Information on Donations and Transplants at the Incucai Are at "High Risk"
<p style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"><span style="line-height: 1.6em;">A report by the Auditor General's Office found "informality" in handling the computer system that manages the data of the agency and noted that there is a potential "dangerous" situation for patients on the waiting list. In addition, they do not have a general monitoring plan or technological maintenance, there is little staff, untrained, and with very low wages.</span></p> <div> </div>
According to a report by the Auditor General's Office (AGN, for its acronym in Spanish), the understaffed and informality for tasks in the area of technology at Incucai, "placed it in a high risk level" to the information system that manages data transplants in the country. Also, the agency found that, the identified problems "could jeopardize the chance of survival of patients on the waiting list."
To administer, manage and monitor the activities of transplant organs, tissues, and cells, the Central Unique National Institute Coordinator Ablation and Implant (INCUCAI) has the National System of Procurement and Transplant in Argentina (Sintra), has software that is also used by national transplant centers.
While the watchdog says that Sintra is effective and fulfills its mission, the functioning of the program depends on the efforts of a few people. Even the report noted that "the staff is not enough, only the head of the area is permanent staff while the rest are temporary staff with very low wages, because of this some professionals do not work in the center."
Moreover, according to the AGN, which this year adopted its report on 2008 data, "there are no checks and training policies on information security", and computers on the network have no blocks on the internet.
Thus, the task of awareness is "the will of every employee," which, "for not having an organized program, they decide to attend courses on ethical conduct courses and safety systems on their own."
Furthermore, the security of the physical facilities is an informal process conducted by the initiative of a small group of workers who should not be performing that activity.
Moreover, although the program depends crucially on information elements, the report says that "there is no overall plan for technology monitoring" and that "the maintenance or replacement of hardware and software is done ad hoc," from possible needs. The area also has a regular impact analysis of the changes that may occur in the system.
In the same way, the work of the audit referred to informality in the performance of the functions of Sintra, and notes that "the roles and responsibilities of the computing area are not formally defined" and they also have strategic planning but only determined by specific needs.
Another risk factor is that the data center is very small for the maintenance of the cabinets that house electronic equipment. Therefore, the watchdog said that "due to any involuntary movement, the equipment may be disconnected from the power grid."
Following the identified shortcomings, the federal watchdog said that "information is subject to risks that exceed acceptable values” and to reverse the situation, "it is essential that the authorities of Incucai organize services in the area of technology, and that the Ministry (of Health) provide the necessary resources.”