Barriers to Interorganizational Knowledge Transfer in Post-Hospital Care Transitions: Review and Directions for Information Systems Research

Post-hospital care transitions involve coordination and continuity of care from hospital providers to patients and community providers. These care transitions represent a domain of high-risk interorganizational collaborations. However, a conversation about how health information technology (HIT) can enhance interorganizational knowledge transfer during care transitions is largely absent in the information systems literature. We conducted a review of qualitative studies of post-hospital care transitions to better understand barriers to knowledge transfer in high-risk interorganizational collaborations. Our analysis highlights how time pressures inhibit multilateral knowledge transfers, accommodation of fluctuating absorptive capacity, and reconciliation of knowledge and goal conflicts. We advance research questions that focus on HIT capabilities to ease these barriers.