In today’s healthcare industry, we need all the help we can get. COVID-19 continues to cause sickness and even death among the population, filling hospitals and overwhelming medical staff. There aren’t enough professionals to comfortably manage the situation or stem the tide of demand on the horizon as the population continues to age up.

Fortunately, Knowledge Management (KM) is here to help the medical industry handle extreme levels of demand by collating, organizing, and disseminating important public health information. As a result, we can apply practical solutions and insights in dealing with even the most disastrous of situations.

By collecting data, making care more accessible, and empowering health research, KM brings new levels of practicality and efficiency to healthcare today. Here are the important details.

Collecting Healthcare Data

The COVID-19 response has been an exercise in adapting KM systems to produce better health outcomes. In fact, much of the response has stemmed from the use of these tools in collecting healthcare data regarding the coronavirus and its spread. Public health experts have used KM frameworks to evaluate everything from exposure data to the pressure on front-line workers. From there, they can cultivate unique solutions.

Knowledge Management is integral to gathering the kind of data needed for any large-scale health response. Epidemiologists, for instance, require comprehensive access to positive tests, spread information, and rising numbers. KM systems collate this information in a singular dashboard, providing epidemiologists with the insights they need to structure intuitive next steps that protect public health.

In this fashion, KM is critical to a practical health approach. After all, the ability to manage knowledge like data makes all the difference when formulating an effective response to emergencies like a global pandemic. Without this transparent and comprehensive view, public health officials would be completely at a loss for how to implement policies that truly make a difference, instead forced to rely only on hearsay.

In turn, maintaining a comprehensive center of valuable data gives health providers the means to make healthcare more accessible. This is possible through advancing technology and the marketplace of valuable data.

Making Care More Accessible

KM makes healthcare more accessible by democratizing insights for a greater user base. 97% of Americans have smartphones and this massive demographic means that data and knowledge can be cultivated where they are most helpful, like when it comes to emergency care solutions.

For instance, medical smartphone IDs are applications that make important healthcare metrics available to first responders even if you are unconscious. The medical professional simply has to push a button or scan your wearable device to get info like your name, blood type, known allergies, and emergency contact information. This is, of course, if you have allowed your device to offer such information and the providers are savvy enough or have been trained to look for it.

Medical smartphone IDs are just one of the many ways medical knowledge has become more accessible in the situations in which it is most needed. This has life-saving potential, as the ability to quickly identify a patient and pull up their conditions and risk factors could make the difference in first-response care.

But emergencies aren’t the only times KM makes care more accessible. The entire telehealth industry—popularized during the COVID-19 pandemic—exists because care providers can streamline their knowledge for easy access when it comes to treating patients over the web. This means active databases in which patient identity can be quickly and accurately verified alongside all their treatment history.

KM is revolutionizing the healthcare industry through practical and accessible applications like telehealth. In turn, care providers now have access to more medical data than ever before, which further empowers both knowledge and care solutions.

Empowering Research

Last but far from least, Knowledge Management plays an essential role in empowering research. This is because data comes with the territory of accessible care. Now, care professionals are simply applying this available data into more powerful information systems, equipped with AI analytics and cybersecurity protections.

Little has disrupted the future of KM quite like these tools. With AI, for instance, health researchers can scan and connect thousands of data points in an instant. No longer will experts have to manually review diagnostic imaging or rely on invasive visits to gain insights about a patient. Instead, AI applied to big data sets can pull out connections in symptoms, risk factors, and avenues for treatment.

This means that research can now be done on an unprecedented scale, as well. All a smart KM system has to do is de-identify medical data to ensure HIPAA protocol is maintained, then analytics can be applied to health-related problems. Imagine the knowledge that can be cultivated through well-maintained medical databases. With information assembled across a global population, understanding of medical conditions can be revolutionized.

Already, KM systems are being applied in the effort to cure diseases and save lives. One AI model even outperformed a radiologist when it came to diagnosing breast cancer. With the power and potential of effective management of medical knowledge, we can implement life-saving solutions for all kinds of diseases. It all starts with the knowledge needed to enhance performance.

In today’s healthcare industry, Knowledge Management is both practical and effective. In the future, these features will only empower better care and more accessible treatment.

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Knowledge management is by far one of the most important tools in the inventory of a successful business. In other words, having a knowledge management strategy can directly impact the way your business functions and how well it performs in different aspects.

However, there’s also a different side to knowledge management. If used incorrectly, knowledge management can be harmful to your business.

Read on to find out about the successes and failures of knowledge management and how you can use it in your own business.

What Is Knowledge Management?

At its core, knowledge management is an approach to organizing and sharing knowledge within an organization or company. It’s a highly systematic approach that helps you convert expertise into value within your business. A knowledge management system (known as KMS) is a tool that will be useful to businesses of all types and sizes, no matter what your industry or niche is.

Knowledge management might seem like a fairly recent invention, but it actually has its roots in the 1980s. In fact, the term itself was coined in 1987. Management consultants were the pioneers of knowledge management at the time as they realized how important capturing, organizing, and sharing knowledge within an organization was. When businesses started transitioning to a more digital-based setup, knowledge management gained more traction.

To put it simply, businesses realized that the new tech they were integrating into their systems could be used to connect different departments as well as new and veteran employees. By using databases, wikis, and intranets among other things, businesses were able to share knowledge and information easier to build better business infrastructure.

But even though knowledge management might seem like a solution to all of your business problems, it’s not that simple. There are many challenges to using knowledge management and many ways how everything could go wrong if you use knowledge management incorrectly.

Successes of Knowledge Management

Obviously, it’s worth starting from the successes or advantages of knowledge management. Here are just a few major ones:

• Better Organization: First and foremost, knowledge management can help you get better organization within your business, both in terms of processes and the way you manage data. It will be easier to find and recycle or reuse resources and information which will lead you to…
• Structured Business Processes: More relevant information and resources will help you create better products and services and maybe even outperform your competitors.
• Informed Decision-Making: By using your knowledge correctly, you can perform more informed decision-making. This will lead you to develop a better strategy for your business.
• Faster Problem-Solving: By making informed decisions, you can solve problems much faster. In other words, you can increase productivity as well as operational efficiency of your teams and individual employees.
• Easier Sharing of Expertise: Knowledge management allows you to share expertise easier between your employees. This will help them grow and develop while fully utilizing your intellectual capital.
• More Innovation: Using knowledge management means using all the skills, resources, and information you have which can indirectly lead to more innovation in your business. Besides, you could even predict market trends before your competitors.
• Improved Communication: As you share knowledge within your business, you will improve communication and collaboration between your different departments. This can diversify the opinions you get in discussions and can lead you to even better decision-making (and increased profitability).

Whether you want to improve your email marketing by helping your customer service and marketing departments work closer or you want to make your onboarding process for new employees run smoother, knowledge management could be the tool you need. That being said, there are still some things to consider before you get started.

Failures of Knowledge Management

Undeniably, knowledge management has many benefits, but it also has failures or disadvantages you shouldn’t forget about. Here are some major issues you can encounter:

• Aligning Knowledge Management with Business Strategy: Perhaps the biggest challenge for any business when getting started with knowledge management is trying to align it with your existing business strategy. You already have goals and objectives which could be difficult to pursue when you set knowledge management aims that may go counter to them. This is why it is important to consider your existing strategy before you start thinking about objectives for your knowledge management plan.
• Difficulty Finding Information and Resources: Another major challenge on your way will be actually finding information and resources. It may sound easy at first, but you will be surprised just how much knowledge and expertise within your business is taken for granted or even hidden from you. This knowledge is valuable and needs to be detected which is why you need to put together a clear set of rules and guidelines for capturing, recording, and sharing knowledge within your business.
• Absence of Efficient Knowledge Capturing Methods: To use knowledge management effectively, you will need to define the methods you will use to capture the said knowledge. It’s not enough to simply find it – you should also be able to capture it, store it, process it, analyze it, and share it. To do this, you will need to consider the budget, tools, and training necessary to execute your knowledge management strategy.
• Choosing and Integrating Knowledge Management Tech: One challenge you might not expect is choosing and integrating appropriate knowledge management tech. As mentioned above, you will need to have the right tools to execute your knowledge management strategy. If you have a tight budget, you will need to carefully consider it before you decide on any particular tech you choose to use for your knowledge management.
• Motivating Employees to Use Knowledge Management: While you might not expect it, you might get some pushback from your employees when you start trying to integrate knowledge management into your company. This is why you need to explain why your business needs knowledge management and then start nurturing a corporate culture that values knowledge above all else.

Final Thoughts

To sum up, knowledge management definitely has many benefits, but it needs to be applied correctly. If you misuse knowledge management, it could end up harming your business instead of helping it succeed. Therefore, use the tips in this article to aid you with your knowledge management strategy.

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In an age that is ushering in a more tech-focused society, smart cities are becoming standout initiatives for both governments and private sectors worldwide. In an effort to beautify cities, increase their accessibility, and improve general resources and sustainability in urbanized territories, cities are combining information and communication technology (ICT) with data infrastructure.

The ideal smart city, according to the IMD Smart City Index, balances “economic and technological aspects with humane dimensions.” Leading the field here on a global scale is Singapore, closely followed by Zurich and Oslo. Following the success of these cities, there is much to be gleaned from their data – and that is where the true benefit of knowledge management comes into play.

The Scope of Knowledge Management

But first, what is knowledge management? Knowledge management, as defined here by Zach Wahl, President and CEO of Enterprise Knowledge, is a process that “involves the people, process, culture, and enabling technologies necessary to capture, manage, share, and find information.” In community or team setting, this allows leaders to accurately assess public perception, address immediate needs, and make long-term predictions.

Because there is still room for growth in the arena of creating smart cities, the functionality of knowledge management works two-fold. On one hand, it allows local government units to efficiently approach the transition into a fully smart city via an expansive database. Currently, LGUs are able to assess the current state of their tech capabilities and accessibility then determine their strategy. As they start implementing initiatives based on this roadmap, any results from these can be studied and then added back to centralized database. This continuous chain reaction can be repeated an infinite number of times, so any new KM strategies will always be an enhanced version of its predecessor and so on.

Potential Applications in a Smart City

Effectively using knowledge management can greatly increase the success rate for developing smart cities and ensuring a smoother adoption. To further elaborate on the possibility of evolving knowledge management in smart cities let’s look at smart mobility. In a post on smart mobility by Verizon Connect, it states that it is an intelligent transport and mobility network, which is a core part of future smart city design. This is because of the influx in transportation infrastructure, on-demand ride sharing services, and shifts in consumer behavior. With the right data allocation and insight collection from knowledge management, a smart mobility ecosystem can be created in a timely manner. This can avoid the riskier pitfalls of progress, like increased pollution and congestion.

Remember, the core features of a smart city are its accessibility, connectivity, and sustainability. This is how it creates one big ecosystem that responds to its citizens and its resources seamlessly. By using knowledge management at their disposal, both governments and major players in the private sector can improve the quality of life for communities by promoting alternative modes of travel and developing infrastructure that supports these new modes, such as protected bicycle lanes.

A study featured in the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC) reveals that context-appropriate innovations have seen the most success in different world regions shifting to smart cities. For instance, rather than implementing a generic sustainability plan, region-specific initiatives determined from knowledge management are more successful.

For instance, in countries suffering from urban air pollution and lack of safety in public spaces, such as India, the most pressing efforts are emissions and traffic. In fact, a Dalberg Advisors report in 2021 shows that poor air quality alone is a far-reaching issue that costs the country $95 billion annually. In response to these crises, data studies revealed that providing electric vehicles to combat carbon emissions, creating parking management systems to answer lack of parking and congested roads, and providing mobile apps to make public transportation payments and queuing more efficient were the most relevant solutions. The timelier and more personal the strategy, the more likely that initiatives will be supported and effective in building a smart city.

With a well-rounded approach, the application of knowledge management can also extend to health and social networks for emerging urban settings. With effective data handling, budget allocation, and consistent implementation, creating a truly smart city is a feasible reality for any region.

As information and its storage gets bigger in structure with passage of time, it is important to maintain it somewhere. Knowledge is vast in any sector, any industry and is easy to access only when managed properly. One way to maintain knowledge for any industry is to use knowledge management systems.

Knowledge management systems have been developed in such a way it helps in managing and storing the documentation in a systematic manner.Knowledge management is considered one of the sophisticated disciplines that should be central to a company, as it interconnects  the organization. 

What is Knowledge Management?

Knowledge Management is a process where value is derived from knowledge by reframing, structuring, and storing data held within the organization. Knowledge Management system helps the present employees to become more efficient in their respective jobs. 

It has a multidisciplinary approach which is mostly used in aiming to achieve objectives through the best potential use of knowledge. The primary aim of Knowledge Management   is to enhance the performance and to make a strategic approach towards the goals

Why Is Knowledge Management Important?

Knowledge management is  important to store information organizations utilize  across departments of the organization. Knowledge Management as a function deals with both explicit and tacit knowledge.

Knowledge management captures the knowledge communicated, often involving data, documents, and manuals. The knowledge management system aims at preventing the knowledge from being lost or forgotten and focuses on embedding knowledge into the company culture to encourage transparency and collaboration.

Following are how to consider knowledge management system  and  areas where it can help your organisation :

Managing the goals: Knowledge base software goals might involve the reduction of support costs, the increase in NPS scores, the deflection of contact for contact centers, or improvement of internal communication. Whatever the goals are, it is important to set them with the appropriate people who are involved in monitoring them, make them SMART, and adjust through time if necessary.

Knowledge management is considered a valuable investment, so its important goals are set initially and you have the tools in place to measure the results frequently throughout the knowledge management process. This prevents a lack of control over the discipline and therefore helps you get the most out of it and quicker.

Choosing  Knowledge Management Software: Knowledge management software is an essential element of knowledge management as opposed to a best practice. Without knowledge management software, the discipline could not function. We know that knowledge management is key for businesses that wish to improve control, efficiency, and customer satisfaction and that this is achieved by utilizing knowledge management software.

But, what is the best way to get employees to embrace knowledge management software? Choose a tool that is easy to use. This is reinforced by Gartner, who suggests you can “empower employees by providing easy-to-use powerful technologies” that positively impact employee engagement and subsequently, customer experience.

Knowledge as an asset: Knowledge has a measurable monetary value. In companies where knowledge accumulates only in employees’ heads and across disconnected systems, they face increased operational and opportunity costs by not leveraging the value of shared knowledge.

Therefore, it’s important to communicate the idea that knowledge is more than an entity in one’s head, but to a business, in particular, a valuable asset. Once employees associate knowledge with other assets, like people, cash, brand, and customers, they begin to understand its importance. Similar to how these assets have their own processes, teams, and specialist software, so does knowledge.

Employers need to be considered: Many knowledge management goals are surrounded with knowledge management to better serve employees. When executed well, it is considered a valuable tool that makes employee’s jobs easier, getting more done with fewer obstacles in the way it can even help them reach targets more efficiently.

Find out what you’re struggling with. Are silos of  knowledge or information hubs becoming a problem for them? Are mundane routine questions preventing them from resolving complex queries? Or are customer satisfaction scores below target?

Your employees are one of your main users when it comes to knowledge management, so consider their needs and make decisions based on this. For example, if siloed knowledge or information ‘hubs’ are a pain point, assign an executive who knows how to tackle such a problem.

What are the 6 Knowledge Management Best Practices?

1.Strategizing the process:  Before taking any further action, it's important to plan the process with proper strategies and take the necessary steps to convert the process into actions. Strategizing is crucial in planning. Strategizing the plan so that the program runs without any discrepancies. Also, one should ensure that it remains employee-centric.

2. Conducting training sessions: Training sessions are beneficial in the knowledge management system as it keeps productivity and efficiency increasing. The starting session for employees will be conducted through :

One-on-one coaching sessions

Company workshops

Online sessions (where live and interactive questions & answers sessions help avoid confusion.)

3. Developing learning environments: Developing a learning environment is a never-ending process And to keep up with the evolving world, it has become imperative that you keep yourself updated and develop new skills. The same applies to your organization and its employees. They are always in constant need to update themselves to bring the best out of them.

One of the best practices of knowledge management is to engage your employees in learning while working without too much stress or time-taking burden. These can be short from trivia that can be given through the knowledge management system.

4.Online forums and intranet: Every organization has its social platform. Here discussions happen often and sharing of relevant information occurs. This helps the employees to stay connected with each other. And learn about new developments.

As a manager, you can add a section allowing access to vital information. This will help your employees to gain more knowledge about the necessary changes. This fosters transparency and allows employees to see the bigger picture.

5.Reduce software subscription:  Knowledge Management is one of the  trend making waves for the coming year as companies eliminate duplicate software they don’t need. The need to save more money in challenging times is always on the radar. Eliminating wasteful spending on software that doesn’t really add anything to knowledge management should become a key goal.

Knowledge management tools help reduce the flow of apps that are perhaps taking too much work and money to maintain.The knowledge management system also  makes it easy to share knowledge and automate workflows by integrating with your most important day-to-day tools.

6. Guiding and documentation: One  of the effective ways to transfer knowledge is through text-based knowledge management. It can include guides, case studies, and documentation. It enables-

Storage of any information in any mode

Easy navigating and finding information 

Online sharing 

More integrated communication: Being able to communicate ideas among employees is essential when collaboration occurs on critical projects. A knowledge base is the only way to really enhance collaboration, but it requires integrating as many apps as possible.

Finding a platform that can integrate every business app available today adds to this improved web of communication. Knowledge management systems which have advanced software abilities can connect or integrate with CRM apps as well.

The use of tacit knowledge: Another popular Knowledge Management trend is tacit knowledge or sharing the knowledge of experts within your company. Those employees with industry knowledge you valued so much might have moved on to another job recently. Rather than all that knowledge of theirs going with them, the new trend is to capture that knowledge before they leave.

Even if you still have some of those employees working for you, getting their knowledge into some kind of useful platform is invaluable for new hires. The trend is to use a platform to store this knowledge and then supply it to employees through a simple answer format.

Advanced use of artificial intelligence: Undoubtedly, you have heard a lot about AI in the workplace. While you may think AI still has limitations, it has continued to evolve exponentially in just the last few years.

Some knowledge management tools have advanced AI. This includes the use of machine learning to create tools like AI-powered chatbots to pass on information when needed. Advanced AI and machine learning. The more a chatbot absorbs information from those asking questions, the smarter it becomes in providing information later.

Conclusion: 

The crucial moment is when to apply an application of knowledge management is applied. The major goal of every organization is to become more effective and more productive. The process can become extensive with time as it needs to be updated with the latest developments. But, once you get the gist of it, it will become beneficial for your organization in the long run.

Knowledge management is a process that involves the definition, retention, structuring, and sharing of employee’s knowledge and experience within an organization. The primary goal of knowledge management within the organization is to retain knowledge in the organization and also improve the organization’s efficiency. 

Many times, knowledge management refers to training and learning the employees or customers of an organization. It involves a cycle in which knowledge is created, shared, structured, and audited so that the effectiveness of the collective knowledge in the organization is maximized. 

Knowledge management can completely transform the way an organization operates and can bring about continuous improvement. This is why it’s crucial for organizations. It is also a good prospect for students looking for internship opportunities. 

Why knowledge management is important

There are many reasons why organizations find knowledge management necessary. A primary reason is that it increases the efficiency of decision-making within an organization. 

Organizations want to ensure that all their employees can access the overall expertise that is held in the organization. This is why they built an intelligent workforce that can quickly make informed decisions to benefit the company. 

It is also effortless to foster innovation within an organization with knowledge management. This will ensure that your customers benefit more from your organization as your employees offer the best practices. It also reduces employee turnover drastically. 

Knowledge management is becoming increasingly important. With competition becoming stiffer in the marketplace, companies try to stay up and ahead by building their organization flexibly and intelligently. Every organization understands the importance of spotting problems from afar and providing appropriate innovations and information. 

According to managers at a paper writing service review, some of the reasons why companies start their knowledge management process are:

●      An acquisition or merger may bring about the need to codify knowledge and encourage different teams to share their knowledge and expertise. 

●      Key employees could be retiring, and this will raise the need to gain and retain their knowledge and expertise in others.

●      A recruitment drive could show that it is important to use knowledge management to help with training the new employees. 

Students’ Internship 

Students who take up internship positions in knowledge management will provide support for the numerous knowledge management projects already in process. As stated in some professional writing services, they will also support implementing new activities with the guidance of a Senior Program Associate. These interns will also help the opportunities for internal learning so that staff can ensure they are updated with current literature and can access both external and internal resources. They will also participate actively in the different knowledge-sharing groups, such as communities of practice. 

Some responsibilities of knowledge management students interns

Knowledge management cuts across all industries, and the intern’s responsibility is different across the sectors. For students looking to go into the health industry, the knowledge management interns will be responsible for the following:

●      Scanning and analyzing different kinds of literature that are relevant to the company they are interning at. They will share the analysis and significant findings with the programmatic, technical, and clinical staff. They are also responsible for writing the programmatic implications and summaries of results from new research. 

●      They are providing the support needed for regular journal clubs. According to custom essay writing, this includes selecting relevant articles, facilitating conversations, and developing questions to be discussed. 

●      They are responsible for Coordinating knowledge management working groups, communities of practice, and meeting other groups in the organization. 

●      They also create the catalogs and archives for technical publications, evaluate & research internal knowledge products, reports, and other things according to its standard. 

●      They also fulfill other assignments or duties that are assigned to them. 

Student learning objectives

Similar to the responsibilities for student interns, their learning objectives in knowledge management would vary from one industry to the other. In some cases, it could vary between different organizations based on the setup of each organization. For students interning in the healthcare industry, here are some of the learning objectives. 

●      To get a good understanding of literature that is relevant to

●      Essential topics such as maternal health, family planning, reproductive health, etc. 

●      To get a good experience of some of the challenges that affect institutional learning and the strategies deployed to combat these challenges. 

●      To hone your writing skills to reach and be able to communicate with different groups of audiences effectively.

●      To get first-hand practical experience and knowledge at the health organization and deepen their coordination and collaboration skills within the organization and beyond. 

Conclusion 

Knowledge management is vital within an organization to acquire, retain, and share knowledge. It also works across all industries, so students have the leeway to do their internship in knowledge management irrespective of their study. This article already discusses some of the things that you should know about knowledge management in 2021. 

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