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It is with pleasure that I introduce the December edition of Health Care and Informatics Review Online. This month we have the opportunity, for the second year running, to present an edition developed from papers submitted by participants in the health knowledge management course from the School of Population Health at The University of Auckland in New Zealand. Course participants all hold senior positions in the health service in New Zealand and have an active interest in innovative technology applications in health.
The health sector in New Zealand is highly technology enabled and has embraced information systems (IS) for the support of clinical care delivery to such an extent that it recognised internationally as a world leader in this field.
The knowledge management course at The University of Auckland aims to assist participants to develop an ability to analyse the role and dynamics of knowledge in the working environment in the health sector, and to develop aspects of knowledge infrastructure. As such it will serve to further advance New Zealand’s position internationally.
The edition opens with a guest editorial from Karen Day, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand and Dr Martin Orr, Principle Convenor of the course and Senior Lecturer in Health Knowledge Management, Section of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
Day and Orr highlight that the course provides a unique opportunity for participants to share their knowledge and their use of knowledge management, thus extending their capacity to act as part of a wider community of practice. In their words:
The value of health knowledge management lies not so much in the databases we can develop to contain such information, as much as in the communities of practice in which we share the information… Such communities of practice influence our clinical, management and educational practice in terms of better outcomes for our patients and communities.
The fours papers presented in this edition are broad reaching in their content, again reflecting the widespread innovation in the application of technology in the health sector in New Zealand. However, all papers included refer to IS based knowledge management projects that can be viewed as having an ultimate aim of providing higher quality and more effective and efficient health care.
The use of a cultural formulation template (the Matalafi matrix) within an electronic health record to facilitate informed diagnosis and treatment planning by mental health practitioners is the subject of the paper from Kirkpatrick Mariner, Service Manager, Pacific Mental Health and Addictions Service, Waitemata District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand. Mariner notes that the inclusion of the template within the electronic information system has also prompted opportunities for practitioners to share information and has encouraged collaboration between the cultural arm and the clinical arms of the service.
Letitia O’Dwyer, Clinical Marketing Manager, Roche Diagnostics, Auckland, New Zealand presents a proposal for the application of a horizon-scanning system to establish an innovative New Zealand centralised database to facilitate the sharing of knowledge about emerging healthcare technologies. The aim of such an approach is to improve the ability of the New Zealand health care system to anticipate future diagnostic procedures, and to assist decision-makers in assessing those emerging health technologies and forecasting how they will affect the New Zealand population.
The knowledge management approach to enhancing health care presented by Alexandra Muthu, Programme Manager for the National Fatigue Management & Wellness Programme, Clinical Education & Training Unit, Auckland District Health Board, Auckland New Zealand is the use of an online Fatigue Management and Wellness Programme (FMWP) for New Zealand doctors. The FMWP aims to teach doctors how to increase their capacity to best handle their working conditions and to provide them with support and health care when necessary. Knowledge management frameworks have provided the tools to develop an appropriate and supported nationwide FMWP that will allow fatigue and its contributors to be recognised and managed before negative consequences for the doctor, the workplace and the patient occur.
Lastly, the contribution from Sherri Ferris, Auckland District Health Board, Auckland, New Zealand, reviews the introduction of an electronic clinical record system across separate services within Auckland District Health Board at Auckland Hospital and the role that a community of practice played in ensuring that the introduction succeeded. The opportunity for representatives from the various services currently using the electronic clinical record system to communicate their experiences to the wider community has improved communication through the region, in particular across organisational boundaries. The resulting ability to access patient information across the region is expected to ultimately result in better patient management.
