Knowledge Management and Benchmarking for Health Care System Development Activities

Knowledge management (KM) has a central role in developing health care services both at the organization and at the system level. Benchmarking can be used as a tool in KM especially for knowledge creation and acquisition, but also for knowledge sharing phases of KM process. In the end, the value created by benchmarking is still measured in the knowledge utilization phase. In all of these KM process phases there can be several challenges for successful benchmarking. In this paper, the benefits and challenges of benchmarking as a tool for KM is studied through two empirical, qualitative case studies from the Finnish health care system. Empirical findings suggest that more effective benchmarking can be achieved by strengthening strategy orientation and systematic approach. Strategy-driven benchmark practices ensure that benchmarking is targeted correctly. In turn, systematic approach can be increased through well-planned knowledge acquisition, sharing and documentation, and by harnessing operations in networks as a goal-oriented part of the development of the health care organizations’ competencies and operations.