Medical Devices #s w/Y2K anomalies: 5X more than reported to FDA.

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Link to Dallas Morning News

-- Lisa (lisa@work.now), June 17, 1999

Answers

4445 devices that will not test properly for y2k!

I had no idea it was that many. Thanks for the post Lisa.

-- Mike Lang (webflier@erols.com), June 17, 1999.


Normally over the two holidays (Xmas and New Years), hospitals are very lightly staffed as half of the people are working overtime and half are on vacation.

If intravenous medication has to be done manually, my guess is that we will see a lot of vacations cancelled or cut short.

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), June 17, 1999.


Hospitals face big Y2K snag, senators told

Rural facilities are particularly struggling, say officials, GAO
06/11/99
By Jim Landers / The Dallas Morning News

http:// www.dallasnews.com/business/0611biz3y2k.htm

[Fair Use: For Educational/Research Purposes Only]

WASHINGTON - Hospitals and outpatient care providers are struggling to fix or replace thousands of medical machines that will not work properly once their date-sensitive computer controls confront the year 2000.

Hospital administrators and a General Accounting Office director told a Senate committee Thursday that devices ranging from CT scanners to ultrasound machines are likely to give incorrect information because they have embedded microchips or programs that use only two digits for the year.

Once their calendars roll to "00," the machines will assume it is 1900 rather than 2000 and will either stop or go haywire.

Joel Willemssen, the GAO's director for civil agencies information systems, said a check of more than 328 medical equipment manufacturer Web sites turned up 4,445 devices that will not test properly for the year 2000.

He said the figure was nearly five times greater than what the manufacturers have reported to the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates the medical equipment industry for safety.

Kevin Thurm, deputy secretary of Health and Human Services, said the FDA was increasing its oversight of date-sensitive equipment and would go as far as issuing recalls or seizing noncompliant machines that pose a health hazard.

Most of the problems with equipment tracked by the GAO involved incorrect date readings that would not directly threaten patient health, Mr. Willemssen said. But incorrect data "could pose a risk" when used in calculations such as a diagnosis from readings over several dates for blood sugar levels.

The result is an expensive scramble by some hospitals to replace equipment, said Mark Stoddard, president of Utah-based Rural Health Management Corp.

"Upgrade or replacement can be inordinately expensive," Mr. Stoddard said. "A patient thermometer isn't too terribly expensive, but a CT scanner is, and having to replace equipment of that magnitude can take a rural hospital's entire capital budget for several years."

Mr. Stoddard said federal reductions in Medicare reimbursements in 1997 had made such expenses doubly hard for rural hospitals. Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, chairman of the Special Committee on the Year 2000 problem, said he would introduce legislation providing $50 million to help rural hospitals bring their equipment and computer systems into compliance.

21 percent ready

A recent survey by a Dallas law firm suggests that many Texas rural hospitals are struggling to fix their date-sensitive equipment.

Anthony Vitullo, a partner in the firm of Fletcher and Springer, said the survey showed that one-third of all Texas hospitals already have encountered date-sensitive problems and that only 21 percent are fully compliant, or ready for operations after the Jan. 1 year change.

Mr. Vitullo submitted his firm's survey results to the Senate committee as part of Thursday's hearing.

"There's going to be a big problem with these Texas rural hospitals. That is a certainty," he said. "They're just not going to make it."

Fletcher and Springer does defense work for hospitals facing civil litigation, and sent brochures out to all the hospitals covered in its survey, Mr. Vitullo said.

The telephone survey covered about one-third of the 500 hospitals in Texas. Twenty-nine rural hospitals responded along with the information directors of 10 hospital networks in the state representing 147 separate hospitals.

Amanda Engler, a spokeswoman for the Texas Hospital Association in Austin, disputed Mr. Vitullo's assessment of rural hospitals.

"Some of the rural hospitals are pretty far along, and some started later," she said. "They're all focused on fixing their mission- critical, life-and-death issues first. Everyone's prepared for irritating, minor problems."

Witnesses told the committee that many hospitals plan to bring in extra staff and defer nonessential patient services such as elective surgery at the end of the year as a contingency for Year 2000 problems.

Storm damage

A nursing home administrator from tornado-ravaged Moore, Okla., warned that many other contingencies should be considered.

Randy Musick, administrator of Integrated Health Services Moore facility, said the May 3 twister knocked out the nursing home's emergency generator and emergency phone systems.

The generator was fueled by natural gas, which was disrupted by the storm. The building's internal phone system failed due to a lack of power, while local-phone service was knocked out and cellular phone service went down due to overloads.

The failures meant that staff nurses and doctors had to manually operate intravenous medication and feeding systems for 19 patients and oxygen delivery for 12 more. "It doesn't matter whether it's an F-5 tornado or year 2000 - we need to be equally prepared for both," Mr. Musick said.



-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), June 17, 1999.


Thanks, Lisa.

Paging: Leska 'n Aston.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), June 17, 1999.


another facet of medical care to be considered is the home/bed bound people who are completely dependent on electricity for life sustaining equipment, or food brought in or a dozen other problems. Who is guaranteeing responsibility and help? Our big supplier sent everyone a message telling them to get generators. That's not a realistic solution. If they could work a generator they'd not need one. One of the biggest problems is the lack of confidencew in what's said- by government/business.

-- rachel windsong (windstar@nnorthcoast.com), June 18, 1999.


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