Dear AuntMinnie Member,
If you're a fan of daylight-saving time, you're going to be one happy camper on Monday, when residents of the U.S. will start enjoying an extra hour of evening sunshine three weeks earlier than usual.
You might not be such a happy camper on Monday if you're a PACS or healthcare IT administrator. That's because most computer software is programmed to shift to daylight-saving time at the usual schedule, before the passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 moved the start of daylight saving up to March 11.
While the early time change does not have the urgency or drama of Y2K and HIPAA, healthcare facilities and IT vendors have been preparing for several months, analyzing IT systems, creating software patches, and performing system upgrades to make sure everything goes like, well, clockwork.
No major problems in patient care are expected, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a warning indicating that there is the possibility that some medical devices, hospital networks, and IT systems may "generate adverse events." The agency is recommending that healthcare facilities take preventive measures.
Staff writer Wayne Forrest reports on what steps vendors and providers are taking to make sure all information technology -- whether it be PACS and RIS or workstations and PCs -- and radiology equipment are all in sync this Sunday. Read all about it by clicking here, or visit our PACS Digital Community, at pacs.auntminnie.com.
