Development of a formal framework for the audit of hospital information systems

Objective: In this thesis, Hospital Information Systems (HIS), which is one of the main areas where the Information Age technology intersects with daily life, is taken into consideration. These systems, which mediate the provision of health services to millions of people every day, are examined from IS Auditing perspective, that is also an emerging concept. The factual knowledge that any form of the health organizations of today cannot be expected to render healthcare services without HIS as well as the increasing complexity on the functioning of these systems has made the audit of information systems and technologies increasingly important besides clinical supervision. However, it also brings in a separate need to identify the failures in HIS in order to improve the systems. The main objective of this research to emphasize the necessity of Information Systems Auditing (ISA), which is already being applied as a statutory requirement in financial and capital markets in Turkey, for a possible adaptation to Hospital Information Systems (HIS) and provide information about a general framework to be developed in this regard. Method: In this thesis, which has a mixed research method, ISA is examined in terms of HIS and from an auditor's point of view. In this respect, a viable audit framework has been tried to be developed and from this point, the concept of Hospital Information Systems Auditing (HISA) has been derived to examine a virgin topic, which has not yet been studied as of the date of this paper, from the eye of a health scientist and an auditor. Results: Within the scope of the study, the developability of a formal audit framework has been found applicable to promote HISA using ISACA's COBIT guide and based on local ISA regulations that are already in force in the related legislation in Turkey. Conclusion: It was concluded that the existing ISA applications are adaptable to HIS and health services field in line with the need for a general framework. Alongside this, the subject of Hospital Information Systems Auditing (HISA) has been conceptualized for the first time in an academic study and it has been tried to contribute to the literature. Key words: hospital information systems auditing, audit framework, COBIT