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.