Applying the principles of KM to effect streamlined healthcare operations: A Malaysian case study

Abstract

In 1997, Malaysia that has vowed to be a developed country with a national program called "Vision 2020" and as part of its plan to achieve this goal was to improve the health sector. There is not much time left before the year "2020" is reached, and it would appear that at the current condition the country's public healthcare is, the goal of effective and affordable healthcare will never be achieved unless significant changes are made to the plan to improve the healthcare sector. The following proposes to develop a knowledge strategy based on Zack's (The strategic management of intellectual capital and organisational knowledge, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 255-276, 2002) model to encapsulate the knowledge flow and create a strategic framework for mapping knowledge within the organization internally and externally. While unable to control economic factors that deter the Malaysian government from providing more funding to improve the facilities or medical technology of its hospitals, with knowledge management strategies such as the ones that are produced using the proposed methodologies can help achieve effectiveness and most importantly competitive advantage that is sustainable.