Beware the millennium
Many hospitals are lagging behind in the race to update their computer systems before the "millennium bug" bites them, according to a survey by the Gordon & Glickson technology law firm in Chicago.
The survey of 1,700 hospitals found that fewer than one-third have a strategy in place to prepare for the millennium problems, and only about 20% have actually begun work on solving them. In fact, 18% reported they plan to take no action.
The problem is that many computer systems are programmed to recognize only two digits representing the date of a year. Those computers will recognize a year digit of "99" as 1999, but when the new century begins they will calculate the digits "00" at the year 1900, if the systems will work at all. In some cases, especially with older systems and those largely developed in-house, extensive reprogramming and testing will be needed for the systems to function properly.
"This is a very time-sensitive and potentially devastating problem that hospitals must address now," says Diana J.P. McKenzie, a partner with Gordon & Glickson. "Those who continue to delay will find that qualified programmers are no longer available and that costs have skyrocketed. Ultimately, those hospitals and their officers and directors may be held legally accountable for ignoring the issue."
The firm’s survey found that 40% of the respondents do not anticipate finishing the updates until 1999, but it questioned how realistic that is because the international scope of the problem is expected to stretch the available supply of programmers very thin.
(For more information on the Millennium Bug, and solutions, see the February 1997 issue of Hospital Payment & Information Management, pp. 17-22.)
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