October 2, 1998

Like many organizations, the MGH and Partners are looking to outwit the "millennium bug," a technological glitch that could wreak havoc in computer-controlled systems at the start of the year 2000.

Many of the software applications threatening to go haywire were written during a time when computer disk storage was scarce. To conserve disk space, computer programmers used only two digits to represent years – assuming that all years began with 19. That assumption, however, will be erroneous when digits roll to 2000 and could lead to lost data and scheduling snafus.

The Partnerswide Year 2K (Y2K) Committee, however, has begun assessing systems throughout the network – from software programs, to medical equipment, to sprinklers and elevators – as well as applications from outside vendors to implement plans to correct the millennium bug.

The basic strategy to ensuring year-2000 compliance will be to upgrade, renovate, retire or replace Partners Information Systems (IS)-supported applications, says James Noga, chief information officer of the MGH and MGPO, who is representing both organizations on the Partners Y2K Committee and overseeing the effort at the MGH. He predicts that the new IS-supported systems at the MGH will be at least 90 percent in place by March 1999.

Jeff Cooper, PhD, director of Partners Biomedical Engineering, says that most of the biomedical equipment among the more than 10,000 individual items at the MGH has already been assessed. Fortunately, only a few types of devices will need to be updated or replaced, and those adjustments will be made before Jan. 1, 2000. He cautions, however, that items still exist for which manufacturers have not yet provided assurance of year 2000 compliance and for which replacement also may be needed. Identifying these items, Cooper reports, is a high priority for the YK2 Biomedical Engineering team.

Information Systems will be asking departments to inventory all applications not directly supported by Partners IS to ensure compliance. A user-awareness campaign will begin this fall to educate, provide directions and recommend tools for departments to assess their particular needs. A new website with year 2000 information also will be available.