The impact of knowledge on e-health: a systematic literature review of the advanced systems

Abstract

Purpose

Economists have recognized knowledge management as a promising tool regarding all aspects of the economy, including health care. The volume of biomedical literature is currently growing at an exponential rate, and the vast number of studies makes it extremely difficult for researchers to keep up with new developments in their research areas. Therefore, the efficient management of huge amounts of data and the accuracy of the knowledge thus obtained are vital concerns. Electronic health (e-health) has emerged as a useful concept to provide data for solo self-care management. Although health care is a common topic on the internet, patients rarely share their health care-related knowledge on social media. This study aims to examine the impact of knowledge on e-health.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper complies with the methodological requirements of systematic literature reviews. The present paper has investigated the newest systems and studied their practical techniques in detail. The effects of knowledge on e-health have been categorized into major groups.

Findings

The outcomes indicate that the capabilities of information and communication technology certainly promote the exchange of knowledge within clinics. The results also show that institutional architectures have significant impacts on knowledge-sharing exercises, significantly improving patient safety.

Practical implications

These findings will be essential in the understanding of the interplay among various signals in theory and in the understanding of patients’ choice in the e-health community in practice. The results have implications for existing health management and e-health literature. The present paper will help policymakers, health-care executives and project managers to effectively set their operations and make them maintainable, prevent unpredicted obstacles and better allocate their resources. Overall, the results of this paper will guide researchers who are working in the field of e-health.

Originality/value

E-health attempts have mostly focused on answering questions using context-specific technical answers, regardless of the key role of knowledge resources. The present paper has provided an innovative viewpoint on how knowledge resources and knowledge-sharing initiatives may have a role in the innovative work behaviors shown by health-care employees. As noted before, there have been only a few studies regarding the effects of knowledge on health care, so the present paper contributes to the previous literature, particularly about e-health.

Citation

Hosseinzadeh, M., Ahmed, O.H., Ehsani, A., Ahmed, A.M., Hama, H.K. and Vo, B. (2021), "The impact of knowledge on e-health: a systematic literature review of the advanced systems", Kybernetes, Vol. 50 No. 5, pp. 1506-1520. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-12-2019-0803