests works through sharing and, the application of experiential knowledge so that improvement is made in better healthcare. This will assist healthcare consumers of the healthcare system and in the long run enable all the stakeholders plus technological programs in using and managing knowledge. This has the effect of changing the way medicine is practiced as healthcare facilities adapt to embrace innovations. This also has the impact of putting competitive pressure on healthcare facilities as they strive to attain higher customer satisfaction levels. This is because just as in tall other service provision sectors in the business world, healthcare providers will need to focus more on improving customer experience and customer engagement. This may mean making more use of mobile and internet enabled devices and other third platform technologies in order to accomplish this efficiently and quickly. References Ferraro, G., 2005. Cultural Dimension of International Business, The (5th Edition),. New York: Prentice Hall. Frame, J. D., 2003. Managing Projects in Organizations: How to Make the Best Use of Time, Techniques, and People, 3rd edition, ,. New York: Jossey-Bass. Horaguchi, H. H., 2014. Collective Knowledge Management: Foundations of International Business in the Age of Intellectual Capitalism. New York: New Horizons International Business. Kelvin Joseph Bwalya (Editor), N. M. M. (. P. M. I. M. S., 2014. Concepts and Advances in Information Knowledge Management: Studies from Developing and Emerging Economies. 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