INTRODUCTION
The pandemic made room for technology deployments in the healthcare sector
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global healthcare system struggled to meet patient demands while remaining compliant with COVID-19 safety protocols.
The result was a perfect storm of opportunity, finally making digital transformation a front-of-mind priority for executive decision-makers. Healthcare technology investment expanded, driving the growth of virtual healthcare services, massive cloud adoption, and the rise of new organizational approaches such as citizen development.
Overnight, new services such as telemedicine platforms, digital health applications, mobile patient portals, and remote care consultations became the new normal. Not long after, the healthcare industry was rocked by massive data breaches, with losses of personal health information leading to massive, unprecedented compliance fines.
However, healthcare companies that relied on custom software solutions long before the pandemic were better prepared. Employee gateways, HIPAA-compliant secure intranets, data, and communication applications with robust firewalls are all essential to the healthcare industry. Many healthcare organizations are only now realizing the role of a competent technology partner in securing their digital assets
So, where do these healthcare companies turn to when there’s a proven need for custom software?
In this blog post, learn how healthcare technology strategy consulting, team augmentation, and custom software development services drive digital acceleration and organizational transformation to unlock enterprise value.
IN-HOUSE SOFTWARE
Realizing the limitations of in-house software development projects for healthcare enterprises
Some larger healthcare companies, such as health insurance providers, may use in-house talent to create custom software. They may even be able to handle the basic needs and resolve day-to-day issues. Sometimes, having people familiar with the organization handle the software development needed to manage the work is more convenient. The main benefit of using an in-house team is the ability to work with professionals used to your team’s standards, workflow processes, and organizational culture.
However, old technologies can turn obsolete, and new and emerging technologies change the rules of the game at a very fast pace.
Remember, large healthcare companies deal with a large amount of data that needs to be organized, analyzed, and secured. Not just patient information, which can be a staggering amount of data, but also supply logistics, accounting, and staffing.
Challenges with in-house development teams
Digital health companies need to deliver world-changing digital health solutions for multiple stakeholders as well as different end-users associated with their businesses and services. Therefore, there is a need for high-caliber IT talent. Skilled data scientists and full-stack developers are, hence, in high demand
At the same time, maintaining an internal development team can be prohibitively expensive and unrealistic for many healthcare companies. Attrition in the IT development circles is quite high, and you may not have the developers around when there is a need to troubleshoot something intrinsic in the software that is critical to your entire healthcare operations.
In addition to costs of hiring and training, obsolescence can prove expensive
THIRD-PARTY SOFTWARE
Buying off-the-shelf software cannot fulfill all the healthcare needs in the long term
Many healthcare entities may choose to buy off-the-shelf software as it may prove to be more cost-effective than developing a solution from scratch. The thinking might be that there can be major savings in terms of time and costs and that it would save the bother of compliance as third-party software is usually designed to meet industry standards and regulations.
While legal requirements, data security, and patient privacy are all important considerations, investing in third-party software would, nevertheless, call for one compromise: the organization would have to fit its organizational offerings into the contours of the solution already developed as a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) product.
Integration with existing IT systems and solutions may pose challenges and hinder the seamless flow of information.
What if the vendor stops product support?
Though third-party solutions are tailored largely to the needs of an industry, understand that they are custom-written, not custom-developed. There is a difference. As the solution is not tailored to the needs of the organization, it may lead to data silos and inefficiencies. It would also impose dependence on the vendor for updates, security patches as well as support. If the vendor does not provide timely support or abandons the product due to financial viability or other issues, you are left high and dry.
Further, while the initial cost of COTS software may be lower, the hidden costs related to licensing, training, and ongoing support may add up to the total cost of ownership over the software’s lifespan.
CUSTOM SOFTWARE
The wisdom of choosing a custom software development company
When in-house development teams reach their limits, and third-party solutions do not match the organization’s requirements and priorities, it is time to customize your solutions through the able guidance, support, and competent work of a technology partner.
By using the trusted services of an external software development company, businesses benefit from deciding their level of involvement with the project. They can be hands-on with every step of the process or have regularly scheduled check-ins to monitor progress while freeing themselves up to work on other things.
Also, development companies can offer the services of a team with experience across various projects. This experience allows these professionals to share valuable insights from past projects that may significantly improve the software’s scope, design, functionality, and user experience.
Custom software solution developers provide access to other experts in the industry and operate cohesively, as they have learned from working with different clients in the past.
An experienced tech partner is important for your organization
The challenge is picking the right custom software development company to work with. It’s essential to choose a partner who can truly understand your organization’s needs today while assisting you as needs arise. A good technology partner can also assist you by helping your in-house efforts -chipping in to develop a specialized module or debugging a software component that has brought a project to a halt.
A smart technology partner may even recommend industry-leading COTS software that can be integrated with your existing systems and tip you off on how to build customized versions leveraging the benefits of both.
Technology investment is on the rise as healthcare organizations rapidly pursue digital acceleration. Choosing the right technology partner allows your organization to secure the business strategy expertise, full-stack software development skills, and agile distributed workforce to deliver the desired results with the talent your project requires, available on demand.
So, choose a healthcare software development company with expertise in delivering digital products fueling innovation at America’s most well-known hospitals.
CASE STUDY
Digitizing the ordering and fulfillment processes at America’s #1 pediatric specialty hospital
HealthOps is a healthcare operations management service provider responsible for overseeing many critical functions at centers of medical excellence, such as the Boston Children’s Hospital, America’s #1 Pediatric Specialty Hospital.
Customized app for real-time visibility of hospital assets inventory management
The solution designed by Asahi Technologies has data reporting and analysis capabilities
To optimize key operational logistics processes at the hospital, HealthOps enlisted Asahi Technologies to develop a solution with the following features:
A single unified equipment order fulfillment and asset inventory management process – The new solution needed to streamline various disparate data resources and manual processes to create a single digital source of truth. The goal was to ensure accuracy, reliability, and adherence to the hospital’s high quality, safety, and efficiency standards.
Provide role-based access and control of the system – The system needed to provide segmented and tiered access for five unique user persona types: administrators, supervisors, leads, techies, and requestors.
Automate, streamline, and optimize core business processes – The digital transformation initiative was undertaken primarily to implement automation, optimize the process, and save time, money, and mission-critical organizational resources.
Create a more agile and scalable solution – We had to fulfill HealthOps’ requirement to develop a modular solution that could be refined and scaled to meet changing needs in the years ahead.
Our custom software deployment involved the creation of two web-based applications (administrator and requestor portal) as well as a healthcare mobile app.
The solution provides real-time visibility into the status of equipment and asset requests while automating end-to-end fulfillment and ensuring that inventory totals are updated in real time.
Instead of requiring clinical care teams to complete additional paperwork and time-consuming data entry, the solution vastly improves the speed, accuracy, and reliability of operational logistics while providing more comprehensive data analysis and reporting capabilities.
The dashboards and mobile applications create a single source of truth that ensures accurate accounting of organizational resources. The completed system does not require manual recording of inventory totals and utilizes automation to streamline and digitize what used to be disparate manual processes executed using various software inputs.
The result is a completely modular software and hardware-based solution that simplifies, expedites, and enhances key operational logistics processes at America’s #1 children’s hospital.
Read the full case study here.
CONCLUSION
Look for a domain expert to partner with you on your digital transformation journey
There is value in being able to do many things, but when the focus is on just one - delivering the most innovative digital health solutions, it makes sense to rope in a domain-specific software developer for the specialized needs of healthcare, medical, pharmaceutical, and life science clients.
Look for an experienced consultant who can deliver healthcare IT consulting, custom software, and team augmentation services to drive digital transformation. Check if they can supply an agile distributed workforce ready to be deployed as needed to develop software, update legacy systems, integrate new technologies, and unlock enterprise value.
Choose a leader who has a team of business analysts, full stack developers, project managers, and healthcare technology experts when and where you need them so you can handle everything you need in-house or with 24/7 on-demand remote support.
