http://currents.net/newstoday/99/08/09/news15.html

-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), August 09, 1999

Answers

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Y2K Status Of Medicare Providers Unknown

By Bob Woods, Newsbytes.

August 09, 1999

Many of the 1.1 million healthcare providers that participate in the federal government's Medicare program have not participated in Y2K computer problem "outrech" programs sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), a recently released study from the US General Accounting Office (GAO) found. But the GAO could not determine the actual Y2K readiness of those healthcare providers' information and billing systems.

The GAO reported its findings to the House Committee on Commerce and two of its subcommittees late last month in a study, a copy of which was obtained by Newsbytes.

HHS's Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), which runs Medicare, has seen only 2 percent of all Medicare providers participating in Y2K conferences set up by the agency. And less than 1 percent of providers have called a special HCFA toll-free Y2K information hotline.

While many surveys have been completed this year on Y2K readiness of healthcare providers by various organizations, the GAO could not tell from these studies if Medicare providers are ready to deal with the Y2K situation.

"Each of the surveys had low response rates and several did not address critical questions about testing and contingency planning," the GAO report said.

Additionally, "As of June 21, 1999, Medicare contractor testing with providers has been limited, and testing that has occurred had identified problems," the GAO also said in its report. For example, (it was) reported that one contractor tested with 434 providers and encountered initial problems with 123 (28 percent) - 9 of which were considered critical failures."

To combat the problems, GAO recommended, among other things, that HCFA consider using additional outreach programs like public-service announcements, and contemplate soliciting suggestions from healthcare provider trade associations on how to increase participation in outreach activities.

Additionally, HCFA should consider conducting end-to-end tests with providers and Medicare contractors on a sample basis, if time permits, the GAO also said.

The healthcare sector working group of the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion, meantime, should develop a template to ensure that future surveys of Medicare providers include critical questions on testing and contingency planning, the GAO report said. Also, the group should ensure that assessments are categorized into areas like billing/medical record systems, biomedical devices and infrastructure.

The healthcare group should also consider working with associations to publicize those providers who respond to future surveys in order to increase survey response rates, the GAO added.

[snip]

The report, GAO number AIMD-99-243, should be posted to the GAO's Website (http://www.gao.gov ) by the middle of next week, a GAO spokesperson told Newsbytes.

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-- Linkmeister (link@librarian.edu), August 09, 1999.

You may also want to see the GAO report:

- Year 2000 Computing Challenge: Federal Efforts to Ensure Continued Delivery of Key State-Administered Benefits. T-AIMD-99-241. 21 pp. plus 1 appendix (3 pp.) July 15, 1999. http://www.gao.gov/new.item s/ai99241t.pdf

-- Linda (lwmb@psln.com), August 09, 1999.

Don't worry folks. You can always go to the ER for care. You see by federal law we MUST see and "stabilize" all patients who show up at our door. Cannot even ask about insurance, payment etc till evaluated by MD. We have already been told that REGARDLESS that law will be enforced. Of course after one or two months of being overwhelmed by masses of people with no way to get reimbursement for care, the hospital will have no choice but to close the ER. I may be willing at that point to barter services for a chicken.

An ER Doc.

-- (kozak@usaf.guv), August 10, 1999.

Snip:

"Additionally, HCFA should consider conducting end-to-end tests with providers and Medicare contractors on a sample basis, if time permits, the GAO also said. "

I think this says it ALL and they are only talking about a "sample basis".

IMHO Medicare will never recover from its y2k problems.

Ray

-- Ray (ray@totacc.com), August 10, 1999.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-08/10/035l-081099-idx.html <:)=

Y2K

The Bug That Health Care Can't Shake?

By Stephen Barr

Tuesday, August 10, 1999; Page A17

Virtually every major federal agency has conducted "outreach activities" to notify private-sector companies and their trade associations about potential Year 2000 computer problems. But one of the largest efforts in the government has not produced encouraging results.

The Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), which oversees the Medicare program, sent letters this year to more than 1.1 million hospitals, doctors, laboratories, medical suppliers, nursing homes and other health care providers. The agency sponsored Y2K conferences and set up a toll-free hot line to provide advice on how to fix computer systems at risk of malfunctioning because they interpret the year code "00" as 1900 instead of 2000.

HCFA uses about 70 contractor systems, many operated by insurance companies, to pay claims submitted electronically by hospitals, doctors, managed-care plans and others. As the nation's largest health insurer--expected to pay $288 billion in benefits next year--HCFA does not want to be swamped in paper claims next year or face delays in making payments because doctors and other health care providers cannot successfully submit electronic claims.

Despite HCFA's efforts to alert the health care industry to Y2K glitches, the General Accounting Office (GAO) has estimated that only 2 percent of the approximately 10,000 providers invited to HCFA-sponsored Y2K conferences attended such sessions. Less than 1 percent of Medicare providers have called the HCFA hot line.

HCFA also directed its contractors to run Y2K tests within the health care community, but the GAO found the tests were limited and those that were conducted turned up problems in data exchanges between computer systems.

In one case, a Medicare contractor ran tests with 434 doctors and other practitioners and encountered problems with 28 percent of their claims. About 2 percent involved "critical failures" that produced dates of 1900 or 1901. When HCFA's computers receive claims with those dates, the system won't allow them, kicking them back with instructions to resubmit.

The GAO findings, dated July 28, were released last week by the House Commerce Committee, chaired by Rep. Thomas J. Bliley Jr. (R-Va.). The GAO followed up the report with a briefing for Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, which urged HCFA to conduct more comprehensive Y2K tests.

"The work remaining to provide assurance that the vast array of information systems will be fully Y2K compliant well exceeds the time available," Grassley said in a letter to HCFA.

HCFA deputy administrator Michael Hash said Medicare would be ready to pay claims Jan. 1, but said many "health care providers do not seem to understand the urgency and importance of Y2K readiness."

Surveys That Don't Tell the Story

Industry surveys also have not helped get a handle on the scope of potential Y2K problems in the health care industry.

In its report to the House Commerce Committee, the GAO said surveys conducted by trade associations and other groups were based on low response rates that provided insufficient information to assess the health care industry's Y2K readiness.

Privately, government officials fear that at least one-third of doctors, hospitals, labs and other health care providers in the Medicare program may wait to see if their computers malfunction before trying to make Y2K fixes. "We don't know where they are at, what they're doing or if they are aware of Y2K," one official said.

At a news conference last week, the White House's Y2K troubleshooter, John A. Koskinen, said the health care sector was a "diffuse industry that's difficult for us at the federal level to reach out to on an individual, institution-by- institution basis. . . . Our problem here in many ways is the lack of data."

Chemical Industry's Readiness Questioned

Sens. Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah) and Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) called on the White House yesterday to convene a special summit to assess the Y2K readiness of the nation's chemical industry.

"The Y2K bug has the potential to disrupt the operation, transport, maintenance and control activities at chemical facilities," the senators said in a statement. Bennett chairs and Dodd serves as vice chair of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem.

A spokesman for Koskinen said, "We are currently looking at the chemical sector and other areas to see how we can best collect more information and have a positive impact on activity within the industry."

On the Web: Bean Bag Bugs and Y2K Wit

A quick Web search with the Yahoo search engine turned up 905 Y2K products available at 198 stores that advertise or do business online. The items for sale range from computer system upgrades to countdown clocks and "bean bag bugs."

For a monthly contest on the stupidest things said about Y2K, check out www.duh-2000.com on the Web, and if you need some "Official Y2K Cash" for use after Dec. 31, try www.WitCity.com. They've got a roll of toilet paper for you, emblazoned with "Y2K Cash" in green ink.

) Copyright 1999 The Washington Post Company

-- Sysman (y2kboard@yahoo.com), August 10, 1999.