I know, I know, I haven't posted in awhile, but I promise to get back at it.
In preparing for class tomorrow, I wanted to retrieve a news story on the current status of CBMS. I give my undergraduate students a synopsis of the two larger cases Cindi Fukami and I published for graduate students. Basically, it asks them whether or not CBMS should have gone "live" on September 1, 2004 with all of the evidence around that it was not ready for prime time. I've used the synopsis in undergrad classes for years now, and students cannot believe that such an important computer system could be broken for so many years. It's a real eye-opener for them and recalling it will keep them out of trouble when, sometime in their careers, they will be a non-technical manager serving as exceutive sponsor for an IS project.
I'll finish the discussion with the most current status report on CBMS from the Denver Post on January 23, 2011 (below) and watch my student's jaws drop in bisbelief.
"Massive delays continue to plague the state benefits system for Medicaid, food stamps and other assistance, obstructing hundreds of thousands of residents and prompting a new contempt of court call by legal advocates for the poor.
"In some categories, the roadblocks have worsened despite years of attempted fixes. Tens of thousands of clients a month are suffering illegal delays on 71 percent of Child Health Plan Plus re-enrollments and 44 percent of initial adult Medicaid applications, the contempt filings claim.
"With state and county caseloads bulging from the recession, the delays affected more than 248,000 people seeking to start or extend medical benefits in an 18-month period from 2009 to mid-2010.
"While applicants may eventually receive back benefits, they miss vital food aid during the gaps and watch doctors, clinics and pharmacies refuse them care for lack of insurance.
"They've regressed," said Ed Kahn of the Colorado Center on Law and Policy, a party to the lawsuit against the state dating to 2004. In rulings and negotiations since then, the state has been required to improve the system performance or face sanctions.
"Legal advocates fear further breakdowns in the system as 300,000 more Coloradans become eligible for medical assistance through new programs taking effect by 2014.
"It's pretty obvious the current system is not able to handle the expansion," Kahn said.
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