FP Report -- April 1999
Y2K: You are not ready ...
The government will continue to sound the alarm, but the only alarm you really needed to hear rang out March 1. It's a 160-page congressional report that said that when it comes to year 2000 preparedness, the nation's health care system is in trouble.
In fact the document, which used information gathered during a series of Senate hearings in 1998, even singled out private practice physicians as being among the worst prepared for the so-called "millennium bug."
Most likely, you're not prepared.
"Many private doctors are using really old personal computers and really old programs," said David Kibbe, M.D., a former practicing FP who heads Future Health Care in Chapel Hill, N.C., a health care consulting firm. "The problem is not that these programs are so bad, but that practically all doctors have done zero, not a single thing, to prepare themselves."
Preparing yourself for the Y2K bug: That's exactly where Kibbe suggests you start. He points to one of his own personal computers, an IBM unit purchased in early 1998. Believe it or not, that machine would be incapable of normal function after Dec. 31 of this year, had Kibbe not recognized that fact and Þxed it.
So if you're interested in retaining and accessing data on your PC after Dec. 31 -- and just think for a moment about the functions you expect your personal computer to serve -- you might want to take similar action. The first step might be to contact the vendor who sold you the PC.
And when you can, Kibbe said, start working outward from that first proactive effort. He offered what he called "one big secret" -- many insurance companies aren't very prepared for Y2K either. There's a good chance you'll have a tougher time seeing money early next January. Kibbe suggested that unless you want staff layoffs until things clear up, you should have at least four months of overhead set aside.
"That's really the worst-case scenario, and it's also not what doctors are thinking about right now," Kibbe said. "But I remember when I was a practicing FP, I didn't keep any money in the bank."
Gregory Bergman, M.D., a Minster, Ohio, FP and member of the Academy's Committee on Communi-cations, echoed that theme.
"That's of importance to me: I don't want any cash flow problems," he said.
Bergman might be considered a role model in Y2K preparation. He's techno-savvy enough to have his own Web site and says he's just about ready to hang a "Y2K Compliant" banner in his waiting room. Just in case.
"Our patients haven't said much yet, but I expect a television blitz on how vulnerable the medical system is," he said.
Bergman said he's already finished upgrading his computer-based accounting software, and he recommends other FPs do the same right away, before software techs become so busy that you'll only get a "patch" to existing software.
Bergman said FPs should also send letters to supply vendors, asking for Y2K compliance details, in case problems do crop up Jan. 1 and a "paper trail is needed."
Bergman also suggested FPs have a monthlong stockpile of practice supplies, in case those same vendors don't come through on their compliance promises.
"But unfortunately, what's most important to us is that we don't lose track of cash," Bergman concluded. "Probably 90 percent of us are doing accounting on computer, so let's take care of it."
FPs interested in squashing the Y2K bug can keep current on the latest Y2K information at www.aafp.org/ fpnet/y2k. The Academy monograph concerning Y2K has been posted there since last fall, and the site has recently been updated to include information about the Health Care Financing Administration's requirements for using eight-digit date fields for claims submission (that requirement took effect April 5).
Phone numbers for regional HCFA offices are also included on the Web site, and Web site addresses for hardware and software vendors, plus special Y2K Web sites, are also listed.
The HCFA requirements document also is available by fax; see AAFP Express.
The American Medical Associa-tion also has Y2K information on its Web site. Check out www.ama-assn.org/not-mo/y2k/help.htm (it's on the members-only side).
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department. Copyright © 1999 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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