Top Healthcare Software Development Companies

What Are The Official Guidelines For Medical Software Development?

Custom medical software development can be the difference between life and death. So, there is an international standard in place that ensures the performance of new medical software called IEC 62304.

It mandates a process that each custom healthcare software development life cycle should follow.

New medical software should follow these steps:

• Planning
• Analysis of requirements
• Architectural design
• Detailed design of the software
• Implementation and verification
• Integration and testing
• System testing
• Software release

Each step has detailed information that every healthcare software development company must document and supply in order to be considered compliant with international standards.

Additionally, there are three levels of IEC 62304 compliance:

• Class A requires that software document numbers 1, 2, 5 and 8 above.
• Class B requires that software solutions document numbers 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8 above.
• Class C requires that medical software document all steps listed above.

In order to comply with IEC 62304, a custom healthcare software development agency should also outline items such as:

• Risk management processes
• Medical software maintenance plans
• Record maintenance
• And more

What Are The Different Types of Healthcare Technology?

There are several types of healthcare or medical software, that healthcare practitioners might use including:

Electronic Health Record (EHR) Software

This type of healthcare software contains data about patient demographics, their medical history and laboratory results, among the others.

EHR allows physicians to share this information among themselves and thus provide better treatment to their patients.

Electronic Health Records also provide several benefits over paper-based records, most notably:

• They reduce the likelihood of medical errors
• They don’t take as much storage space as paper documents do
• It’s more convenient to use electronic than paper records for both physicians and patients
• It’s easier to search, index, change, copy, print or send EHR records than paper

Hospital Management Software

Hospital management software (HMS) helps businesses improve the efficiency of every section of the hospital from reception to laboratories to the doctor’s office.

This is especially useful in managing day-to-day hospital administration and giving doctors more time to focus on patients and not paperwork.

Medical Practice Management Software (MPMS)

MPMS deals with everyday operations of a healthcare organization such as tracking patient diagnoses and prescriptions and processing payment and medical insurance information.

This also provides easier access to data as all patient information is stored electronically, giving the staff more time to focus on patient care and improving patient satisfaction thanks to the better service they get.

E-Prescription Software

Can anyone read what their doctor or pharmacist writes them? Thankfully, you can now throw such hand-scribbled notes into the waste bin and replace them with a much more understandable prescription via e-prescribing software.

This eliminates prescription errors, which may prove fatal if a patient takes a higher dose than he is supposed to, and lost and forgotten prescription.

Urgent Care Applications

There are times when patients need care immediately and can’t get to the waiting room. Before, such emergencies were first called by phone, at which point the dispatcher would send a team to the location.

With an urgent care app, patients can more easily get the health-related information they need. These apps usually have a chat or video feature which allows patients and doctors to see each other face-to-face.

Thanks to the fact that they can see and/or hear the patient, physicians can get a better idea of what is wrong and how to best help that patient.

How Much Do Custom Medical Software Development Agencies Charge?

Custom healthcare software development firms usually offer two pricing structures, per hour and per project.

The rates per hour vary drastically. They start as low as $10 and go up to $185. The factors that will affect the cost are the companies’ level of experience, team size, location and seniority.

When it comes to the cost per project, the complexity of the product will be the main dictator of the price. So, obviously, the more features you require the more you will pay.

Why Hire A Medical Software Development Company?

Today, there are still healthcare practices that rely on paper files to store their patient’s data. But, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind when dealing with such practices?

With a medical practice that still uses such antiquated methods, all you can expect is for them to misplace your file while you need their services the most.

If you want your healthcare practice to be more efficient and your patients to get the service they need, it is time to invest in custom healthcare software development.

The market value of healthcare software is expected to reach $29,9 billion by 2023. (Business Wire)

This number highlights the fact that more and more businesses and organizations start investing their time and money in medical software.

Here is why you should also consider it:

Setting Up Appointments Is Easier

The old way to make an appointment with a doctor included walking to their office, arranging a meeting with the nurse and waiting until you are called. That’s a good way to lose half your day.

A good healthcare information technology scheduling system can help your patients make appointments much easier, when it best suits them.

At the same time, such a system also serves to prevent overbooking, which means your doctors will get as many patients per day as they can realistically handle.

This not only makes appointments easier but it also boosts the productivity of employees.

It Alleviates The Staff’s Workload

It seems that doctors and nurses spend more time writing reports than they do on actual healing.

However, with software development affecting medicine, now this has changed.

For instance, an electronic health record (EHR) software will allow them to get all the information they need to help their patients with a click of a button instead of hunting through paper files for them.

What’s more, EHR software is also quite useful when you need to refer patients to another doctor. It allows you to communicate all the information about them and send confidential data over to colleagues.

By enabling quick access to patient records for more coordinated and efficient care, this software increases the security of sharing data, improves worker productivity and allows organizations to meet their goals easily.

Billing Gets Easier

A medical billing system will make simple billing much easier than either a paper-based or a generic billing application.

This can also be of great help if you have patients who are late on payments, as you can send them reminders.

Finally, you can also automate several processes, like submitting claims for payment and tracking claims in the revenue cycle.

Improved Patient Experience

The greatest advantage of investing in a custom healthcare software development company is that they provide you with solutions that improve your patient experience.

For instance, you can install a patient portal which can allow you to send them reminders for appointments and take their prescriptions.

What’s more, they can also use this software to check their lab results, order prescription refills or check-in from their computer for an appointment.

This means less paperwork for your staff to handle and as such faster patient check-in, making everyone much happier.

How To Hire A Healthcare Software Development Company?

The key to finding the best medical software development company for your business is selecting the one that has the skills and expertise to meet your needs.

While other organizations can afford to trade domain knowledge for a cost advantage, the healthcare-related ones need all the assurance and insurance they can get for the quality and security of their medical software solutions.

And the search parameters do not end there.

Besides deciding where to outsource, here are a few more key factors to consider when looking for a medical software development company:

• Expertise: A healthcare software development company will generally be able to take on any development project, but each will have their unique fortes. This is particularly important for more complex medical software requirements like those that require additional hardware expertise.
• Location: Some medical practices will need a healthcare software development company that can interact with them in person, while others will fare just fine with a remote medical software development company. Think about how important it is that your developers are close in distance. If you can collaborate well with remote experts, expanding your search to global firms will help you find the best fit for your business needs from anywhere in the world.
• Budget: Custom medical software development is a pricey investment. However, sometimes a higher upfront cost can provide better quality work and a stronger return on investment. Determine how much you can feasibly spend on development, how much you can allocate towards maintenance when you'd like the project to be completed, and the goals you hope to achieve. Then, find a partner that can work within those parameters.