Sector of practice was defined as "public" or "private".
This deployment of PAs could also explain why they saw proportionately more new patients with higher complexity, since ill veterans who present to obtain care for the first time may be routed through sectors of the practice set aside for unscheduled appointments.
In the health sector, communities of practice also show promise, but systematic reviews so far are inconclusive [ 21].
Gender, age, billing sector, length of practice, or additional degrees were not associated with this intention, nor were the socioeconomic background or unemployment rate of the local population.
Moreover, while evidence is only emerging on the success of heath sector communities of practice to implement the know-how they develop [ 30], in 2003 members of the Surgical Oncology Program (SOP) at Cancer Care Ontario endorsed Wenger's model as a means to facilitate quality improvements in cancer care [ 31].
(Innovation directly related to the healthcare provision) Sufficient human and financial resources were of paramount importance not only for the proper implementation of service innovations but also for their diffusion to other organisations, sectors and fields of practice.
The latter is of relevance given the increased value attributed in the health sector to 'Communities of Practice' as a means of encouraging situated learning and the practical application of knowledge.
This paper focuses on the innovation management (or lack of it perhaps) of Higher Education as a sector, highlighting examples of practice from industry and private providers that suggest the university needs to start engaging in this agenda if it is to remain a sustainable entity beyond 2025.
In addition, the exclusion of practitioners working in the public sector eliminates knowledge of practice that may affect the vast majority of the South African population.
We included all PCPs working in the region at the time of the survey irrespective of their age, gender, specialty, seniority, sector or location of practice, who were present at their work place when the investigators visited, and who consented to be enrolled in the study.
