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This report on Florida hosptals indicates that two-thirds have not even begun their y2k repairs.
The health care field is especially vulnerable to law suits. If granny expires at age 103 a month after she was diagnosed on a noncompliant machine, the hospital can count on a law suit. To avoid this threat, they will have to shut down noncompliant machines in late 1999. There are a lot of them.
This is from the Jacksonville BUSINESS JOURNAL (Feb. 23).
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Well, the February issue of MONEY Magazine reported one little incident in April 1997 involving a computer network that schedules patient appointments for three Pennsylvania hospitals and 75 surrounding clinics.
It seems the whole system shut down when someone entered an appointment for January 2000. . . .
While much of the talk surrounds banks and government agencies, hospitals and health care systems are just as susceptible to the problem.
But a study reported by the Florida Hospital Association found that almost two-thirds of health care organizations around the world haven't even begun addressing the issue.
Some estimates put the cost to businesses of fixing the problem at more than $3 trillion. Companies like Prudential Health Care are spending more than $100 million to fix the glitch.
The Hospital Association also quoted the head of Minneapolis' Rx2000 Solutions Institute as saying health care is trailing other industries in dealing with the problem and that most hospitals are well behind, if they've made any effort at all. . . .
In December, the Business Journal reported that local facilities like St. Luke's Hospital are trying to correct the problem this year and that Columbia/HCA expects to spend at least $60 million tackling the issue in its nationwide system of hospitals.
Experts warn that all companies, not just the big guys on the block, need to conduct an inventory and impact assessment as soon as possible to see if they are affected.
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