The change in the beginning and end of daylight saving time (DST) may adversely affect medical equipment which use date and time information for diagnosis or treatment, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The new DST began 3 weeks earlier and will end one week later this year.

Medical equipment that uses, creates, or records time or date information about a patient’s diagnosis or treatment may register the wrong dates for the start and end of DST when the changes are implemented, according to an alert sent Friday from MedWatch, the FDA’s safety information and adverse event reporting program.

The FDA notes that most devices currently in use are likely to be affected, unless they were manufactured after the DST change was approved (Energy Policy Act of 2005) or have been updated by the manufacturer.

Read the FDA alert here.