Q&A 8

1. After making a change in the computer system of a major bank an employee forgot to enter certain commands. As a result, approximately 800,000 direct deposits received by the bank were not posted to customer’s accounts until the next day – 24 hours later than they should have been posted. 

(a) what are some potential consequences of the error? 

If the customer has immediate bills that they either schedule to be paid or taken out at that time then there is going to be a big problem. 

(b)  if you were the president of the bank, what would you say in a statement to the news 
media or your customers? 

That there is a minor glitch and apologize for that. Also let the credit line be acceptable to still take the money out of the account without a fee, bounce, or decline. Or refund the problems.


2. In many hospitals, doctors use computer terminals to order drugs for patients (this system eliminates errors that occur when a doctor’s handwriting is misread). The computer system can check in real-time for conflicts with other drugs the patient is taking. Sometimes doctors do not log out after using a terminal. When another doctor uses the same terminal the system could assign drugs ordered by the second doctor to the first doctor’s patient. Describe some features that such systems could include to reduce this kind of error.  

First of all, a touchpad and a touch pen would be appropriate for the signature to confirm authorization. Another thing would be an automatic turn off after leaving it alone for 30 seconds or something. It shouldn’t be that easy for people to access and go on other people’s accounts there should be a more heavy authorization security system. 



3. The Food and Drug administration maintains a registry of more than 120,000 drugs. An 
investigation by the Department of Health and Human Services found that the information on about 34,000 drugs was incorrect or out of date. Nine thousand drugs were missing from the directory. 

 (a) Describe several possible risks of the database being so out of date. 

It’e s necessary because you never know when an out-dated chemical becomes discovered that it’s poisonous or even deadly. Alsoif there is health percuations to be warned of that wasn’t known in the past. It’s extremely important to keep all medications listed and up to date.


 (b) Give reasons why the database may have been out of date. 

As evolution comes about through time more and more medication is developed. New diseases are being discovered that leads to new medications being created or enhanced or even upgraded. Because of the economy and how it’s been so bad the last few years caused the lack of the upkeep about updating every single med in the book.