Knowledge and culture influences on quality of care: a mixed methods approach
Published in International Journal of Information Management, 2024
Abstract
Concerns about the quality of care provided to patients have been recently revisited in the healthcare management literature, driven by the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Quality of care is a complex measure of healthcare performance that relies on optimizing healthcare knowledge. Knowledge management initiatives and practices in healthcare remain difficult to implement and develop – presenting a managerial challenge that must coexist in a competitive environment. This paper aims to study the contribution of knowledge-management systems, knowledge-sharing behavior, and competitive culture to the quality of care provided to patients. We use a mixed-methods approach to explore a research model in a sequence of two studies. Research data comes from a sample of 323 healthcare professionals in Portuguese healthcare organizations. Quantitative results show that both knowledge-management systems and a competitive culture positively influence the quality of care. Results also show a positive influence of knowledge-sharing behavior on the quality of care. Complementarily, qualitative results reveal two configurations leading to quality of care. The first highlights the role of knowledge-management systems alone as sufficient to provide quality of care. A second configuration involves cumulative contributions of competitive culture and individual knowledge sharing, leading to quality of care. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and a model for quality of care creation is offered. Limitations are acknowledged and future work directions are presented.
Recommended citation:
Gonçalves, T., Curado, C. & Oliveira, M. (2024). Knowledge and culture influences on quality of care: a mixed methods approach.International Journal of Information Management, 77, 102788. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2024.102788