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| Tim Klimasewski |
The start of daylight saving time--that painful Sunday when millions of Americans have to wake up an hour earlier--comes three weeks early this year, thanks to the Energy Policy Act. Signed into law in 2005, the act extends daylight saving time (DST) by three weeks in the spring and one week in the fall in an effort to conserve energy. This is the first time these dates will have changed from the traditional dates established in 1966 as the first Sunday in April to the last Sunday in October.
Back in 2005, very few people understood how the Energy Policy Act would affect computers and software in 2007. The United States has not experienced a DST rule change event since computers and networks became integral to health care and society as a whole. But it’s clear that the DST rule change will have a significant impact on information systems’ clocks.
The old DST change dates were hard-coded into software and operating systems and require an update or patch to keep the proper time. This affects virtually every type of computer hardware, application and electronic device. However, this change has not received the attention it deserves. Many vendors are late to the game, which means an even bigger challenge for hospital IT staff to keep applications running on time.
Accurate time is vital for patient care. It plays an important role in records management, billing systems, access control and network security. It also supports compliance with HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, Medicaid and Medicare rules, Joint Commission guidelines and many other regulations and best practices. In most hospitals, time-keeping is managed by computer clocks for applications such as scheduling, critical log files and computer-based time stamps. A change in scheduled DST dates can have far-reaching effects that rival those of Y2K.
If clocks are off by an hour, it’s more than a little nuisance. Network applications are at the risk of failing, databases won’t synchronize and patient data will be incorrect. Devoting attention to this situation now ensures an organization won’t be at risk at 2 a.m. on Sunday, March 11.
What This Means
Addressing the new DST rule change requires a review of every branch and leaf of your time-keeping infrastructure tree. Every time-sensitive device and software will require at least a manual reconfiguration but more likely a software update or patch.
The majority of hospital computers run on Microsoft operating systems. Vista, the newest system, is the only Microsoft operating system ready for the new DST rules; all other platforms will require manual intervention. An update for the latest version of Windows XP is available along with updates to Exchange servers and Outlook clients. Microsoft no longer provides technical support for older operating systems, so those versions of Windows require other change strategies such as running third-party patch software or simply turning off the “automatically adjust clock for daylight saving time” in Date and Time Properties.
Where to Start
To minimize the impact of this change on your organization, start working now.
First, make sure the change affects your facility. This change is based on American law but only affects states that observe DST and does not include Arizona and Hawaii. Some Canadian provinces and other North American locales will harmonize with the U.S. but it’s best to check with local authorities.
Next, compile an inventory of all the devices and software that have time-of-day requirements. Visit manufacturer and how-to Web sites and ask if a patch or upgrade is available, then develop a distribution strategy. Create an exception list of devices that will require manual intervention. If the organization does not have adequate staff for this activity, it’s not too late to call a consultant or a contractor.
A hospital IT manager, Rob Bergin, estimates that he has spent more than 40 hours preparing his organization for the DST change and expects to spend even more time with a multi-person team to handle gathering all of the various software and hardware vendor patches and fixes for DST.
“A lot of folks are still in the dark on this issue,” Bergin says. “I started a Web site to keep track of vendor links, and I am getting feedback that this service has been very useful.” Bergin’s Web site is www.dstpatch.com.
After creating a technical to-do list, get started on a DST communication plan. Inform the organization about the change and discuss the plans to address it. Send key personnel a notification during the week ending Friday, March 9, to alert them about the potential impact over the weekend. Then, send a notification on Monday, March 12, asking users to check their computers and report any discrepancies.
The need to update computers and software for DST may be good practice for a repeat next year. The 2005 Energy Policy Act has a provision to change DST dates back if no measurable energy savings can be documented. That decision will occur no later than nine months after the 2007 changes go into effect.
Next week: The author discusses how synchronizing time throughout a health care organization improves operations.
Tim Klimasewski is marketing manager for Spectracom, Rochester, N.Y.
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This article first appeared on February 28, 2007 in HHN's Magazine online site.
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