Subj: Year 2000 System Failure Looms Over Healthcare Industry... Date: 1/25/99 4:00:01 PM US Mountain Standard Time From: AOL News BCC: Lulu010101

Year 2000 System Failure Looms Over Healthcare Industry Feb. 5 in Nashville

MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- As the countdown continues to Jan. 1, 2000, the realization of system failure continues to be the focus of healthcare and government entities. Insights into these potential healthcare Y2K pitfalls will be featured at a Feb. 5 meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Nashville, Tenn.

"With patient care and patient lives at stake, solutions to decrease the Y2K impact are crucial," said Joel Ackerman, executive director of Rx2000 Solutions Institute. "When some medical equipment experienced malfunctions on Jan. 1, 1999, the healthcare industry caught a glimpse on a much smaller scale of what may come," Ackerman said. "The conference will illustrate how truly critical Y2K preparation is within the healthcare community," he added.

The conference is sponsored by the Rx2000 Solutions Institute of Minneapolis, the non-profit national clearinghouse for information on healthcare Y2K issues.

Featured speakers and the topics they will present at the Feb. 5 event include:

-- 8:30 to 9:15 a.m.: Hard Truths, Difficult Questions -- A National Perspective on Year 2000 Risks Facing Healthcare, Joel Ackerman, Executive Director, Rx2000 Solutions Institute

-- 9:15 to 10 a.m.: Medicare, HCFA & the Year 2000 Challenge: What Providers Need to Know, Joseph Broseker, Jr., Y2K Coordinator, Health Care Financing Administration

-- 10:15 to 11:15 a.m.: Year 2000 Compliance of Bio-medical Equipment: A Panel Discussion About Public and Private Sector Efforts, Gayle Finch, Director, Office of Information Technology, Analysis and Investment, HCFA/U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Jim Hutchinson, Director, BioMedical Electronics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

-- 1 to 1:30 p.m.: What the U.S. Senate Expects from the Nation's Healthcare Community as Year 2000 Approaches, Robert Cresanti, Staff Director, U.S. Senate Special Committee on Year 2000, General Counsel and Staff Director for U.S. Senator Bob Bennett, R-Utah

-- 1:30 to 1:45 p.m.: Putting a Human Face on Year 2000 Risk - A Personal Case Study, Laurene West, R.N.

-- 1:45 to 3:00 p.m.: Hospitals on Trial: A Year 2000 Mock Trial Presentation: Two trial attorneys square off to give you a "real time" view of a potential Year 2000 lawsuit against a hospital. Learn strategies to help avoid Y2K pitfalls and legal liabilities, how to show due diligence and how to make informed, effective decisions to withstand cross-examination and decrease litigation surprises

The Jury Speaks, The Lawyers Respond: Attendees assigned to jury duty will render their verdict. Attorneys will answer questions and update attendees on Year 2000 risk management, corporate and personal liability issues, ERISA plan liabilities and risk and implications of the "Good Samaritan" Act. Attorneys: Scott Davis (Plaintiff's Counsel) and Dawn Estes (Defense Counsel), Gardere & Wynne, LLP, Dallas, TX.

-- 3:30 to 4 p.m.: A Private Payor's Perspective on Year 2000 Risks, Challenges and Readiness: A representative of the Mid-South's private payor/insurance industry will discuss their perspectives on Year 2000 challenges affecting both care delivery and business issues. Presenter: Karen Poole, Information Systems Manager, Year 2000, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee.

4 to 4:45 p.m.: Contingency Planning Issues for Healthcare Organizations: A Strategic and Practical Analysis, James B. Wener, President, Systems Consulting, Chicago, Illinois

Rx2000 Solutions Institute is an independent, non-profit, member-supported organization formed in 1996. The Minneapolis-based institute is the Year 2000 information clearinghouse for healthcare and provides the broadest array of Y2K education, information and compliance reporting services available to the healthcare industry. The institute can be contacted at 612-835-4478 or by visiting its web site at http://www.rx2000.org

SOURCE Rx2000 Solutions

CO: Rx2000 Solutions; Nashville Health Care Council

ST: Tennessee, Minnesota

IN: CPR HEA

SU:

01/25/99 17:59 EST http://www.prnewswire.com

-- lulu (lulu010101@aol.com), January 25, 1999

Answers

"Prognosis for the next millennium"

http://www.amcity.com/sanantonio/stories/1999/01/25/focus1.html

Ken Kleinburg, research director at the GartnerGroup in Stamford, Conn., says healthcare is about a year behind the banking and finance industries in solving Y2K compliance issues.

"It takes a mid-sized organization roughly 30 months to completely prepare for the date change," he contends. "When you consider that many health care providers are just now completing their inventories, it is only a matter of quick math before we realize that health care will not be ready for Y2K."

Kleinburg says research conducted by the GartnerGroup indicates that as many as two-thirds of all health care organizations will experience some failure or interruptions with mission critical equipment.

-- Kevin (mixesmusic@worldnet.att.net), January 26, 1999.