E-health modelling for decision support: Can technology turn us all into experts?

Knowledge and the use of knowledge is increasingly important for business. As the world moves towards economies based on professional expertise and knowledge workers there is increasing pressure to make best use of available resources. Healthcare is no exception, and as new research becomes increasingly available healthcare professionals are reliant on their experience to identify robust evidence on which to base treatment decisions. This paper describes a research project carried out within a healthcare organization to identify professional knowledge and disseminate this throughout the organization. The paper describes the creation and testing of a conceptual model to locate and share knowledge and the development of an e-health system based on this model to support healthcare professionals.