Principles of Information Systems and Data Management
Principles of Information Systems and Data Management
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Institution
Question 1
Making prescription drug errors might fall into three categories, which include the dispensation of wrong medication, giving wrong dosages to the patient and neglecting known allergies or damaging interactions with some of the other drugs a patient might be taking. The development of a software system for reduces such errors might be a good solution, taking into account the fact that a messy doctor’s handwriting might be the cause for the error. These software programs should alert the doctor or pharmacist about hazardous drug interactions. Additionally, the hospital might adopt procedures that ensure that a patient receives the correct prescriptions in the correct dosage. Given the tools that ensure patient safety, doctors do not have any excuse to make when a patient is given the wrong drugs or wrong dosages (Moseley III, 2013).
Doctors are legally liable to prescription drug errors and not the software developers since it is their responsibility either to terminate of initiate primary access to the program (Moseley III, 2013). With this situation, there is a possibility that the victim might pursue damages through legal channels. In pursuit of the damages from medical malpractice, the first thing would be to collect all the medical records from the treating doctor or hospital. After the collection, it would be necessary to seek the services of pharmacology experts who can testify on the toxicity of the dosage or drug prescribed. On the other hand, it is necessary to seek information about the operations of the program from the software developer, after which it is possible to determine that the doctor has made an error (Medical liability monitor, 1991). The damages might be inclusive of future and past medical expenses and medical care that require the treatment of the long-term effects of the toxicity. If the patient happens to die, the family might pursue a claim for wrongful death against the physician.
Question 2
There are different ways through which the society can implement new standards of behavior. Either when there is a change in the societal laws and policies, the enforcement of the changes might be coercive, the constituents of the given society might be given time to adapt to the changes or the societal standards might emerge from behavior (Berg, 1999). There is a possibility to utilize coercive, as well as gradual implementation of new behavioral standards collectively, which is one way of ensuring that the efforts to implement socially engineered change will avoid social conflict in society. Standards vary from culture to culture, and from different periods. Compliance to new standards might take different forms, society might allow the compliance to the new standards through different means, and it might not be restricted to one form (Berg, 1999).
It might be difficult for society to allow standards to emerge from behavior, mainly because it might be going against the culture of the society. For instance, despite the fact that in some countries people drives on the left side of the road, if the members of that society decide to drive on the right side, it might be a problem. With this consideration, there is a possibility that the new standard of behavior might cause some confusion and disorderliness, which is behavior that society should be able to discourage (Sewell, 2007). For this reason, society should not allow standards to emerge from the behavior of people in society. The most effective way that will ensure people comply with new standards in society would be through a gradual imposition. With the gradual imposition, there is a possibility that the time period will allow people to acclimatize to the new convention, which is an effective way of preventing social conflict or reducing confusion to the new standards. It is necessary to consider this form of compliance because culture is learned (Sewell, 2007). With this understanding, it is possible to equate the new standards to new culture, which require slow adaptation for it to be fully integrated with the societal expectations.
Question 3
Some of the options available for cataloguing a digital camera involve some key steps, which include assessing the user needs, planning for the collection addressing metadata and rights issues, making a decision on the storage hardware and the management software. The options available for cataloguing the digital camera are suitable for me in the sense that with the available open source systems, it would be possible to manage the digital media collection. Some of the features that make the commercial cataloguing system include the ability to pull all the files from the digital source and dropping them in the designated folders. Irrespective of their location, the system has the ability to either move, delete or copy the original files. Additionally, the open source system available has a variety of metadata tools for editing and viewing, archiving tools, publishing tools, auditing and reporting tools, access management tools and browsing tools among other management tools (Joinson, 2011). The suitability of using the commercial open source management application is that it provides value, judging from the features available in comparison to the low prices. On the other hand, the management system provides a couple of alternatives, with frequent updates of the software.
It might be possible to catalogue a collection with someone else’s, which is possible to achieve by using cloud-based software that is integrated with the web browsers. In this situation, it is possible to catalogue the different collections the same way, since it is possible to address different challenges that come about through the utilization of a blended solution. The blended solution of managing two collections involves partly using the cloud-based application and partly using the local cataloguing. Through the blended solution, it is possible to maintain the files online, with the exception of the backup, master and the central catalogue copies of the files (Sartori et al, 2009).
Question 4
Some of the characteristics of good quality information include the fact that it should be valid. This means that the information should be correct, and anyone can be able to use the information for its specific purpose (Wang, 2005). For instance, an individual will be able to trust information that a governing body supplies. On the other hand, good quality information should be reliable. Reliable information is information that one can trust, and the participants in a situation can rely on the information being correct. In order for an individual to rely on supplied information, its origin should be from a trusted source. The third characteristic of good quality information is that it should be accessible (Wang, 2005). This means that the storage of the information should be in such a way that people can easily access it if need be. Fourthly, good information should fit for its purpose, which means that the information should be relevant, depending on the needs of the individual seeking the information. Timeliness is another important characteristic of good quality information. Timely information is information that should be in the correct period, which either might be historical, present or should be predictive of the future (Wang, 2005). Information provided a few years ago might not be relevant in the current situation.
The other vital component of good quality information is its relevance. Relevant information should directly relate to the needs of passing the information. Apart from the relevance, good information should have the correct level of detail needed. Detailed information is necessary for the enhancement of understanding between people. One of the most important qualities of information is that the user should be able to understand it. Without the understanding, then the information will be obsolete, meaning that the user will not be communicating. Apart from ensuring that the information is understandable, it is necessary to ensure that the user is confident about the source of the information. In this case, the origin of the information should be reliable for the user to be confident in it (Calero et al, 2002). Additionally, good quality information should be sufficiently accurate, without which there is a possibility of error in communication. Inaccurate information is likely to send wrong signals to the concerned members, meaning that the miscommunication is likely to have a negative impact (Calero et al, 2002). With all these considerations, it is possible to acknowledge that good quality information should be cost effective (Calero et al, 2002). This means that despite the different characteristics of good quality information, investing the money and time to knowledge sources and information should correlate with the action of information seeking.
Question 5
Decision-making is a process that involves the identification and making choices on available alternatives in order to reduce uncertainty, as well as make reasonable choices. Given the choice of making a decision on the different alternatives available, it is necessary to take recognition of the importance of information gathering (Burstein et al, 2011). When making decisions, a group or individual will be able to reduce, and not eliminate, some of the uncertainties that might be present. It is vital to recognize that with the absence of uncertainty, then there is no decision available to make (Burstein et al, 2011). However, there are few decisions that an individual or group might make with certainty, but the participants should have the full knowledge about all alternatives that might lead to the making of the decision. For this reason, the main reason that influences individuals or groups to making decisions involve the fact that they seek to get the best way out of a situation, provided that they have the right information in relation to the decision-making approach.
One of the emerging themes to decision-making involves the idea that people do not purely conform to logical principles when making decisions. When making some decisions, it is necessary to involve emotions, which lead individuals to believe in making logical decisions. This theme of decision-making borrows from neuroscientific principles (Innocenti, 2013), which indicates that human beings draw reasoning powers in the face of making a decision from possible alternatives. This means that an individual or a group of people will use their emotional abilities to reason when faced with decisions to make (Innocenti, 2013). Consequently, people can follow the traditional behavioral mechanisms when making decisions. Borrowing from the traditional economic theory, individuals and groups of people seek to maximize on the rewards they expect to get from the decisions that they make, which also considers the utilization of an individual’s emotional abilities (Innocenti, 2013).
References
Berg, B. L. (1999). Policing in modern society. Boston, Mass. ;Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann.
Burstein, F., Brezillon, P., & Zaslavsky, A. (2011). Supporting real time decision-making: The role of context in decision support on the move. New York: Springer.
Calero, C., Genero, M., & Piattini, M. (2002). Information and database quality. Boston [u.a.: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
Innocenti, A. (2013). Neuroscience and economics of decision-making. Routledge.
International Conference on Metadata and Semantics Research, Sartori, F., Sicilia, M.-A., & Manousēs, N. D. (2009). Metadata and semantic research: Third international conference, MTSR 2009, Milan, Italy, October 1-2, 2009 : proceedings. Berlin: Springer
Joinson, S. (2011). Get the most from your digital camera: The ultimate guide to digital cameras, software, printing and technique. Newton Abbot: David & Charle
Medical liability monitor. (1991). Chicago, IL: Malpractice Lifeline, Inc.
Moseley III, G. B. (2013). Managing legal compliance in the health care industry. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Sewell, P. (2007). Acting ethically: Behavior and sustainable society. University of North Texas, Proquest.
Wang, R. Y. (2005). Information quality. Armonk, N.Y: M.E. Sharpe.
