Healthcare Software Development: The Ultimate Guide
Healthcare software development has completely revolutionized the operations of healthcare service providers, patients, and administrators. The ever-growing need for better quality and efficient healthcare services has led to the requirement for more robust healthcare software solutions. More importantly, this industry faces increased efficiency, enhanced patient outcomes, and regulatory compliance requirements. In the digital age, having a healthcare software solution is not an advantage. It has become a necessity as most healthcare providers have gone digital.
For those who are looking for healthcare software development but have no clue where to start, we have brought up this guide. In this ultimate guide, we’ll understand healthcare software development, types of healthcare software, the process of developing these apps, and challenges and opportunities the healthcare industry faces. So, let’s start.
What is Healthcare Software Development?
Healthcare software development includes developing applications and platforms containing tools specifically customized for the healthcare sector. Healthcare software of different types serves different purposes; some are meant to keep patient records, diagnostics, and telemedicine, and some are used for billing. Whatever their purpose, they serve the same goal, which is to improve delivery, increase patient safety, and simplify clinical workflows to provide better healthcare facilities.
Why is healthcare software development important?
The healthcare industry is complex and highly regulated. Healthcare software development deals with the specific issues this industry encounters regarding secure data management, the protection of patient confidentiality, and compliance with various regulations.
Furthermore, software solutions serve as ways to combat the rise in healthcare costs that are projected to increase by 5.4 per cent annually in the United States through 2028(Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services). By optimizing resources and enabling preventive care, healthcare software development can significantly reduce operational costs and improve patient outcomes.
Types of Healthcare Software Solutions
Healthcare software solutions come in a variety of forms, each for different needs in the healthcare industry. The main types are as follows:
- Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Electronic Medical Records (EMR)
EHR and EMR systems have been widely used in recent times to digitize patient data easily, sharing, updating, and accessing across various departments and healthcare facilities. This software improves efficiency and prevents errors that might be caused while keeping paper records.
- Practice Management Software, PMS
PMS healthcare software provides solutions to manage day-to-day healthcare operations for a healthcare provider, such as patient scheduling, billing, and resource allocation. By easing administrative tasks, PMS saves time on paperwork and delivers more time for a healthcare professional to care for patients.
- Telemedicine Platforms
Telemedicine healthcare software development allows healthcare providers to provide remote consultations, diagnoses, and treatments via secure video calls, messaging, and mobile apps. Usage rates of telemedicine skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic, rising 154% within the first quarter of 2020 compared to the same period last year (CDC). This trend doesn’t seem to fade because telemedicine provides accessible healthcare, especially in rural areas.
- Medical Imaging Software
Medical imaging software plays a vital role in assisting radiologists and other health professionals in viewing, analyzing, and sharing X-rays or MRIs/CTs. Advanced imaging software often integrates AI technologies to help in disease diagnostics and ensure higher accuracy of diagnoses.
- Patient Portal Software
Patient portals offer patients safe and convenient access to their health information, the ability to communicate with providers, appointment scheduling, and prescription management. As of 2021, the American Hospital Association reported that well over 90% of the hospitals utilized patient portals, which highlights the importance of healthcare software in modern healthcare.
- Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS)
CDSS software helps healthcare professionals make data-informed clinical decisions by analyzing patient data. With this analysis, the CDSS software provides useful insights and recommendations that help reduce diagnosis errors and improve treatment outcomes.
- Billing and Medical Coding Software
Billing and coding software automates the billing process and tracks compliance with insurance requirements. Automated coding solutions will reduce human error and speed up reimbursement with the appropriate use of codes.
Now you know the different types of healthcare software, let’s take a look at the key steps involved in healthcare software development.
Key Steps Involved in the Healthcare Software Development Process
Creating healthcare software is a multi-stage process. It requires careful planning, design, development, and testing. The following is an overview of the key stages:
- Market Research and Requirements Gathering
Before you start the development, it is important to understand the existing needs for healthcare market solutions. Market research will help you identify whether your solution aligns with the industry’s needs or not. Market research will give you an idea of whether the solution you think to build is really a pain point and whether it needs to be solved or not.
- Defining Scope and Objectives
A clear objective helps ensure that the software will meet the needs of its users. This stage requires setting up the software functionality, the technical descriptions, and the project timelines.
- Design and Prototyping
During this phase, UX/UI designers design the wireframes and prototypes to sketch out the layout and functionality of the software. Because healthcare professionals have high workloads, you have to make your software a robust solution; it must be intuitive, quick to use, and speedy.
- Development and Programming
The real healthcare software development starts in this phase. Here, developers will use programming languages like Python, Java, or C++ to build a robust backend and to develop a very responsive frontend for your healthcare software. During this phase, you should pay keen attention to data security and regulatory compliance, especially with the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
- Testing and Quality Assurance
Testing is a crucial aspect of healthcare software development to ensure that the software works as expected and meets the necessary security and privacy requirements. Quality assurance is particularly important in healthcare software, as any errors can affect patient safety.
- Deployment and Integration
Once the software has passed all tests, it is deployed to the healthcare provider’s systems. Also, make sure your healthcare software can be easily integrated with other existing systems, like EHR or billing software, to provide seamless functionality.
- Maintenance and Support:
The health sector is dynamic and is evolving day by day, so your healthcare software needs to evolve with it. Provide regular updates on your software, including updates, bugs, and technical support to safeguard its performance and security.
The key challenges in healthcare software development
There are a lot of challenges in developing healthcare software. Here are some of the main issues developers face:
- Data Security and Compliance
Healthcare software tends to contain highly sensitive information on patients; therefore, it needs extreme protection against cyber-attacks. In 2022, the healthcare industry suffered a 94% ransomware-related attack incident, according to Sophos. Also, make sure your software follows the regulatory compliance with HIPAA in the U.S. and GDPR in Europe to prevent inflicting unnecessary fines.
- Interoperability
Healthcare industries rely on several systems, such as EHRs and Lab Information Systems, that need to work together seamlessly. A lack of interoperability can lead to data silos, limiting the effectiveness of healthcare delivery. Make sure your software doesn’t have any interoperability issues.
- User Adoption
Healthcare professionals may be resistant to adopting new software due to time constraints and the learning curve associated with new technologies. Your healthcare software must be easy to use and come with an intuitive design, so it will require less training for the staff to become compatible with it.
- Unreasonable Development Costs
Last but not least, Healthcare software development is indeed quite pricey because of the strong testing requirements, regulatory compliance, and technology. On average, healthcare software development can cost anywhere from $425,000 to more than $1.5 million, depending on its complexity (CB Insights).
Tends of Healthcare Software Development
The healthcare industry is rapidly changing, and several trends are shaping the future development of healthcare software.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
AI and ML are becoming central to healthcare software. From predicting disease outbreaks to personalizing treatment plans, AI-driven solutions can significantly improve healthcare outcomes.
- Blockchain Technology
Blockchain presents an opportunity for the decentralized storage of patient data in a secure way, with assurance about the integrity of data and fraud reduction. The global blockchain in the healthcare market is expected to rise from $531.19 million in 2022 to $5.61 billion in 2030 (Fortune Business Insights).
- Cloud Computing
Cloud-based solutions allow healthcare providers to store and access patient data remotely, enabling greater flexibility and scalability. The cloud computing market in healthcare is projected to reach $89.4 billion by 2027 (Market Research Future).
Future Outlook in Healthcare Software Development
Healthcare software development would be a bright future for the industry, as there will be more investment in technology and more focus on patient care- the personal touch. According to Allied Market Research, the healthcare IT market is estimated to grow to $511 billion globally by 2027.
IT healthcare or healthcare software is now used by several big healthcare giants, and as the use of this software increases, new challenges and opportunities will arrive for sure. Here at Ftechiz, we have been renowned as the leading healthcare software development company for over 5 years now. Our team have built different healthcare software, including a telemedicine platform for the patient management system. We are highly praised for our user-oriented software, which comes with a very low learning curve and effectively enhances the healthcare industry.
Conclusion
Healthcare software development has become important nowadays, and several new healthcare providers want to build their own software to enhance operations. You can also build a healthcare software solution for EHRs, telemedicine, health chatbots, or any other type of software to streamline healthcare operations, improve patient outcomes, and reduce costs. If you have any questions or want to know more about healthcare software development, Ftechiz will be more than happy to help you. Partner with Us Today takes the first step towards transforming healthcare with technology.
