HealthCare.gov
 

Progress and Performance Report
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents 

Overview......................................................................................... 3
 

Real Time Monitoring.................................................................... 4
 

Software Fixes.......................................................................... 5
 

Hardware Upgrades................................................................. 5
 

Response Times............................................................................. 6
 

Error Rates................................................................................6
 

System Stability............................................................................. 7
 

System Capacity............................................................................. 7
 

Summary and Conclusion.............................................................. 8
 

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Overview 

In mid-October, the Obama administration conducted an assessment of the site HealthCare.gov. The 

assessment was conducted by experts from across government and private sector. The team identified 

the problems and necessary fixes and determined that HealthCare.gov was fixable, but only with 

significant changes to the management approach, and a relentless focus on execution. This report 

details the substantial progress that has been made to improve and stabilize HealthCare.gov, including 

hundreds of software fixes and numerous hardware upgrades, so that the system runs smoothly for the 

vast majority of users. 

The status of HealthCare.gov in October was marked by an unacceptable user experience. Consumers 

were experiencing slow response times and frequent, inexplicable error messages. The website 

experienced frequent outages. For some weeks in the month of October, the site was down an 

estimated 60 percent of the time. The assessment determined the root causes for these site flaws to be 

hundreds of software bugs, insufficient hardware and infrastructure. The system monitoring and 

response mechanisms were not sufficient for identifying issues or bugs or responding to them in real 

time. Inadequate management oversight and coordination among technical teams prevented real-time 

decision making and efficient responses to address the issues with the site. 

Improving the user experience for HealthCare.gov required deeper real-time analysis to the system, 

additional technical expertise, and a strong management structure to drive the prioritization and metricdriven execution of fixes. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) appointed QSSI as the 

General Contractor and Systems Integrator. QSSI, with their deep project management expertise, 

coordinates all activity with CMS and other contractors. With one central command structure and “War 

Room” meetings of all key parties held twice a day for real-time, data-based decision making, the team 

has been able to implement high-performance management practices and drive through a priority set of 

fixes. 

The newly installed technical monitoring instruments have allowed for constant real-time analysis of site 

performance. With this new data and management structure the team has the capacity to rapidly 

respond to any incidents and to better understand root causes. 

Over the last five weeks, substantial progress has been made improving HealthCare.gov and getting the 

system to where it needs to be: 

•	 Hundreds of software fixes, hardware upgrades and continuous monitoring have measurably 

improved the consumer experience 

•	 Site capacity is stable at its intended level 

•	 Operating metrics are greatly improved, and activity levels demonstrate the site is working for 

consumers 

While there is more work to be done, the team is operating with private sector velocity and 

effectiveness, and will continue their work to improve and enhance the website in the weeks and 

months ahead. The following charts provide data on the systems enhancements that have been 

executed, and the resulting improvements in the site’s key operating metrics over the last several 

weeks. 

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Summary 

Achieving a system that runs smoothly of the vast majority of consumers

Metrics Progress Update

Response Time Average system response time lower than 1

second

Error Rate Lower error rate, consistently well below 1%

System Stability Hardware upgrades and software fixes to support 

system uptime of 90%+

Rapid Response Team 24/7 monitoring and operations center and team 

in place to ensure optimal system performance 

and to respond to glitches and unplanned 

downtimes

Concurrent Users Capacity for concurrent user target of 50,000. 

supporting a minimum 800,000 visits per day

Conclusion

As the metrics detailed in this report reveal, dramatic progress has been made on improving 

HealthCare.gov. There is more work to be done to continue to improve and enhance the website and 

continue to improve the consumer experience in the weeks and months ahead. The new management 

system and instrumentation have helped improve site stability, lower the error rating below 1%, 

increase capacity to allow 50,000 concurrent users to simultaneously use the site and will help drive 

continuous improvement on the site. While we strive to innovate and improve our outreach and 

systems for reaching consumers, we believe we have met the goal of having a system that will work 

smoothly for the vast majority of users.