Y2K millenniumbug: don't be caught off guard

Year 2000÷the morning after

After all the bells and whistles fall silent, a few days after the party of the millennium, the lingering hangover may be even worse than you imagined. Your gate pass doesnât work, your door code is rejected, your computer wonât boot, even your medication is suddenly out of date. Youâve just caught the Year 2000 (Y2K) millennium bug.

The Y2K ăbugä will strike at the stroke of midnight, Saturday, Jan. 1, 2000, and have a very sobering effect on those who use microchip equipped gadgets÷and MUSC wonât be immune. If that sounds too overstated and too far away to set off any alarms, better keep those fingers away from the snooze button and get ready for work.

Because of the way many computer programs were originally created, they may fail to operate after the turn of the century. Those that do operate may return unexpected or just plain wrong results. The problem isnât limited to computers, but could affect everything that relies on a microchip for date information (ATM cards, barcoders, monitoring devices, credit cards, gate passes, etc.). Quality control scanners, confused by Y2K problematic codes, could reject medicines as out of date even if they are fresh.

Other possible hangover symptoms: your retirement date and benefits calculations are incorrect, holding up your checks. Your investmentsâ maturity dates are now all invalid. Medication monitoring devices provide erroneous data. You canât print out or mail a bill to a Medicare patient because he suddenly went from age 66 to age 33.

Y2K problems are based on two-digit year codes. Letâs say your patient was born in 1933. Subtract 33 from 99 you get 66. However, subtract 33 from 00 and you get -33. Two things can happen then, and both of them are bad. The computer will tell you -33 is a an invalid age and refuse to process further, or it will ignore the minus sign and make your patient 33 years old. While this will be a digital fountain of youth for the newly rejuvenated, it will be a true paperwork nightmare for all involved. In other cases, just entering ă00ä in a date field will result in an error and stop you from entering anything further. What has this got to do with me?

Is this problem really as bad as all that? Yes, and it has the potential to get worse quickly. In some cases, ă99ä is considered a default entry to identify unknown data and wonât be used correctly by the program. In MUSCâs own Keane system, used for patient registration and accounting, patients are pre-registered up to a year in advance. This effectively pushes up our Y2K deadline by 12 months. Still reaching for the snooze alarm?

Since every computer (and, indeed, every technical gadget with a microchip) has the potential for this problem either in hardware or software, the number of potential problems are incalculable. ăRepairä lines are going to get longer and longer. Although CCIT is actively leading the charge on the Y2K problem at MUSC, the cavalry may not be able to rescue every hostage. There are some things you can do for yourself to get out ahead of the problem. The first thing is awareness.

• Older 286, 386, and in some cases 486 computers can not comply with Y2K standards and will have to be replaced. CCIT estimates it will cost you more to deal with the problem after the Y2K clock quits ticking than it would to take action now by budgeting and purchasing new equipment.

• Does the vendor of your software certify that itâs Y2K compliant? If you donât know, find out. If not compliant, when will it be. If it canât be made compliant, plan for a new software package.

• Request a vendor certification letter, which assures compliance or specifies plans to become compliant within a specified timetable.

• Budget for new equipment. In many cases this will be a harsh treatment, but itâs the only cure.

• Call CCIT for consultation. If you suspect that your software or hardware will not comply with Y2K standards, contact CCIT and ask for some assistance.

Itâs not a minute too early to begin preparations for the Y2K problem, but itâs not too late either. The action you take over the next few months to prepare yourself and your department for the turn of the century will determine if the New Yearâs Eve party 30 months from now will be a celebration or a cause for alarm.