Most hospitals are Y2K-compliant, AHA reports
Hospitals will spend up to $8.2 billion to be year 2000 (Y2K) compliant, according to a recent survey by the American Hospital Asso ciation (AHA) in Chicago.
The survey found that on average, hospitals with:
• 100 beds or less each will spend $436,000;
• 100 to 300 beds each will spend $1.2 million;
• 300 to 500 beds each will spend $3.4 million;
• 500 beds or more each will spend $8.6 million.
The survey says most of the hospitals’ costs to become Y2K-compliant (68%) come from capital expenditures such as modifying or replacing information systems hardware. The other 32% represent operational expenses such as assigning staff to work on Y2K changes and hiring consultants.
The majority of the nation’s hospitals expect to be completely Y2K-compliant by Jan. 1, the survey results show. Although approximately one-third say they won’t be completely compliant, systems directly related to patient care will be. Less than 1% of hospitals currently predict possible "adverse effects" on their critical operations.
More than 60% of respondents cited lack of information from suppliers as the No. 1 barrier to achieving total Y2K compliance. For more information, visit the AHA’s Web site at www.aha.org.
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content