Cheryl, <OT> I worked in the medical device arena for a number of years. I designed (or managed the design) of products for J&J, AHP, Siemens and several other major medical companies. Hopefully none of the people on this thread will ever need the equipment I designed ... but if you do, it could save your life.
It has bothered me for sometime that people are spreading false information about the Y2K readiness of our healthcare system. (Note: I have not read your report and I'm not accusing you!) My contacts in industry and in the healthcare profession (care providers and biomeds) assure me that they are taking Y2K seriously and that healthcare services will not be impacted. I'm sure your report addresses the key role of biomeds in resolving this problem.
Basically, there are four types of equipment used in Hospitals: 1) Monitoring Devices, 2) Life support equipment, 3) Diagnostic equipment and 4) information systems. Caveat: if my background was IS, there would be three categories of IS equipment<g>!
Monitoring devices includes heart monitors, pulse oximeters (non-invasive measurement of oxygen saturation), NIBP, etc. This is my area of expertise. These are the devices that provide the caregiver with the vital signs of the patient.
Life Support includes ventilators, intra-aortic heart pumps, infusion pumps, etc. This equipment keeps the patient alive and/or helps improve their condition.
Diagnostic equipment would include X-Ray machines, heart stress test equipment, MRI, etc. This equipment helps the caregiver understand the health problems of the patient.
Information systems are obvious ... these keep track of the patient record, billing, etc.
The susceptibility to Y2K problems is in reverse order ... information systems are the most susceptible, monitoring devices the least. In fact, monitoring and life support equipment do not care about the date to function! This is good news if you get hurt partying on Jan 1, 00 at 12:01AM, the critical equipment will work! Monitoring devices are designed to just hook to the patient and start reporting vital signs. These devices have a number of options, but in an emergency the caregiver is more concerned about the patient ... yeah, all those nice features we designed are rarely used<g>!
Some diagnostic equipment keeps track of old procedures. As an example, if you have an angiogram, the Cath Lab equipment will record the test (and date) so the doctor can compare the results with previous angiograms. There is the potential for a date related problem in this situation. However, Marquette (Nasdaq:MARQ) the largest Cath Lab provider claims their equipment is Y2K compliant and biomeds I have talked with seem to agree! From their 10-Q: sec.gov
The Company is currently in the process of investigating all of its products to determine if any have a potential incompatability with the Year 2000. Most products are currently compatible with the Year 2000. In addition, the Company has been converting its internal systems to an entirely new business system. This new business system has addressed the Year 2000 issues regarding all internal systems. The Company does not believe any further Year 2000 compliance costs will be material to its financial statements.
Information systems is the most susceptible area ... and the least important to immediate patient care. HBO & Company (Nasdaq:HBOC) is the leading provider of these systems. From their SEC filing:
sec.gov
Software applications that use only two digits to identify a year may fail or create errors in the year 2000 (the "Year 2000 issue.") HBOC began evaluating the Year 2000 issue in 1994 and is currently continuing such efforts. The Company has implemented upgrades to a substantial portion of its products to address the Year 2000 issue. HBOC is currently evaluating the status of each of its products which is not, at present, Year 2000 compliant and anticipates that it will be able to substantially quantify its costs and required actions later in 1998. Although to date the expense of upgrading product applications to make them Year 2000 compliant has not been material, there can be no assurance that HBOC will not incur material costs with respect to such issues in the future.
I'm sure you can find "actual failures", but in general with regards to Y2K, healthcare is in excellent shape!
Regards, Bill |
