It is obvious this system was never load tested. And, as another FReeper pointed out, their acceptance testing left a lot to be desired, too.
The errors where there are drop down boxes with no options are very basic, simple errors that the most rudimentary acceptance testing should have easily caught.
When I was with MCI, I wrote requirements for a new software system, worked with the IT Department to get it coded properly, supervised Alpha Testing, produced punchlists of defects, got problems fixed, rinse and repeat until system seemed stable, then assigned personnel to Beta Test. Rinse and repeat again until it was finally ready.
None of this was obviously done with this healthcare system.
There are plenty of commercial software packages that simulate people using a website; they are programmable via scripts. They are not cheap, but you have to have one. I didn’t have one available where I work, so I adapted an open-source packages to suit our purposes. And I’m not even a web designer.
I can’t believe that they got blindsided by this.