Quantified KM value case studies numbers 130 through 139

In the embedded video below you can find 10 case studes which illustrate the value delivered by health librarians, who are a main component in the KM systems used in the UK National Health Service.

The video is entitled “Health Librarians and Knowledge Specialists Impact Case Study Vignettes” and is provided by HEE Knowledge for Healthcare. As the YouTube page says,

Health librarians and knowledge specialists ensure that decisions are based upon the best available evidence and encourage knowledge to be captured, shared and re-used. Multiple benefits are possible for NHS staff and organisations when they work closely with health librarians and knowledge specialists. This selection of case studies gives a flavour of this work.  

These case studies include:

130. £16,800 savings from reduction in length of hopsital stay for a patient, due to decision based on summarised evidence provided by health librarian 
131. Librarian alerts clinician to innovative treatment leading to effective cure (potentially 9 lives saved)
132. £100,000 savings on agency costs due to evidence provided by specialist librarian
133. 303 hours of a senior midwife’s time released (worth £12389) by using the epxertise of a clinical librarian
134. Librarian input essential to acheive £1.9 million savings
135. Change in practice leading to 2-week reduction in waiting times from using summarised best practice from a specilist librarian
136. Cost savings (no value quoted) and reduction in risk by changing practice informed by evidence provided by a specialist librarian
137. Transformed approach to discharge of frail elderly patients, as a result of evidence summary provided by the librarian (no value quoted)
138. £48500 savings and improved patient experience by implementing a change based on evidence supplied by the specialist librarian
139. Low-cost intervention leading to a “significant” reduced length of stay for critically ill patients, informed by evidence provided by a specialist librarian (no value quoted).

Librarians and Knowledge Specialists are therefore a core part of the knowledge supply chain in the health sector, bringing the evidence to inform healthcare decisions and saving time, increasing efficiency, and improving practice.