Jim is responsible for overseeing the company’s electronic technology, customized programming, and central computer telephone system, which handles approximately 65,000 calls a month from consumers calling 1-800-DENTIST^® to find a dentist. He is also the co-founder and former partner/COO of Computer Age Dentist, a practice management software company. Jim was instrumental in the design and development of Computer Age Dentist’s software, including integrating electronic claim submissions with a database of employers and insurance companies. Prior to Computer Age Dentist, Jim served as a computer programmer for Systems Development Corporation, formerly a government arm of Burroughs, which now operates under the name Unisys. A graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Jim holds a bachelor of science degree in Math and Computer Science. You may contact him by e-mail: jimd@futuredontics.com

1-800-DENTIST® is a registered service mark of Applied Anagramics, Inc. operated under license by Futuredontics, Inc. in the U.S.

It has been said that time is our enemy. That will certainly be true if you don’t start making preparations soon for the new millennium. Time could become a serious threat to your practice.

The reason for this concern is the Year 2000 (Y2K, for short) problem, or "Millennium Bug." The Y2K problem is about computers. No problem you say; you don't use a computer for much, so how could that possibly affect you? And even if there is a problem, won't "they" just fix it?

Those are good questions. And you may indeed have nothing to worry about. However, it sure can’t hurt to be aware and prepared. First of all, think about how pervasive computers and computer technology have become. Just about everything has a computer chip in it: microwave ovens, cars, fire sprinkler systems, elevators, electrical power plants, VCRs, etc.

Also think about your bank, phone company, suppliers. The Y2K problem is about computers, but when you consider the level of penetration computers have within our society (and our world), you begin to realize they are everywhere.

What is the Y2K problem and how did it happen? Around 30 - 40 years ago, when computers were first getting started, they were expensive and the information they used and manipulated had to be stored in very expensive reservoirs. One "trick" the programmers of the time used to save space, and therefore money, was to lop off the first two digits of the year--the "19" in say, 1954, to store the year as simply "54." After all, the "19" was redundant and just wasted space. Well, this was the beginning of the problem. From that point forward, just about every programmer, program, and system started using this convention. Even our own checks have the "19" printed on them so we don't have to waste time writing it over and over.

So here we are with computers and machines that can count only up to 99. What happens at 12:01 a.m. on January 1, 2000? They will think that the year has reverted back to 00! If you remember your elementary school mathematics, the number 0 can do some pretty strange things in calculations. You can't divide by it; most programs will simply respond with an error message when you try to do this. If you use it to calculate the difference between two dates, and one of them has 00 in it as the year, you're going to get a very wrong answer.

Let's say that a patient comes to see you in March 1999 and you want to put them on a 12-month recall. What date do you put in your software program if it only allows a two-digit year? It's this kind of thing that you need to investigate. Call your software vendor and get an update, if it's available. If it's not, ask what they suggest you do. Maybe it's time to switch systems.

But your problems don't stop there. Is your computer Y2K compliant? When it boots up on January 3, 2000 after a pleasant, long holiday weekend, what date will you see on the screen? January 1, 1900? How are you going to run your statements or bill insurance if the date is wrong?

You can easily test for this, however. The first thing you should do is reboot your computer so that the c: prompt comes up. (Note: Perform this test at the c: prompt only, to avoid potential problems.) Then type the word "date" and hit the enter key. You will then be shown the date and asked to enter a new one. At this point, enter December 31, 1999, and hit the enter key. Then do the same with the time, and set it to 23:59. Wait about a minute, reboot your computer, and bring it to the c: prompt again. Check the date and time as described above. Did it turn over to the year 2000? If not, you may need to get a new computer. If it did, then repeat the above steps for February 28, 2000 (the year 2000 is a leap year), and December 31, 2000, and make sure that the computer carries over to February 29 and January 1, 2001, respectively. If any of these tests fail, contact your computer’s vendor.

You should also repeat this kind of test with any equipment you rely on. X-ray machines, credit card machines, security systems—everything you can think of. The key is to make sure you test for all three of the above dates. The unfortunate thing is that not many people really thought about this problem until very recently. So now you are burdened with the task of taking care of it for yourself.

Once you come to terms with this problem in the scope of your own life, you should then turn your focus on others you depend on to keep your business and your life running smoothly. Think of all possibilities and check with everyone: electrical companies, transit authorities, the government etc. This issue will undoubtedly have some affect on our lives. If we all work together, it hopefully will be small.