Hospitals Say They Are Y2K-Ready
Anyone planning an in-patient procedure near year's end or as January dawns need not worry about the Y2K bug, according to an American Hospital Association (AHA) survey. Most hospitals questioned by the AHA said that they expect their computers to be Y2K-compliant by Dec. 31.
The question is are they telling anyone? If you aren't doing your own Y2K PR by now, chances are someone is doing it for you. And chances are what the media is saying may not be good.
The survey found that:
- Approximately 13 percent of hospitals are already Y2K-compliant;
- Approximately 6 percent say their medical devices are currently compliant and 90 percent said they devices would be ready by the end of the year.
- Just half of a percent of the 2,000 hospitals surveyed said they expected to have problems.
(AHA, Alicia Mitchell, 202/626-2339)
Hiking Cigarette Prices Helps Pregnant Women Quit
Higher price tags on cigarettes may help pregnant women kick the habit, according to research teams at the University of Maryland and Louisiana State University. A 10 percent increase in the price of a pack of cigarettes results in a 5 percent decrease in the rates of pregnant women who smoke, according to the survey.
These findings should add fuel to the argument for tax increases, which some members of Congress have proposed, to help women who are on the borderline of quitting make that final decision.
It is estimated that if the price of a pack of cigarettes goes up by $1.10 it could lead to a 30 percent reduction in usage among pregnant women.
The study looked at nearly 10 million births from the National Center for Health Statistics and found that smokers who conceived around the time of an increase in the cigarette tax were more likely to quit.
In other tobacco news, a Florida-based anti-tobacco media campaign targeting school children has resulted in significant declines in smoking among youth. Florida's Pilot Program on Tobacco Control, known as the "Truth" campaign, was launched last year with funds from a landmark $11.3 billion tobacco settlement.
The ad campaign features teenagers and blasted cigarette companies and what state officials refer to as tobacco "supporters," like stores that sell tobacco to minors and producers of movies that portray smoking as cool.
Last year, cigarette smoking among high school students declined to 25.2 percent from 27.4 percent and among middle school students the rate dipped to 15 percent from 18.5 percent.
(University of Maryland, 410/626-3100)
Doctors' Offices Need To Be Regulated
The New York State Society of Anesthesiologists is launching a patient education campaign to increase awareness that the safety regs which apply to hospitals and surgery centers are not the same in doctors offices.
The organization found in a recent study that many patients assume the same safety rules in healthcare facilities are uniform.
Fifty percent of those questioned said they believed either the same patient safety rules used by hospitals and outpatient surgery centers apply to doctors' offices (28 percent) or said they didn't know if they were the same (22 percent). The survey queried 1,009 adults nationwide.
Since an increasing number of medical procedures are being handled in doctors' offices, especially plastic and cosmetic surgery, NYSSA is pushing for strengthened patient safety regulations.
NYSSA is recommending that patients ask their doctor:
- Who will give the anesthetic?
- If a nurse will be giving the anesthetic, who will be supervising?
- Who will help me during my recovery from the anesthesia?
(NYSSA, Susan Sullivan, 212/867-7164)