Year 2000 Information

All of Orchard Software's products, since version 2.5.5, will function correctly during and beyond the year 2000. If you have a version of software older than version 2.5.5, you will need to upgrade (see below).

The database engine that our products use is fully Y2K-compliant, and has been since its inception.

Dates are required in many different areas of the application:

• Manually Entered Patient Demographics (Date of Birth) and Sample Collection Information
  All dates entered into the software require full 4-digit years, and are stored with 4 digit years in the database. There are no problems if all of your data is entered from the keyboard directly into our software.
• Manually Entered Dates in Quality Control and Administrative Reports
  Again, all dates entered manually into the software require 4 digits to specify the year. There are no problems with year-2000 compliance.
• Interfaces to Medical Devices
  Many of the medical devices used in laboratories are very old. Some devices currently in use were designed in the 1970's, and have not been updated by their manufacturers since their inception, and many will undoubtedly have problems processing data once the year 2000 arrives.

Orchard has modified EVERY interface supported by our software to correctly handle 2-digit years sent by old and/or non-compliant analyzers. We have also made modifications to specific interfaces in those cases where we have been notified by customers or manufacturers of specific Y2K problems.

If your analyzers function correctly starting January 1, 2000, there should be no problem with your interfaces into our software. Contact your medical device manufacturer for more information about specific known issues regarding the instrumentation in your lab.

• Standards-based Host Interfaces (HL7 and ASTM)
  All of the host interfaces (medical records, billing, demographics) based on HL7 and ASTM standards are fully compliant with Year-2000 processing. They will function correctly.
• Orchard Proprietary Host Interfaces
  All of the host interface definitions developed and designed by Orchard are Y2K-compliant.
• Third Party Proprietary Host Interfaces
  Some interfaces whose specifications were designed by third parties (billing system companies, MIS departments of our customers, medical record companies), are not Y2K-compliant and send date of birth and sample collection information using 2-digit years. The best solution, if you have one of these interfaces, is to try to upgrade to a standards-based interface (HL7 or ASTM), or use the special tools built into our software which were designed to help patch these problematic interfaces.

How To Upgrade

Orchard Software will provide a FREE upgrade to Version 2.5.5 of our software to all customers, past and present. If you do not have a current support contract, we will only supply the software to you. We will not provide any assistance with installing the software if your support contract has expired. Call Orchard Software Technical Support if you would like a free upgrade to version 2.5.5. The version 2.5.5 upgrade is available on CD-ROM for Windows 95/98/2000/NT, and on floppy disks or CD-ROM for the Macintosh. If you have a current support agreement and you need to upgrade to version 2.5.5 (or higher), simply contact your Technical Support representative, and we will help you determine your current software version, and schedule a time that we can help you perform the upgrade.