Knowledge-based competitiveness: the health sector case

By Dr. Nilo Arturo Ramos Rojas
San Vicente de Paúl Hospital Director
Costa Rica

A public or private hospital can become a profitable and efficient company based on good management. According to the Real Academia Española Dictionary, management means "to take steps toward conducting a business or achieving a goal."

Based on the above definition, we can clearly infer that we first need clear and accurate objectives to guide an organization along the road towards becoming efficient and profitable. Along this road, market knowledge is essential to guide efforts to be made.

On the other hand, training is the cornerstone for every hospital activity. In the face of the large amount of information on health and hospital management and administration, it is imperative for management teams to look for cost-effective alternatives in the area of training.

Traditional training has become quite expensive, and its impact on the trainee is insignificant; there are costs that are frequently overlooked, such as: hours that are not related to work activities, transportation, food, teaching materials, among others. Based on new information system technologies, hospitals can no longer justify such high costs.

Finally, another key factor to be considered is that quality is related to knowledge, and knowledge can only be acquired through training. Modern companies should base their competitiveness on knowledge because we are dealing with markets that have developed a concept of quality. Markets can no longer be manipulated by propaganda or flashy colors used to advertise products. The true asset of companies lies in training and knowledge.

* Dr. Nilo Ramos is the Director for San Vicente de Paúl Hospital, Costa Rica www.hospitalheredia.sa.cr

Aura e-Learning contribution to the health sector:

Aura Interactiva has been able to provide virtual training to different types of organizations, among them, hospitals and pharmacies that can offer e-Learning as part of their strategy to improve their efficiency and profitability without sacrificing the valuable time of the medical staff during the long training programs.

Some of the solutions offered to the health sector include: new employee induction, customer service, health care regulations, a proper referral and contrareferral use, hospital health and safety, and sales solutions for pharmaceutical products.

The main value added resulting from Aura e-Learning includes consulting, development, implementation, and support provided on all its solutions. In the cases of customized e-Learning, Aura Interactiva takes business information and expertise in critical areas and transfer them to students based on a proven methodology that has a direct impact on their performance.

With over 500.000 trained users in different types of industries, Aura Interactiva is able to offer e-Learning entirely focused on the needs of each sector