k - ESTI IT 1920 A System and a Disaster Oxford Health Plans is a successful health maintenance organization (HMO) in New York. The firm went public in 1991, and its stock price enjoyed steady growth. In 1997, however, problems with a new computer system led to significant losses: $120 million in the fourth quarter on top of $78 million in the third quarter. When the company announced its second-quarter loss, its stock price was 75% lower than its previous high. It could not send out monthly bills for many of its customers and could not track payments to hundreds of doctors and hospitals. During the year, uncollected payments from customers rose to $400 million, while Oxford's unpaid bills to caregivers rose to over $650 million The problem began when Oxford started planning a system based on the Oracle database management system when it had a little over 200,000 members. By the time the system went live three (3) years later, the HMO had 1.5 million members. The company tried to convert to the new system all at once. While the computer system labored under the load, Ordord management continued its aggressive drive to sign up new members. The new system was intolerant of errors that were accepted in the old one. As a result, an account with thousands of participants might have been rejected for an error in any member's record. Some customers refused to pay the HMO after not being billed for months, so Oxford had to write off over $100 million in uncollectible bills. The HMO's failure to pay its bill also angered care providers. Al one point it owed Columbia University $16 million and Comell $17 million for medical services. Oxford lost track of its actual medical costs --Information a health care provider needs to set reserves and project liabilities While the organization had been implementing information technology since the 1950s, it still seemed to repeat many of the same problems. Is this a case of management failure or technology failure? What opportunity had been lost by the company? Explain your