Health Information Technology in the Knowledge Management of Health Care Organizations

The complexity of clinical decisions in health care organizations (HCOs) increases the information-processing demands, and the benefits of a Health Information Technology (HIT)-based Knowledge Management (KM). Therefore, since 1995, the health sector of Iran has gradually introduced and utilized hospital information systems, the internet, and office automation in HCOs to increase the efficiency of health care services. Studies show that the status of information management and knowledge in HCOs of Iran is inappropriate.

The current study evaluated whether the current status of HIT and its application in the HCOs are in line with KM goals.

The study was performed on 550 staff members of hospitals affiliated to Semnan university of medical sciences in 2014. A researcher made questionnaire was developed. All medical and non-medical staff members were included in this study.

According to the obtained results 15% of the subjects highly used clinical information systems for information exchange inside their institution, 35.5% somewhat used electronic reports, and in some subjects significant relationship was found between demographic background and attitude (P < 0.05).

It was concluded that HCOs need an HIT clearly designed with KM and they have to recognize where knowledge is resided, when designing strategies to warrant that knowledge is being created and transferred in the best way and to the right persons. Otherwise, the HCOs do not use an efficiency-oriented HIT