Like providers it oversees, HHS prepares for 2000
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), like many of the health care providers it oversees, has made the year 2000 (Y2K) computer problem its highest information priority, according to a recent report.
In its May 1998 quarterly report to Congress, HHS reported 289 mission-critical systems. HHS mission-critical systems pay Medicare benefits, provide billions of dollars in grant payments, collect and analyze epidemiologic, clinical trial and other public health data, and track health care spending and other data. About 52% of these systems are now Y2K-compliant.
Last-minute effort
The total cost of ensuring HHS systems are Y2K compliant is estimated at $288.6 million. To help the Medicare program meet the HHS secretary’s goal, the department allocated an extra $41 million in fiscal year 1998 by drawing on discretionary funds from each of its operating divisions. The fiscal year 1999 budget provides HHS with $190 million in emergency funds for Y2K conversion, $112 million of which is targeted for the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA).
To be considered Y2K compliant, computer systems must be able to read and process date information beyond the year 1999. The systems also must have been field-tested and subjected to independent verification and validation, and they must be up and running. There are three ways to correct the date problem: Replace the system with a compliant one, repair the date fields, or retire the system if it is no longer needed.
Here are three generally accepted methods of repairing date fields to achieve Y2K compliance:
• Date expansion. This is the most straightforward and complete method of ensuring Y2K compliance. Date expansion involves changing computer codes so the computer recognizes a four-digit year instead of assuming the first two numbers are "19." Most HHS computer systems will be updated using this method.
• Windowing. This process creates a window of time and tells a computer system to treat two-digit dates as 20th century if greater than a certain number and 21st century if less than a certain number (for example, 1936-2035). Windowing, however, is not appropriate for use in all computer systems.
• Program logic or "electronic bridging." This method makes noncompliant data look compliant when they reach their destination. Electronic bridging is used mainly as a method of compliance for data exchange between two parties.
Of all HHS programs, the Medicare program, administered by HCFA, faces the biggest challenge in preparing for the year 2000. Payment of health care bills by the program is run by more than 60 external contractors, which operate and maintain a base of software programs that process nearly a billion claims each year from more than a million health care providers.
HCFA has made changes to Medicare contracts requiring Y2K compliance and released guidance with more useful definitions of compliance and testing requirements. (See www.hcfa.org.) All of the external Medicare contractors have completed assessment of their systems.
To help ensure contractor compliance, HCFA is undertaking two critical steps:
• dedicating additional resources to Y2K remediation;
• delaying implementation of a small number of new initiatives to make sure Y2K remediation efforts are completed first.
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