Millennium bug' threatens key systems
February 1, 1997 2 minutes read
Millennium bug’ threatens key systems
Technology can be a savior for your hospital, but for the next four years, it could be an expensive headache. Technological experts warn that hospitals and physician practices that ignore the "millennium bug" could be in for a nasty surprise when the year 2000 rolls around.
Many computer systems are not programmed to recognize the year 2000 and will read any data listed under that date as the year 1900. That, of course, has the potential of playing havoc with your entire operation, especially the billing process. "The people who will be pulling their hair out are those involved in reimbursement," says Bob Dimmitt, a medical applications consultant with Networked Medical Systems, a health information consulting company in Houston.
The problem will be more severe for hospitals and health systems that have developed their own information systems, so-called legacy systems, says Michael G. Eckstein, president and CEO of PSIMED, a health information consulting company in Santa Ana, CA.
"In the typical acute care hospital there are between 30 and 40 totally independent, unrelated data streams flowing through the institution at any time, and each one of them can have this very serious problem," Eckstein adds.
Experts say all hospitals and other health facilities should immediately form a task force to address the situation and expect it to spend four to six months analyzing which systems are in jeopardy. Also be aware that a complete overhaul of your information systems could require an outlay of $1 million or more.
If you’re lucky, your software vendors can solve the problem with a simple upgrade to a new version that recognizes the 2000 date, or they can add what are called "patches" to fix the problem temporarily.
"But if you’re talking about a major code rewrite, you have to build a major fire under your vendors," says Eckstein.
Another key factor is time, and Eckstein advises to act immediately. Some experts predict that by the year 1999, half of the computer programmers in the world will be working on the millennium problem, meaning resources may be limited.
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