Emergency department knowledge management in the age of Web 2.0: evaluation of a new concept

Objective: The objective of the present study was to describe the implementation of an organizational learning model and evaluate the effectiveness and usability of an application used to facilitate it in an ED setting. Methods: This was an implementation case study and technology evaluation. The organizational learning model was implemented using an online Web 2.0 collaborative learning application developed by the investigating team. Online use was tracked over a 9-month period. At the end of the study period, a usability assessment was conducted as well as a semistructured interview of participants to assess perceptions of usefulness and effect on learning capacity in the ED. Results: Over a period of 9months, a total of 54 individual sites from 74 eligible staff members were created within a specific web domain. There were 251 registered users including users outside the ED, who accessed learning materials within these sites 7494 times. The majority of staff members interviewed agreed or strongly agreed that the collaborative learning application had improved learning capacity within this ED (88%, 95% CI 74-94%). Conclusion: We demonstrate the implementation of an organizational learning model based on independent online sites networking together within an organization. This appears to be both usable and acceptable to staff members working in a large ED as a means of knowledge management.