Healthcare managers are demanding ever more flexible and sophisticated capabilities from their management information systems, without sacrificing software reliability. This is paradoxical, since, all things being equal, the number of bugs residing in a program is a function of how complex it is. One method of addressing the problem of software reliability is to focus on software testing tools and techniques within the framework of an effective Quality Assurance methodology. The purpose of this article is to discuss the integral role Quality Assurance plays in the software life cycle that forges the development of new and enhanced software. An in-depth discussion of the software life cycle is beyond the scope of this article; it will be discussed only in its relation to the role of Quality Assurance.
