Items for your Y2K to-do list
Experts recommend following these steps to make sure your practice is prepared for Y2K:
- Prepare a letter to go out to managed care plans in case their payments are stalled.
The letter should cite the specific time frame in which payments are to be made and should quote your state’s prompt payment regulations where applicable, suggests Tammy Tipton, chief executive officer of Appeal Solutions, a Lewisville, TX, health care consulting firm specializing in reimbursement issues.
- Make sure you’re not understaffed during the December holidays so you don’t get behind.
Ensuring appropriate staffing may mean canceling vacations for staff.
- Develop a backup system for your paperwork so you can continue to see patients if your computer system fails.
This advice comes from Don Self of Don Self & Associates, a Whitehouse, TX, practice management consulting firm.
"Even if your computer and software are Y2K-compliant, neither will work if there is no electricity in your building. It’s a fail-safe system so you can continue to see patients," he points out.
Self suggests reverting to the "pegboard system" that medical offices used before computers.
He also recommends the following three points:
1. Stock up on flashlights, batteries, and an extra supply of water.
"You can practice medicine without electricity, but you cannot practice without water," Self advises.
2. Purchase a supply of sterilization products in case the electricity fails and you can’t use intense heat to kill germs.
3. Consider accumulating a supply of actual cash to cover staff salaries and bills in case there is trouble with your bank’s electronic systems.
The final piece of advice is given by Bruce Orgera, executive director of Superior Consultant Company Inc. in Southfield, MI:
- Don’t wait until the last minute to stock up on supplies.
People who haven’t prepared for Y2K are likely to start stocking up in the last weeks of 1999. This could create shortages and higher prices, asserts Orgera.
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