Custom healthcare software development [Guide 2021]

Operating systems that are tailored to an organization’s specific needs are proven to perform better than their standardized counterparts because they have an exclusivity trait and, well, non-trivial problems need non-trivial solutions.

Companies that value personal approach, flexibility, and cost efficiency have long jumped on the bandwagon of custom software. We’re talking about everyone from healthcare, entertainment, and real estate to engineering and FinTech. They have already reaped the benefits of a secure and scalable operating system that comes with a 24/7 support system for dealing with unexpected bugs and other malfunctions. Custom healthcare software development has become one of the examples of this trend.

The role of software in the healthcare industry

The software in the healthcare industry is in increasing demand, and this is not surprising. Why? Here’s a bit of statistics: valued at $8.45 trillion in 2018, the healthcare industry is forecasted to reach over $10 trillion in net worth in 2022. What does it mean? It means that the industry is booming and isn’t planning on stopping anytime soon. This is to be expected. Consisting of sub-industries like pharmaceuticals, medical research facilities, and medical insurance carriers among the hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and nursing homes, it has the biggest share (i.e. it consumes 10+ percent of GDP) in the modern-day economy. This means the healthcare industry produces tons of data, requiring processing, every day, and demands modern and rapid tools to manage this complex system efficiently.

In addition to the rapidly aging population and the growing number of patients, suffering from chronic conditions, there’s been a surge in personalized healthcare. Individuals became more comfortable with using electronic devices to educate themselves on the state of their health. Healthcare providers had to meet them in the middle and change their own approach to patients by advising them on how to incorporate healthy habits into their life to prevent certain diseases. It also led to the emergence of ways to diagnose health conditions ahead of time and intervene in the early stages.

The scale of this demand posed issues that the healthcare industry wasn’t accustomed to before. A good part of them required heavy technological interference. Here are the key elements of a successful project that can meet the client’s requirements:

• Secure transfer of data to electronic devices;
  Development of mobile applications for the provision of virtual healthcare services;
• Employment of accessible medicine delivery methods to lower costs;
• Recruitment and training of qualified medical personnel;
• Well-thought approach to partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions to gain long-term financial stability.

All of it called for modern solutions – new keys – for the newly-appeared requests awaiting a shift in the provision of healthcare services and opened new doors for the software in the healthcare industry.

*COVID-19 added to the already overwhelming medical system with the urgent need for rapid testing and its race for the vaccine – the proof for the necessity of these changes and the priority with which they had to be made.

The Growing Demand for Healthcare Management Software

The rapid growth of the industry gave birth to technologies that would go on to transform the way patients are taken care of. It emphasized the importance of healthcare IT solutions and led to the emergence of innovative programs and tools that automatized workflows, modernized pharmaceutical software, and raised awareness about the ways everyone can adopt wellness-inducing habits into their day-to-day life. But before diverse types of healthcare management software tightly secured their position on the market, the next had to be addressed:

Blockchain in healthcare

The search for a technologically secure method of collecting, storing, and sharing patients’ information resulted in the development of blockchain-based data systems that enabled secure transmission of medical records not only between patients and healthcare professionals but also among doctors and scientists.

The blockchain in healthcare has been embodied in such software tools as Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) that are successfully being applied at medical facilities across the globe.

The progress in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) sector

There’s no underestimating when it comes to exploiting smart machines for the better good of humanity. The speedy advancements in the field meant more patients benefited from an early diagnosis (particularly crucial in detecting cancerous illnesses), accurate treatment, and overall maintenance of their health. It also meant more medical institutions could automate their administrative tasks and reduce operational costs, using healthcare management software.

The growth of telemedicine software demand

The telemedicine software has now spread worldwide for a good reason. Remote healthcare services using it have gained momentum in the past decade, coming in handy in more than just one way. If a patient resides in a rural area where he can’t get access to the doctor he needs, telemedicine allows him to connect and share his health information with the healthcare professional via an electronic device of his choice. In turn, it enables his doctor to monitor the patient’s health and give him proper medical advice that doesn’t require the patient to leave his home.

This leveraging of technology has a high likelihood of patients actually using medical services more often than they would, had they not have the opportunity to digitally connect with physicians.

With the movement expanding year after year, companies have started developing mobile applications and video-conferencing tools that would authorize effortless interactions between medical professionals and patients – the trend that seems to be reshaping the approach to one’s health.

Use cases of software in the healthcare industry

As the number of technological breakthroughs continues to escalate, so does healthcare software. Relying in large part on the improvements of the industry and the constant enhancement of its efficiency, it doesn’t cease to impress medical practitioners with new and improved solutions to the old issues.

The following healthcare application software examples are the evidence:

Electronic Health Record (EHR)

Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Electronic Medical Record (EMR) are the sister software in the healthcare industry that has altered the way patient data is stored and shared. It made an emphasis on the importance of patient-centric healthcare and lifted the weight off the shoulders of medical professionals who deal with thousands of patients every month.

Expected to reach $33.294 billion in net worth by 2023, the EHR market is known for its ground-breaking outlook on medical records and its potential to become the standard practice of every medical facility. Containing valuable data on patient’s demographics, medical history (including allergies), health assessments, prescriptions, and insurance information, Electronic Health Record acts as an intermediary between the patient and the doctor that helps determine the plan of action tailored to that one individual.

A well-developed EHR allows patients to acquire timely medical care and receive a more accurate diagnosis and treatment. It also helps them track their own data with a simple click of a button that guarantees an interactive and error-free experience. In addition, they’re able to get personalized reminders about health check-ups and save time on commute and money on in-person appointments.

Healthcare professionals get an abundance of benefits as well. They are free to take on remote patients and provide them with long-distance consultations and evaluate patients’ data for medical studies. Besides, they are given a much sought-after opportunity to increase their productivity by being efficient in e-prescribing medicine and communicating with laboratories, drug stores, insurance companies, and other hospitals promptly.

Hospital Management Software (HMS)

Just like the name suggests, Hospital Management Software is the glue that holds all hospital-related matters together. This includes administrative work, medical data management, insurance handling, and hospital finances. It’s only when every part of the equation is under control, hospitals can shift their focus on solely serving patients.

HMS software enables quick and easy prescription of medicine, time-efficient scheduling of patients, and recording of nuances like patient’s pre-existing conditions and allergies that are essential to a faultless treatment. It also allows electronic processing of lab work and its delivery to healthcare professionals in a matter of a few instants. Billing management is another feature of this program that simplifies the internal operations of the medical facility.

Medical Practice Management Software (MPMS)

This integration with the EHR and EMR programs is slowly but surely turning into a must-have for every healthcare professional. Having at its core the goal of streamlining the workflow of clinics and improving the way things are run in a medical institution, MPMS is responsible for aiding with business matters like financial reports and accounting management, as well as with the daily scheduling and patient record management.

Healthcare Relationship Management (CRM)

An often overlooked software that plays a big role in ensuring relationships with customers are maintained at a high level, Healthcare Relationship Management occupies an honorable place in the healthcare space of today. It acts as a one-of-a-kind type of technology that acquires, develops, and supports relationships with customers so that they feel seen and heard.

Marketing campaigns, patients management, and performance feedback all fall under this category of software. These components work together to ensure the facility is staying on top of its business game and has a bright future in terms of growth.

Urgent Care Mobile Applications

The digitalization of the world didn’t leave any industry behind. In the case of healthcare, it facilitated the development of urgent care applications that made a good chunk of in-person appointments abundant. Now, patients can get the medical care they need simply by downloading an app and searching for a healthcare professional who could consult them on the go.

The best part – the quality of the offered services isn’t compromised. Patients are still able to schedule video meetings, submit their medical files, and order medicine just like they would during a real-life appointment. In their turn, doctors can collect and track patients’ information and provide medical guidance that doesn’t differ from the one offered in a non-virtual setting.

The importance of healthcare solutions

The importance of healthcare IT solutions is not to be underestimated as it is the road to a better-equipped healthcare system. While healthcare software takes a more specialized approach to patients’ management, medical software encompasses a broader range of tools targeting research, medical practice, quality control, and medical reporting that can be operated on their own or in tandem with medical equipment. Its applications stretch beyond medical subfields and consist of:

Research Software – an operating system based on performing statistical analysis via collecting medical data and reporting it for future studies.

Office Software – an operating system built to banish paperwork and automate administrative work performed by medical representatives daily.

Scheduling Software – an operating system aimed at managing schedules of medical personnel in a time-efficient manner.

Population Health Management Software – an operating system that manages patients’ data so that it can then be used by healthcare professionals for accurate diagnosis and treatment.

Multimedia Software – an operating system that can take the form of an image or voice recognition analysis powered by AI.

Medical Device Software – an operating system that can take the form of manufacturing and maintenance, Software as a Medical Device (SaMD), or a Software in a Medical Device (SiMD) platform. The importance of medical devices in healthcare is emphasized by either one of these types of software.

Agencies whose work revolves around creating medical software development standards and putting them into masses have long cracked the code on the positive influence it has on the healthcare industry. They’ve recognized the difference digital solutions can make in the life of a medical expert and come up with standardized and customized programs of many kinds.

Benefits of healthcare software

Upgraded business management

Reliance on technology for collection and interpretation of data translates to saved time on mundane tasks, improvement of operational processes, and decreased costs. The long-term effect is better service and higher levels of trustworthiness – the attributes that every business (healthcare included) strives towards.

Increased patient acquisition

Being a hands-on industry aspiring to help as many patients as possible, healthcare would rather not spend time creating and managing marketing campaigns. This is where medical software applications prove to be essential. With the help of a Healthcare Relationship Management platform, the industry can focus on what matters most – maintenance and improvement of the population’s health.

Boosted quality of service

When the previous two points are at work, the quality of service is amplified, too. No paperwork, streamlined (and largely digitized) workflow, and remote provision of services lead to a boosted performance of the industry as a whole.

Using custom healthcare software to your advantage

There’s no doubt that the adoption of the standard healthcare software should be an essential practice. But what if there was a way to take it one step further and benefit from a soundly working operating system (or a few) for the decades to come?

Meet custom healthcare software. Described as a process of designing, creating, deploying, and maintaining software for a specific set of users, functions, and organizations, it serves as a one-off operating system that helps develop solid relationships among healthcare professionals, medical scientists, and patients that are beneficial to everyone involved.

Why custom software development is important

Unlike off-the-shelf software, customized digital platforms target challenges that concern every medical institution in particular. They are developed by in-house professionals or outsourced to a reliable third party that can offer them a functional piece of software that solves their issues exactly.

Whether you’re in search of a program that would take over the health records of your hospital’s patients or create a virtual environment for your workers to manage their schedules and track appointments, custom healthcare software developed by Optimum Web has got you covered. There’s no need to be a genius in the technical know-how either – our software developers who provide you with access to these platforms are here to guide you through the ins and outs of these operating systems. Besides, we’re usually available around the clock in case of emergencies.

If you’ve decided to build a custom program for your healthcare business in-house, consider adhering to this plan:

1. Identify your users

Just like businesses define their target audiences before creating their product/service, you should establish who it is that will be using it and what healthcare software features they need. This will give you a great start to developing the system that will meet (and exceed) their demands.

2. Architect secure software

Plan, revise, and plan again. The strategizing stage requires you to be the most diligent when deciding how the software will function. It has to be user-friendly, includes every function needed for the users, and be cyber-attack-proof at the same time. Then and only then will you get approved by the FDA.

3. Seamlessly integrate it with other systems

By introducing new software to the workflow, you have to ensure its smooth integration. This means no data is lost during the migration and neither patients nor medical professionals should experience any delays in using the system.

If hiring outside help seems like a better option to you, ensure that the company or the developer you recruit has a proven track record. Don’t fall for fake reviews and questionable case studies that can’t be verified. You should also check on software providers as often as you can to ensure everything is going to plan and the deliverables are being met. Getting involved is never a bad idea either – even if you’re not a tech wizard yourself, you should get familiarized with the platform and understand how it works.

Custom software development in healthcare: Optimum Web approach

Will the standard healthcare software be thrown on the back burner in the light of its custom counterpart coming in hot? We don’t know that. What we do know, however, is that the more healthcare businesses arise, the more they will start digging deeper into the ways to distinguish themselves from the crowd. And that inevitably leads to the appropriation of custom solutions that will give them that peace of mind that they’re on the right track.

In Optimum Web, we work to develop custom software solutions that would help your healthcare business distinguish itself from others. They are designed to satisfy all the variety of your customers’ needs, as well as bring the medical organization’s routine management to the next level.

We offer two ways to achieve this result:

1. You can hire us for custom healthcare software development. We will seek several rounds of consultations with your team to get a full understanding of your specific goals and objectives.

2. You can choose to augment your staff with our development professionals, who will smoothly integrate with your in-house team and get into the essence of your business to create a perfectly tailored solution.

We are likely to see the healthcare industry grow exponentially in the upcoming decades, and this growth will be accompanied by innovation that’s hard to imagine right now. To make sure you stay relevant to your customers as they become informed about countless ways they can take care of their health, it’s recommended for you to take the leap and join the club of those using the custom healthcare software development services provided by proven professionals in the field. The results won’t leave you waiting.