InformationWeek

May 17, 1999

Aetna Prepares For Partners' Y2K Problems

With testing nearly done, focus is on contingency plans

By Bob Violino

Related links:

Y2K Under Control

Year 2000 Resource Center

And from our sister publications:

TechWeb Year 2000

n a health-care industry that's been slow to make progress in year 2000 remediation and contingency planning, Aetna Inc. is on the fast track. The $21 billion provider of health-care and health-maintenance organization plans completed all code conversions in March and expects to finish testing by midyear. Aetna's focus now is to ensure that health-care partners and critical suppliers are doing as well--and to complete contingency plans in case they're not.

The Y2K progress of health-care companies in general has been sluggish, according to industry and government reports. In a quarterly update on industry Y2K efforts issued in April, the President's Council on Year 2000 Conversion said the health-care sector hasn't made adequate progress. A study released earlier this year by the Odin Group, a research and advisory group serving the health-care industry, showed that many companies have underestimated the need for year 2000 contingency planning. And in a recent InformationWeek Research survey, IT professionals rated the health-care sector lower than any other industry reviewed when it came to confidence in vendors' and providers' ability to avoid Y2K-related disruptions of service (InformationWeek, May 10, 1999).

Aetna, the largest U.S. managed-care company, began planning for year 2000 contingencies last year and has a plan that covers all of its business processes: customer, supply-chain, and provider and network management, as well as care delivery. "We looked at all of our critical processes from a member and patient standpoint, and made sure we had a safety net around all of them," says Dana Bennett, VP and program manager of Aetna's year 2000 project. The Hartford, Conn., company developed a methodology to identify internal and external risks and possible failure scenarios and determined ways to continue delivering service in the event of Y2K-related breakdowns, she says.

For example, in anticipation of a possible rise in the volume of telephone and Internet inquiries from customers and partners, as well as increased claim volumes, Aetna developed a plan to increase network and computing capacity quickly, Bennett says. Aetna is also in ongoing talks with key trading partners inside and outside the health-care industry to ensure that all systems that could affect Aetna's operations are ready for the date change. Of critical importance, Bennett says, are companies such as banks, IT vendors, telephone companies, and utilities. In the event that any of its key suppliers have system failures, Aetna has identified and is ready to sign up with alternative suppliers.

"Aetna is well ahead of the pack in terms of Y2K readiness and aggressiveness in reaching out to its trading partners. It should serve as a role model for the industry," says Woody Taylor, a partner in health-care IT at KPMG Peat Marwick, which has worked with many health-care companies on Y2K issues. Aetna is also a participant in VitalSigns2000, an industry effort managed by the Odin Group to promote Y2K compliance and contingency planning.