Medicare providers
 make progress but
 some not ready for
 Y2K

 NEW YORK, Oct 06 (Reuters
 Health) -- Medicare managed
 care organizations and
 Medicare fee-for-service
 providers have made
 significant progress in
 preparing for possible
 problems caused by the Year
 2000 computer bug, but some
 have not taken the steps
 necessary to prepare their
 computer systems to ensure
 Y2K compliance, according to
 two reports issued by the
 Department of Health and
 Human Services Office of the
 Inspector General (IG).

 The Inspector General's
 Office surveyed 161 managed
 care organizations that
 participate in the Medicare
 program and found that 85%
 of respondents said that they
 were ready for Y2K. In
 addition, 80% of the managed
 care plans surveyed said that
 they had developed
 contingency plans related to
 specific computer systems,
 while 30% of the managed
 care organizations reported
 testing their contingency
 plans.

 The report noted that 33% of
 contingency plans submitted
 to the Health Care Financing
 Administration required little
 or no modification, while 67%
 of the plans needed major or
 complete revision.

 The IG also surveyed 1,000
 Medicare providers among
 acute care hospitals, nursing
 facilities, home health
 agencies, durable medical
 equipment suppliers and
 physicians. Response rates to
 the survey ranged from 56%
 of hospitals to 20% of
 physicians.

 According to the report,
 ``about two-thirds of
 Medicare fee-for-service
 providers reported that their
 billing and medical records
 systems were Y2K ready.''
 Less than half of the providers
 reported that their biomedical
 equipment was Y2K ready and
 less than 60% of providers
 surveyed had completed
 contingency plans.

 The report noted that
 fee-for-service providers
 were more likely to report
 having completed contingency
 plans over the 6 months
 ending in July and generally
 reported improvements in the
 Y2K status of their billing
 systems and medical records.
 The IG noted that some
 providers had not taken the
 necessary steps to ensure Y2K
 compliance, and since many
 providers did not respond to
 the survey, ``we have no
 information to measure their
 current Y2K status or their
 prospects for future
 readiness.''

 In response to the Inspector
 General's reports, American
 Hospital Association
 Chairman Fred L. Brown said,
 ``The report reaffirms what
 we've been hearing from our
 members: Y2K is a critical
 issue which they are actively
 working to address because
 patient safety is a top priority.
 We also expect that even
 more progress has been made
 today -- 2 months later --
 than when the survey was sent
 out in July.''