Custom Health Software Development: Building a Healthy Future

Software development is revolutionizing how people perceive the global economy, and it has impacted healthcare. The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed the proliferation of healthcare apps, and most healthcare providers have opted to integrate technology into their operations. 

Information bots are now more prominent in healthcare than many other sectors, and AI applications are predicted to reduce costs drastically in healthcare by about $150 million by 2026. 

Custom healthcare software is gaining ground in the healthcare sector, and even Statista predicts a rise in revenue in IoT-based custom solutions by 2025, from $24 billion in 2016 to $135 billion. The custom features and functionalities tailored to specific patient population pathways help your company stand out, improve patient care quality, and unlock new revenue streams.

Still trying to decide how much custom health software can help? We’ve got a review for you.

What is custom health software?

Custom health software is the range of software products designed for a specific healthcare company to streamline operations within the institution and provide optimal user experience for its clients/patients. The point here is there are two forms of health software: custom-built and ready-made or bespoke. While a health institution might prefer the faster routes of getting already-built software for their operations, the custom-built variants are more specific to the company’s needs and often better.

Custom health software development is the building and launching of health applications to help streamline the workflow and automate organizational tasks. However, the kind of software built varies with the operations it covers and the healthcare provider's aim, whether to optimize workflow or provide more wholesome, real-time patient services.

That brings us to the kinds of custom health software and how they influence healthcare delivery.

Types of Custom Health Software

In broad strokes, we have two forms of custom health software: patient-centered software and institution-centered ones. Patient-centered software solutions are focused on improving the quality of healthcare provided and the timeliness of medical intervention for patients. At the same time, the institution-centered packages are directed at improving efficiency in the company through the automation of tasks and better monitoring of operations.

While both forms of custom telehealth software are distinct, some of their subsets overlap in function, as we will soon see.

Patient-centered Custom Telehealth software

#1 Patient Health Records software

Patient Health Record (PHR) applications are essentially a database of medical files about a patient that contains their every record, from allergies to previous medical histories and medications. The records could hold the files of an entire family, and such information can be accessed from any device as long as the patient is logged in. 

PHRs help patients track their medical schedules, particularly appointments and immunization dates, and keep track of their health between hospital visits.

#2 Telemedicine software

Telemedicine has grown to global acceptance following the pandemic in 2020, and it is one of the most used custom health software solutions since more people would prefer to get consultations without going to the hospital. Telemedicine has proven especially useful in therapy sessions, where neither the patient nor the doctor must leave the hospital before interacting.

#3 E-prescription software

E-prescription solutions make it easier for doctors to assess their patients’ drug schedules and cancel, renew, or begin new treatment regimens. A patient's various treatments will appear on their electronic card, and other doctors can view them in subsequent appointments.

Institution-centered Custom Telehealth software

#1 Hospital management software 

Hospital management software solutions help health workers streamline their activities, automate routine operations, and allow more time for complex operations. The custom telehealth software can handle tasks like payroll processing and other administrative tasks with minimal human supervision.

#2 Medical Diagnosis Software

Medical diagnosis software can pick peculiar symptoms from a signal and help the doctor make accurate diagnoses by comparing the case with a catalog of cases from past histories. The demand for such software rose during the COVID-19 pandemic when there needed to be as little contact as possible. 

#3 Medical Imaging Software

Medical imaging software is built to render 3-D images of body parts taken through imaging and scanning methods. Medical Imaging Software can be used along with diagnostic software to improve the quality of diagnoses and therapy.

#4 Electronic Health Records

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are the most popularly used medical software, and they help collect and store patient data and history in a secure storage system. They are usually combined with Hospital management software in most healthcare delivery firms. 

Benefits of Custom Health Software Development

For Professionals:

The purpose of software integration in companies and businesses is to increase efficiency, but custom telehealth software solutions do far more in healthcare institutions. The companies get a boost in productivity, and the automation allows for increased expertise in the industry. 

Here are some specific benefits of using custom health software in your company:

• Reduces the paperwork involved in most operations.
• Allows professionals quality time for more complex tasks since the software can handle routine work.
• Allows for easy data retrieval which aids decision-making and diagnoses.
• Allows easy identification of diseases.
• Easy, accurate management of administrative processes in the company.

For Patients:

Custom telehealth software impacts patient satisfaction by offering real-time access to medical care from any location while allowing them to 1 their health and medical reports remotely.

Here are more benefits that custom health software offers your clients/patients:

• Easier appointment scheduling and fewer incidents of not showing up for appointments.
• Faster, real-time communication between doctors and their patients.
• Easy access to patient’s current and past prescriptions.

Trends in Custom Health Software Development

Technology is advancing daily, and your company's custom health software (website or app) needs to be up-to-date with the latest developments so that you and your clients/patients get the best services. Even though custom health software development is relatively new, there have been some severe advancements in its few years of usage, and they are highlighted below:

#1 Telemedicine 

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed everyone to adopt remote communication services for real-time interactions. It has also shaped the healthcare delivery sector, as more providers have integrated telemedicine into their services. 

The applications of telemedicine are diverse, going even beyond simply diagnosing and monitoring to giving emergency aid and therapies. 

#2 Internet of Things (IoT)

The concept of an Internet of Things implies connecting hardware devices to a network to allow remote access to information on that server. The technical concept has brought life into custom health software development, where healthcare providers offer monitoring devices like smartwatches to ensure their patients' parameters are constantly accessible by the healthcare workers in charge and the patients themselves. 

#3 Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning 

Artificial intelligence has been at the forefront of innovation in software development, promising limitless possibilities. Artificial intelligence and machine learning help the custom health software compare symptoms with previous medical histories, thus aiding the physician in diagnosis. With its applications in diagnosis and imaging, you can expect more from Artificial intelligence in the next few years. 

Future trends that might soon dominate the custom health software development sector include:

• Increased patient-centered health software and healthcare delivery.
• Advanced applications of Artificial intelligence and machine learning in custom health software development.
• Personalized treatment using each patient's medical records in the health software. 
• Introduction of Virtual and Augmented Reality in remote healthcare delivery, especially with telemedicine. 
• Increased security around the cloud databases, stopping information for the custom telehealth software.

What to look out for in a healthcare software development company

If your company decides to implement custom health software, you can hire in-house programmers or an external agency to get the job done. The in-house developers might have a smooth run since they understand the company's philosophy. However, hiring a specialized agency to build custom health software is often better.

Why? The external agency is a more specialized group comprising experts in the health software field. If you add a web/app to their schedule, you might need to expand your in-house development team. 

Also, it would cost you more than just money; your in-house developers are on your payroll, while the external agency is on a one-time payment procedure. Plus, the agency is better positioned to understand current trends and build more user-friendly custom health software than in-house developers who believe they will always be on hand to troubleshoot issues. 

So, what do you look out for in your typical healthcare software development company? Here are some steps to guide you.

• Check the company's ratings and reviews from previous clients. Ensure their work ethics and customer satisfaction are indeed satisfactory. 
• Look at the company portfolio and systems to understand their limitations.
• Check their social media handles and websites for regular industry updates via blogs. Competent sites constantly give out industry-standard information on their platforms. 

Where to go for your healthcare software development company?

Wondering where to get highly reputable healthcare software development agencies for your company? Pangea chooses only the top 7% of software development agencies from its rigorous vetting process, and you can be sure that a recommendation from Pangea will deliver excellent results. 

Hire one of our pre-vetted healthcare software development agencies today and scale up your company's healthcare delivery system!

FAQs:

#1 What is custom health software?

Custom health software are software packages designed for a specific healthcare company to streamline operations within the institution and provide optimal user experience for its clients/patients.

#2 What are the advantages of custom health software?

Custom health software typically helps to increase efficiency and productivity in the company by automating administrative tasks and offering patients a more comprehensive experience, from convenient hospital visit scheduling to real-time communication with physicians.

#3 What is the most commonly used medical software?

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are the healthcare industry's most commonly used medical software. Healthcare providers use them to collect patient history and treatment procedures for future reference.