It is a tragic paradox of American health care: a system renowned for world-class doctors, the latest medical technologies, and miraculous treatments has shocking inadequacies when it comes to the health of the urban poor. Urban Health Knowledge Management outlines bold, workable strategies for addressing this disparity and eliminating the “knowledge islands” that so often disrupt effective service delivery. The book offers a wide-reaching global framework for organizational competence leading to improved care quality and outcomes for traditionally underserved clients in diverse, challenging settings. Its contributors understand the issues fluently, imparting both macro and micro concepts of KM with clear rationales and real-world examples as they: • Analyze key aspects of KM and explains their applicability to urban health. • Introduce the KM tools and technologies most relevant to health care delivery. • Offer evidence of the role of KM in improving clinical efficacy and executive decision-making. • Provide extended case examples of KM-based programs used in Washington, D.C. (child health), South Africa (HIV/AIDS), and Australia (health inequities). • Apply KM principles to urban health needs in developing countries. • Discuss new approaches to managing, evaluating, and improving delivery systems in the book’s “Measures and Metrics” section. Urban health professionals, as well as health care executives and administrators, will find Urban Health Knowledge Management a significant resource for bringing service delivery up to speed at a time of great advancement and change.

In an effort to integrate the thought processes of prominent scholars in the field of Knowledge Management (KM), editors I V Malhan and Shivarama Rao K have selected contributions from these scholars and encapsulated them in a single volume. Compiled primarily to make information professionals and knowledge workers aware of the growing diversity and importance of KM, the comprehensive coverage provided in Perspectives on Knowledge Management will contribute to better understanding of the evolving and significant field of KM. Consisting of five sections divided into 28 chapters, each essay was selected based on careful review of its suitability to the theme, as well as the experience and contributions to the field of KM by its author. Chapters cover a wide range of areas, such as changing management through KM, bringing green revolution with knowledge revolution, KM for good governance in developing countries, KM to improve business performance, and KM in corporate organizations. Library and information science professionals, as well as business professionals, information and communications technology professionals, agriculture extension departments, and others interested in management of information and knowledge resources will find this work extremely useful.

Pervasive healthcare is an emerging research discipline, focusing on the development and application of pervasive and ubiquitous computing technology for healthcare and wellness. Pervasive healthcare seeks to respond to a variety of pressures on healthcare systems, including the increased incidence of life-style related and chronic diseases, emerging consumerism in healthcare, need for empowering patients and relatives for self-care and management of their health, and need to provide seamless access for healthcare services, independent of time and place. Pervasive healthcare may be defined from two perspectives. First, it is the development and application of pervasive computing (or ubiquitous computing, ambient intelligence) technologies for healthcare, health and wellness management. Second, it seeks to make healthcare available to anyone, anytime, and anywhere by removing locational, time and other restraints while increasing both the coverage and quality of healthcare. This book proposes to define the emerging area of pervasive health and introduce key management principles, most especially knowledge management, its tools, techniques and technologies. In addition, the book takes a socio-technical, patient-centric approach which serves to emphasize the importance of a key triumvirate in healthcare management namely, the focus on people, process and technology. Last but not least the book discusses in detail a specific example of pervasive health, namely the potential use of a wireless technology solution in the monitoring of diabetic patients.

The book gives an insight into how the quality of health care may improve through the model of knowledge management and a multi-contingency approach to organizational design. The author assesses the relational triangle between knowledge management, organizational design, and the health system in Montenegro. Montenegrin health care system is presented through macroeconomic, managerial, and organizational-legal factors. The author focuses on the importance of knowledge management, leadership, organizational strategy, structure, culture and climate of health organizations. The author’s research covered public and private health institutions of Montenegro and included data collection from managers, union members, doctors, technicians, and finally, users of health services. A special part is dedicated to organizational challenges in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. The author explains how political agenda confronted with knowledge and profession and made Montenegro found itself in downward spiral in its fight against the pandemic. An abundance of diverse approaches to the quality of health services - from the point of view of service providers and users, decision makers and employees, management and trade union representatives, and private and public sector, makes the book stimulating and useful for professionals in health management, policy makers, patients, and the general audience.

Healthcare is noted for using leading-edge technologies and embracing new scientific discoveries to enable better cures for diseases and better means to enable early detection of most life-threatening diseases. However, the healthcare industry globally, and in the US specifically, has been extremely slow to adopt technologies that focus on better practice management and administrative needs. Presently, healthcare is grappling with many challenges both nationally and globally, including escalating costs, a move to a preventative care environment, and a technologically savvy patient with high expectations. The Handbook of Research on Optimizing Healthcare Management Techniques is a pivotal reference source that provides an extensive and rich compilation of various ICT initiatives and examines the role that ICT plays and will play in the future of healthcare delivery. It represents ways in which healthcare delivery can be made superior and the healthcare industry can begin to address the major challenges it faces in the 21st century so that ultimately the most important person in the web of healthcare players, the patient, can be confident about receiving high-quality, cost-effective healthcare. While highlighting topics such as e-health, medical informatics, and patient value, this publication explores the role of supportive technologies as well as the methods of focused, patient-centric outcomes. This book is ideally designed for doctors, nurses, hospital administrators, medical staff, hospital directors, medical boards, IT consultants, health practitioners, academicians, researchers, and students.

Close collaboration across agencies and international borders is mandatory for public health officials. A powerful tool for sharing knowledge, knowledge management (KM) can help public health professionals quickly collaborate and disseminate knowledge for solving public health issues worldwide. The latest initiatives for reforming healthcare have put the spotlight on the need for maximizing resources. In addition to providing a platform for sharing knowledge, KM can help healthcare professionals do more with less. One tool, two problems solved. Yet the sharing of knowledge and KM continues to be a major challenge in the public health field. Knowledge Management in Public Health provides a general introduction to KM and social networking in the public health arena. The book begins with coverage of basic principles, components, and methodologies as well as trends and key issues in public health. It includes ten case studies illustrating applications of KM and social networking in public health. The chapters are written by leading individuals from organizations involved in applying KM in public health worldwide. The editors and chapter authors explore the many elements of KM, delineating how and why to start such an initiative. They provide specific examples of the development and value-added benefits of KM in a variety of public health environments. Tough or quick decision making has always benefitted enormously from knowledge based on the maximum amount of pertinent information available at the time—this has not changed. What is new in the present public health environment is the need to do this more often, with fewer personnel available, and increased expectations relative to the services expected by the public. Better use of information under a KM system is well suited to serve that purpose. This book explores the many ways to use KM to anticipate potential health issues and quickly resolve key incidents when they occur.