Web 2.0 - what is it? You've probably heard the term before, but you may not realize how it relates to healthcare knowledge management. Web 2.0 online tools allow anyone - regardless of location - to collaborate and "connect" with another. Here are some examples:
· Virtual social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, allow users to post profiles, upload pictures, and send messages to other users.
· Blogs, or web-based journals, let a single user share his or her thoughts with others and invite feedback.
· Online encyclopedias, such as wikis, allow users to collectively add and edit information on almost any topic.
Why Web 2.0 in Healthcare? Healthcare is about relationships, and web 2.0 tools are intended to facilitate and improve relationship building by supporting knowledge exchange.
In The World is Flat, Thomas Friedman looks at the rise of web 2.0 and speaks of a "triple convergence...a tipping point that arrived sometime around the year 2000." This "tipping point" was the result of new, easy-to-use collaboration tools, Internet search engines, and digitized information stored on the web. No where is this more relevant than in healthcare.
· We are now a connected culture.
With the Internet, most of us expect to have access to information 24/7. We decide what we want, when we need it, and through search engines, are given numerous choices on where to find it.
· Consumer-driven healthcare is not going away.
Individuals are becoming more responsible for their own health. They seek out information about disease states, preventive measures, and treatment options. Rising healthcare costs are also driving consumers to be more proactive about their health.
· We are increasingly members of virtual communities.
Regardless of the issue, disease, or condition, a world of support is just a click away. Patients can seek out other patients and survivors through online support groups. Doctors can consult with specialists in other fields of medicine. Nurses can share information and experiences through discussion boards or blogs. Managers can find their peers to share success stories and resources.
Why KM and Web 2.0? Connecting with employees, physicians, and consumers takes more than just putting information out there. You need to inspire two-way communication to build consumer and employee loyalty, reduce staff turnover, manage physician competition, and increase service line revenues.
KM At Work, Inc. can help healthcare organizations share and leverage knowledge among employees, consumers, and physicians to improve quality of care, enhance operational performance, and build a better healthcare system. Contact us if you would like to learn how to:
- Develop web-based collaboration tools that engage workplace teams and reinforce social networks, using blogs, wikis, people finders and other tools to collaborate and form ad hoc employee communities independent of time, distance, and organizational boundaries.
- Connect with your hospital’s consumers through online support groups, customized follow-up, and personalized information-sharing.
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Facilitate real-time data sharing with your physicians to reduce delays, avoid errors, and improve accuracy in patient care decision making.
Take a look at the resources on this website to learn more about how hospitals are using web 2.0 tools and learn how to engage your employees, empower your physicians, and win loyalty from your customers in today’s connected culture.
| What are Web 2.0 tools?
For the best explanation of web 2.0 tools, I refer you to these "plain English" videos developed by Lee Lefever, available through his website, www.commoncraft.com. Lee has developed a format he calls Paperworks, where he presents products and services in plain English using short, unique, and understandable videos. here are a few that cover various "web 2.0" technologies:
This video describes "social networking" in a general sense. In a business environment, social networking involves community collaboration spaces, people and expertise finders, and linked knowledge repositories, but it does give you the basic idea: http://youtube.com/watch?v=6a_KF7TYKVc
Another example of a web 2.0 tool is a "wiki" - an online collaborative document space. Click here to see his video describing the basic concept behind online knowledge sharing and collaborative document development: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dnL00TdmLY
A third web 2.0 tool for which Lee Lefever has developed a Common Craft Show production is RSS - a useful tool for creating continual contact and engagement with key customers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU
Lasly, a blog - a web log or web journal - is a public conversation starter. Let's say you want to spark conversation, or camaraderie, or controversy - start a blog and invite people to respond. It can be a great way to create relationships, with peers, with customers, and within a community. Some of the best-known blog sites are Blogger and Blogspot from Google, WordPress, and MoveableType and TypePad from 6 Apart. You might want to start a blog conversation with:
- Your community of patients and families to discuss how they would like to see healthcare become more accessible, affordable, or appropriate.(See http://runningahospital.blogspot.com – by Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconness in Boston.)
- The clinical community to discuss standards of care and how to overcome barriers that can result in errors, excess, or ignorance.(Visit http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2007/05/flea.html - by Kevin Pho, MD, a practicing primary care physician.)
- Your professional peers to discuss what managers are experimenting with, what seems to be working (or not), and why.(Look at http://www.practicevelocity.com/urgent_care/blog.html - by David Stern, MD, who runs an urgent care consulting practice.)
To blog or not to blog? Try it and see how you like it! And please let me know what you think. Email me at janet.guptill@kmatwork.com or call 314-963-7710.
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Video: Blogs in Plain English
Posted: 30 Nov 2007 02:27 AM CST
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