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CHAPTER 1
The Need for Information Systems Compliance
TECHNOLOGY GAINS IN THE LAST DECADE have changed our daily lives. Technology innovation seems to be everywhere. Technology has helped us to be better connected from a maze of mobile phone applications to social media sites. Breakthroughs have helped us to live healthier lives through early detection of diseases and monitoring of health conditions, During the COVID-19 pandemic, many relied on telepresence to reduce the effects of social isolation and to continue working remotely over the Internet. Technology innovations have even changed the approach to health care to provide us choices not possible just a few years ago such as the surge in home-based hospital care in 2020 (Leventhal 2021). Consider how technology innovations have allowed patients’ health to be remotely monitored by doctors and nurses while allowing the patient to be home with family and loved ones. A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine reviewed 43 hospital-at-home patients and 48 patients receiving traditional hospital care. Home-based hospital care reduced costs by 38%. More importantly, the patients receiving home-based hospital care were readmitted to the hospital after discharge at a much-reduced rate of 7% versus 23% for those that received traditional hospital care.
Yet benefits from technology innovation do come at a price. Our information is everywhere. Every click produces an electronic record of our likes and dislikes and records our private information such as personal health information. This information can be used to our benefit or our detriment. Fortunately, organizations are often required to adhere to strict rules of conduct in the handling and processing of customer information. This leads us to the need for information systems compliance audits and assessments to ensure our data are collected, processed, and stored appropriately. The stakes for organizations are high with noncompliance to these rules can lead to a loss of customer confidence, loss of business, regulatory fines, and even the potential of jail time for company executives.