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Charles Marwick

JAMA. 1999;282:1410-1411.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Washington—Authorities are concerned that much of the US health care system is not electronically ready for the new millennium. The result is that patients may suffer and physicians' bills for services may not be paid.

In preparing to deal with what is widely known as the Y2K problem, the health care system lags behind much of the rest of the nation, said Sen Christopher Dodd (D, Conn), speaking at the National Press Club here last month. Dodd is vice chair of the Senate Committee on the Year 2000. The technical dependency of patient data systems, billing systems, pharmaceutical manufacturing and distribution systems, and the embedded microprocessors in biomedical devices make the health care industry vulnerable, he said.

"We are heading into the last leg of this Y2K race against the calendar. Time is not the friend of those organizations that have delayed accepting the reality of the . . . [Full Text of this Article]