Knowledge management: The hidden power behind network-centric healthcare

The adoption and diffusion of e-health and the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in healthcare is being heralded as the panacea with both European and US governments making e-health a priority on their agendas. In this context, a model of network centric healthcare operations has been proffered as the best way to maximize the benefits of ICT use in healthcare as well as to facilitate the rapid sharing of information and effective knowledge building required for the development of coherent objectives and their subsequent attainment in order that the full benefits of e-health can be realized. Integral to the success and sustainability of such a model is the need to embrace the tools and techniques of Knowledge Management (KM). In this paper, we discuss the critical role of KM in such a context.