Avoiding the millennium bug at all costs
Avoiding the millennium bug at all costs
Preventive steps you can take now
If you think the year 2000 crisis has nothing to do with your practice, think again.
"The health care industry is far less prepared to address the year 2000 issue than most other industries," says Steven S. Lazarus, PhD, managing principal of Denver's Boundary Information Group, a consulting firm.
Indeed, because of the make-up of their information systems and equipment, health care facilities are twice as likely to experience year 2000 computer failures as banking, finance, or insurance companies - and, in turn, twice as likely to be sued, contends Lazarus.
And the longer you wait, the more it is going to cost to fix the problem as the demand for available year 2000 computer experts grows exponentially.
For instance, the basic way computer experts attack the year 2000 problem is to rewrite the program for the software that controls a particular system or device. Just two years ago, year 2000 consultants charged an average of $1.10 per line for each line of related code they had to rewrite, says the Gartner Group, a Stamford, CT-based information technology consulting firm. Today, the typical going rate has jumped to $4 to $5 per line of code.
To minimize the risk associated with the year 2000 situation, Lazarus recommends taking the following steps:
· Assemble a risk management team. Your risk management team should include representatives from each major affected entity the practice deals with - for example, hospitals, networks or suppliers - to address the year 2000 issue, along with a team leader who has the responsibility and authority to make final decisions when necessary.
· Inventory your information systems and devices. Inventory every software application, every computer hardware device, and every medical device that has a computer chip (e.g., EKG machines, monitors, etc.) and document its year 2000 status.
· Inventory your infrastructure. Inventory all the facility infrastructure components that are dependent on computer chips: for example, burglar alarm, temperature monitors, elevators, phone systems, etc.
· Rank items by risk. Rank each of the devices and applications by their importance to maintaining basic business operations and managing risk to patient care and service.
· Create a budget and action plan. Estimate what it will cost to test, fix, or replace each of the items on the list, starting from the highest-ranked risk to the lowest. "For some groups, this year 2000 budget may exceed their total annual capital budget, which means some expansion and renovation projects may end up being deferred until 2001," says Lazarus.
· Correct the problem. Initial testing and corrections should be completed by end of the first quarter 1999, he recommends. "Since the entire project could require significant replacement of computer hardware, and upgrading or replacing software applications and devices, you want to minimize the risk of not being able to get replacement equipment on time or vendors qualified to install and test the upgrades," Lazarus stresses.
· Institute a moratorium on uncertified applications. The moratorium on installing uncertified and untested computer software/ systems and devices should extend from 1999 through at least the first quarter of 2000. "This will provide time needed to focus on correcting known problems and testing newly upgraded software and interfaces to key business partners," he says.
· Identify critical business partners. Determine who are your key strategic business partners and suppliers - those needed to continue your basic business operations and clinical care. Find out what their year 2000 contingency plans are and how they affect your operation. Then determine areas where the two organizations can work together, and with other related vendors and practices, to speed repairs and reduce costs. "I recommend that you develop a contingency plans for each strategic partner, and put the plan in writing," says Lazarus.
For instance, if a medical group ends up unable to file claims correctly or the payer cannot process claims for payment, one contingent agreement might be to pay the group 90% of its average monthly payments until the system is back on line.
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