Page 321 - Using MIS

Case Study 7 289

Health
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Insurance
Health
Insurance
Company
Health
Insurance
Company
Insurance
Company
Company
State
Agency
State
Agency
State
Agency
State
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Web Site Back-End
Analysis
Book Processes
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Federal
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Individuals and Federal
Small Businesses Agency
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Federal
Figure 7-23 Agency
Federal
Healthcare Exchange Agency
Interorganizational IS

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code and to manage the implementation of the exchange and utilize the federal exchange instead. After this decision,
information system. the Oregon legislature hired an independent company, First
By June 2012, Access CT had created a project plan and Data Corporation, to investigate the causes of this debacle. 13
begun a search for the contractor to develop the site. By Unlike in Connecticut, neither Oregon’s governor nor any
September 2012, it selected Deloitte Consulting LLP. At other elected official was directly involved in the project. In
the time, Wadleigh stated, “With only 12 months until the fact, in January 2014, the governor stated that he’d only be-
14
Exchange goes live, we look forward to beginning our work come aware of the failure in “late October.” The site was to
with them immediately.” 9 have gone operational on October 1, and it strains credulity to
That summer, in an interview on July 13, a local press re- believe that it took 3 weeks for the news of the failure to reach
porter asked CEO Counihan, “Can you get it done on time?” him. In any case, it is safe to assume the governor was not a
His response: “This state’s going to get it done in time.” 10 “hands-on manager” of the project, nor did he delegate any
And it did. By the end of the federally mandated deadline, senior elected official to take that role.
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Access CT had enrolled 208,301 Connecticut residents, and According to First Data, from the onset, the project
Connecticut had become a model for state-run exchanges. suffered from divided direction. Cover Oregon is a quasi-in-
dependent corporation as is Access CT, but the exchange in-
Cover Oregon formation system was to be developed by a different govern-
The outcome was not so positive in Oregon. After spending mental agency, Oregon Health Authority (OHA). Personnel
nearly $250 million, the exchange was clearly inoperable, and in the two agencies engaged in turf battles and held deep
the exchange’s board of directors decided to stop development differences about project requirements. These differences

9 accessed May 25, 2014, http://ct.gov/hix/lib/hix/HIX-DELOITTE-RELEASE.pdf.
10 Matthew Sturdevant, “Health Exchange Chief Explains How It Will Work,” Hartford Courant, July 13, 2012, accessed May 25, 2014, www.courant.com/
health/connecticut/hc-health-exchange-20120712,0,4877364.story.
11 Arielle Levin Becker, “Obamacare Exchange’s Final Tally: 208,301 People Signed Up,” The CT Mirror, April 17, 2014, accessed May 25, 2014, http://
ctmirror.org/obamacare-exchanges-final-tally-208301-people-signed-up/.
12 Jeff Manning, “Cover Oregon: State Moves to Federal Exchange, but Oracle Technology Lives On,” The Oregonian, May 6, 2014, accessed May 25, 2014,
www.oregonlive.com/health/index.ssf/2014/05/cover_oregon_state_moves_to_fe.html.
13 “Cover Oregon Website Implementation Assessment,” April 23, 2014, accessed May 25, 2014, www.oregon.gov/DAS/docs/co_assessment.pdf.
14 Dusty Lane, “‘We Look Like Fools:’ A History of Cover Oregon’s Failure,” Katu.com, January 10, 2014, accessed May 25, 2014, www.katu.com/news/
investigators/We-look-like-fools-A-history-of-Cover-Oregons-failure-239699521.html.
15 “Cover Oregon Website Implementation Assessment.”