The Significance of Knowledge Management in Improving the Quality of Health Care in the Public Sector in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The research aims to look at the significance of knowledge management in improving the quality of healthcare in the public health facilities. The research looks at the effect of knowledge management process on reducing new-born mortality, improving retention of patients on ART in health facilities and whether the use of information technology and availability of adequate human capital improves the number of pregnant women booking for antenatal care (ANC) and access to child immunisation. Knowledge management in health care is relatively new and this research provides empirical evidence of the relationship between knowledge management and the quality of healthcare measured by: new-born mortality, retention of women in ANC, retention of patients on ART, and access to immunisation by children. Data was collected through questionnaires distributed to randomly selected nurses in selected health facilities. The number of nurses selected was proportionately distributed across the seven districts in Manicaland based on the total number of nurses per district.  Data analysis revealed that there is evidence of knowledge management practices in health facilities. However, the results show that knowledge management does not have an impact on reducing mortality of new-born babies and information technology does not have an effect on the retention of pregnant women on ANC. When it comes to making sure that the HIV positive patients remain on ART, the results show that the knowledge management process affects the retention of patients on ART. Human capital has an impact on access to immunisation by children. These findings show that healthcare is a complex field where knowledge management implementation can affect some of the components of the healthcare and not all of them as the different components of the healthcare are managed differently. An effective knowledge management system should address the acquisition, sharing and utilisation of knowledge within the health sector.

Keywords: Knowledge Management, healthcare, health facilities, quality