ABSTRACT
At the individual and organizational level, tacit knowledge sharing can support high-quality care. Hospitals seeking to routinely capture and use tacit knowledge could enhance the high reliability characteristics associated with top-performing teams and health systems. To date, this capacity has not been identified and cultivated as a mechanism to improve quality, enhance patient centeredness, and reduce patient harm and second victim stress. For this awareness to develop, healthcare organizations will need to first develop consensus on the value of tacit knowledge sharing. Yet once tacit knowledge was defined and its relationship to high-quality care articulated, interviewees recognized the potential value and understood how robust tacit knowledge sharing initiatives could enhance quality improvement. Further, interviewees also acknowledged the connection between tacit-knowledge sharing and the principles of high reliability organizations, which serve as a catalyst to many successful organizational improvement efforts.
