Y2K: No big deal for hands-on wound care
But check your devices and billing system anyway
Wound care professionals should double-check the status of their computerized accounting systems, but they probably won’t have any Y2K compliance problems when it comes to hands-on care.
According to Alan Jackson, computer specialist with Curative Health Services in Hauppage, NJ, most companies that do medical billing re-evaluate their systems every few years due to the rapidity of changes within the information technology industry. "Just through recent computer system purchases, many Y2K issues would have been resolved," Jackson says, "and a self-contained, small office that prints its own bills could probably continue to do so. One product we have found very useful in identifying Y2K problems both at the hardware and shrink-wrap software levels is the program Norton 2000. On the hardware side, it will identify whether the hardware is certifiable and can even fix some hardware problems." Suggested retail price for Norton 2000 is $49.95.
Wound care devices with computer chips such as irrigation pumps and wound vacs won’t necessarily quit working on Jan. 1, 2000, because their functions aren’t tied to time and date the way airline reservations and bank accounts are. Sheila Robida, manager for the Connecticut Hospital Association’s (CHA) Y2K project, says many medical device manufacturers have told the FDA that most of their devices will be unaffected by Y2K problems, and those devices that might malfunction will have had possible Y2K problems resolved by the middle of this year. However, Robida points out that anything with a computer chip, from a magnetic resonance imaging system to a patient monitor, has a potential for failure. "It may be a pretty low potential, but the device should be checked out," she says.
To help health care providers ascertain the Y2K compliance of their equipment, CHA has formed Security Third Millennium (SIIIM). SIIIM’s staff has developed a database on Y2K compliance by querying manufacturers of medical equipment. The information is offered to health care providers by subscription. Hospitals can either subscribe to SIIIM’s service and search its database for information on their particular devices and equipment, or send in their biomedical device inventory for review. In each case, the care provider receives a report relaying what manufacturers say has been done regarding the Y2K compliance of their products. Care providers other than hospitals may obtain query service on a case-by-case basis, the cost of which depends on the size of their inventories. "We are able to tell pretty quickly where you stand with Y2K compliance," Robida says. "We need a manufacturer’s name, device model number, and serial number, if available. If the manufacturer is not yet contained in our database, we’ll contact them and get the information." Subscription costs vary, depending on the institution type and its expenses. Prices range from $2,500 for a hospital with expenses of less than $6 million a year to $20,000 for a hospital with expenses of more than $150 million.
For further information, contact Security Third Millennium, Connecticut Hospital Association, P.O. Box 90, Wallingford, CT 06492-0090. Telephone: (203) 294-7247. Fax: (203) 284-9318. Web site: www.siiim.com. E-mail: [email protected].
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