Inter-professional Intra-clinic knowledge sharing and management as means to increased intra-clinic patient referrals

Bøsterud, M (2017) Inter-professional Intra-clinic knowledge sharing and management as means to increased intra-clinic patient referrals. Doctor of Business Administration thesis, University of Liverpool.

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Abstract

The thesis explores knowledge sharing and patient referrals in a Norwegian multi-professional health services clinic. The clinic includes the professions of chiropractic, acupuncture, physiotherapy, osteopathy and massage therapy, and contains low levels of intra-clinic inter-professional patient referrals among the therapists. The aim of the research project was to investigate whether increased inter-actor professional knowledge sharing among the clinic therapists would lead to augmented levels of intra-clinic inter-professional patient referral rates. The research aims were mainly explored within the academic realm of knowledge management and social identity theory. The research project engaged all the involved therapists in the clinic, and comprised several practical interventions in the organisation, including one-to-one interviews and group sessions. The project represents an initial part of an ongoing organisational process, where the iterative aspects of action learning is practised by way of continued interventions and management initiatives. The research evidenced that the organisation contained several barriers to knowledge sharing, and that these were connected to perceptions of group identity and belonging, partially delineated along conventional professional demarcations. The research further revealed several useful means to enhance knowledge sharing among the therapists in the form of knowledge artefacts, which contributed to enhanced sense of group belonging among the partakers, furthering their knowledge sharing impulse. It was further demonstrated that the enhanced knowledge sharing that resulted from the organisational interventions and new sense of group belonging led to augmented levels of intra-clinic inter-professional patient referrals. The research will inform future practice by way of instigating future knowledge sharing initiatives in the health clinic. Key words: Appreciative inquiry; knowledge management; social identity theory; knowledge artefacts.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctor of Business Administration)
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	14 Dec 2017 11:24
Last Modified:	16 Jan 2024 17:21
DOI:	10.17638/03009306
Supervisors:	Macpherson, A ORCID: 0000-0002-6172-3339 Klobas, J
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3009306