Determinants and Strategies of Knowledge Transfer in Teaching Hospitals

Abstract

Teaching hospitals are healthcare entities rendering healthcare services to patients. Specialized medical staff not only provide medical services, but also educate future medical staff, conduct clinical research and support the development of medical technologies. The majority of these staff are also research and teaching staff at medical universities. The aim of this article is to identify the determinants of knowledge transfer and the intellectual potential of employees in the relationship between teaching hospitals and medical universities. The inference was made on the basis of the available development strategies of medical universities, including reference to the intellectual potential of employees and the mission of teaching hospitals published on their websites. The following research questions were posed: Is the mission of medical universities consistent with the mission of teaching hospitals? Does the transfer of knowledge and skills of medical staff between a medical university and its teaching hospital contribute to the mission of teaching hospitals? The preliminary findings indicate that the intellectual capital of the scientific-medical staff is of vital importance in the mission of teaching hospitals, which is on a par with the development of the facilities.  The analyses were of an expert nature, from the perspective of a statutory auditor and a long-standing researcher of the problems of the functioning of medical entities, namely hospitals. The considerations undertaken in the article are an important voice in the recognition of the determinants for the development of teaching hospitals as entities with intellectual capital useful in solving international health problems. The article is a continuation of the author's research on the development of intellectual capital of employees of teaching hospitals in Poland.  The relationship between the findings of the development strategies of medical universities (the founding bodies) and the mission statements of their teaching hospitals confirm their coherence and complementarity.