**6. Conclusions**

**5. Discussion**

plans and experience-based planning [20].

*Operations Management - Emerging Trend in the Digital Era*

Different professionals have roles and work with management, creation, and sharing of knowledge within the planning of production and capacity, as part of the operations at the hospital. A complete and overall articulated architecture for this work would be fruitful. As each department now has its own way of how to conduct the planning and knowledge work, a common architecture could better support the collaboration and coordination between departments. Obviously, different departments have their own characteristics that should be considered, but an architectural base could be designed and implemented at the hospital. The departments could then adapt the architecture to the extent that is needed at each department or health-care service unit based on their specific requirements. KM and OM could in this way be smoother and more effective, and better support the overall processes that support health-care work. Even though KM processes in operations is examined in the literature, see for example Fugate, et al. [18], the infrastructure for KM in health care does not seem to be fully analyzed in existing research, except in studies related to infrastructure for health-care systems and telecommunication, see for example Von Lubitz, Patricelli and Palma [41]. KM depends on the availability of both work routines and staff, to have defined processes that could fit into the knowledge-based architecture. Now, there are variations in the planning among the different departments from ad hoc-based and resource-based KM and OM to fixed

With an appropriate KM architecture in place, the OM can be smoother and more effective, as the planning of resources and capacity can be adjusted closer in time to when different health-care processes are conducted, and more detailed and correct information can be used to plan the capacity. This will create conditions for more flexibility and give better compliance between supply and demand of health care [7]. It is also important to establish routines for learning and knowledge creation within and between the departments and the health-care service units. The emphasis on cooperation, collaboration interaction, and work within groups of

It will be challenging to design and implement an overall infrastructure that could function as a basis for making changes in the learning and knowledge creation processes and support the OM. Changing the planning from a scheduling perspective, to a perspective based on the patients', often emergent, needs of health care, requires an OM based on "just-in-time." This also requires coordinated planning on a horizontal level, where knowledge can be integrated and shared, in order to plan a smooth overall health care. The managers, with the responsibility for planning and managing the health care, need to have the right information and knowledge and access to staff with competence and experience in production planning in order to design the health-care processes and related activities in detail. The practical and

• Formal structures for learning and knowledge creation could save resources

• Documenting follow-ups could improve the planning and dimensioning of resources • Following up on the appropriateness of activities can make health care more effective

• Use of more reliable data could improve the planning and dimensioning of capacity

• Documenting analyses could support future learning

• Integrating IT systems could increase data quality

• Performance data in real time could make the planning smoother

individuals can be seen as crucial for creation of knowledge [42].

managerial implications are summarized in **Table 2**.

and staff

*Practical and managerial implications.*

Practical implications

Managerial implications

**Table 2.**

**262**

This chapter contributes with a qualitative analysis of infrastructural KM mechanisms that have significant impacts on the OM in a health-care practice at a hospital.

A learning and knowledge creation culture is important for the use of knowledge that is prevalent in the health-care organization. Such a culture could improve the real-time planning processes and better guide how the professionals act. Deviations could be documented, and learning and knowledge creation could be based on these experiences. The organizational architecture for adaptive and exaptive capacity supports the structure for information systems, technologies, and practices. Integration of these parts could improve the planning of capacity and make it smoother and more effective, as real-time information could also be used. The regular improvement work could also be supported by changing practice to increase the use of information systems for dimensioning of resources. A business model for knowledge capitalization is important in order to derive benefits from the knowledge in the health-care organization. Knowledge diffusion and collaboration in planning with other health-care providers will impact the overall dimensions of health care. This could also provide smoother and more effective health care in the society, which does not use more resources than necessary and is of high quality.

For future research, we suggest to further study the OM in health care and to analyze the complex system of processes and resources that is needed. It is of vital importance to have detailed and reliable data that could be aggregated to make better decisions in the OM. To develop methods for OM is important under normal conditions and even more important in pandemic situations, when the capacity of health care is under great pressure. In this complex system of OM, AI can also be an interesting topic to study.
