Making explicit the implicit knowledge assets in healthcare: the case of multidisciplinary teams in care and cure environments

Research in Australia and the United States offers evidence of sophisticated, implicit, knowledge assets in two diverse healthcare environments, care and cure. Two case studies representing these two distinct archetypal environments are presented (a palliative care organization in Australia and a spinal care unit in the United States); both are based around multidisciplinary service delivery and demonstrate the existence of implicit knowledge assets. Yet the full potential of these knowledge assets is not being realized. A Knowledge Management Infrastructure model is proffered as a way of making explicit the elements of these knowledge assets in both case studies. In addition, this model provides a systematic and robust approach to structuring the conceptualization of knowledge assets across a range of healthcare environments.