This document discusses the integration of health care communities of practice in Uruguay. It provides background on Uruguay's national health care system and knowledge management strategies. It then analyzes Uruguay's health care knowledge ecology, including national institutions, regional virtual infrastructures like BIREME and SciELO Uruguay, and emerging collaborative spaces between communities of practice. Future research opportunities are identified in institutional roles, physician roles, and research methodology within Uruguay's dynamic knowledge ecology.

1. Integrating Health Care Communities of Practice: The Case of Uruguay CME CONGRESS – 29-31 May, 2008 Vancouver Ann Séror MBA, PhD eResearch Collaboratory, Quebec City, QC, Canada Email: annseror,@eresearchcollaboratory.com

8. Information Translation to Knowledge Knowledge Ecology: « BA » Source: Nonaka (1998) available at http://home.business.utah.edu/actme/7410/Nonaka%201998.pdf Data Sense-Making Knowledge

11. COMPARATIVE COUNTRY CONTEXT Country Uruguay Cuba Uganda Canada UK USA India Population (millions) 3.5 11.3 28.8 32.3 59.7 298.2 1,103.4 Total Health Expenditure per capita (Int. $-2004 784 229 135 3,173 2,560 6,096 91 External Resources (% of total health exp.) 0.3 0.2 28.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.6 Private exp. (% of total health exp.) 56.5 (2004) 13.2 (2003) 69.6 (2003) 30.2 14.3 (2003) 55.4 (2003) 75.2 (2003) Out-of-pocket exp.-percentage of private exp. 31.1 (2004) 75.2 (2003) 52.8 (2003) 49.4 76.7 (2003) 24.3 (2003) 97.0 (2003) Life expectancy (m/f –WHO 2004) 71/75 75/80 48/51 78/83 76/81 75/80 61/63 Child Mortality (m/f per 1000 population-WHO 2004) 16/12 8/7 144/132 6/5 6/5 8/7 81/89 Physicians per 1000 population (WHO 2004) 3.65 5.91 0.08 2.14 2.30 2.56 0.60 Literacy (CIA World Factbook 2003) 97.6/98.4 97.2/96.9 79.5/60.4 99/99 99/99 99/99 59.5/48.3 Internet Penetration % (ITU 2007) 33.6 2.1 2.6 67.8 66.4 71.4 5.3

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18. URUGUAY: HEALTH CARE KNOWLEDGE ECOLOGY

31. EviMed Architecture Source: http://www.evimed.net/

32. URUGUAY: HEALTH CARE KNOWLEDGE ECOLOGY