Abstract:

Internal audit is also important for the health sector as it is in every sector. It can be said that this importance has increased especially during the pandemic period. Because the pandemic has been a period that increased uncertainty and risks in the health sector. This situation has led to a change in the role and responsibilities of internal audit, which evaluates the effectiveness of the internal control system in health institutions, and the way internal auditors, do their work. During the pandemic period, internal auditors had to carry out their internal audit activities by working remotely. This necessity has revealed the concept of remote internal auditing. In this study, it is aimed to determine how remote internal audit activities are carried out in the health sector during the pandemic period, what kind of problems are encountered and whether the technological infrastructure is suitable for remote internal audit.Qualitative research method was used in the research. Phenomenology (phenomenology) design was used as one of the qualitative research designs. A semi-structured interview form was used to collect data in the study.The interview form was applied to the internal auditors in the Internal Audit Unit of the Ministry of Health, who agreed to participate in the research voluntarily.As a result of the research, it has been determined that within the framework of the limitations brought by the pandemic, remote internal audit activities are tried to be carried out with a traditional audit approach within the current program. It has been seen that the biggest problem experienced is communicating with the audited unit. It has been stated that there are delays in starting the internal audit activities. Finally, it has been determined that the infrastructure of management decision support systems and software used in the health sector is in good condition and is widely used. However, the main topics emphasized are that this technological infrastructure should support the processes to be audited and that it should be developed to allow remote auditing in order to carry out the internal audit activities remotely.

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