Technological improvements and a growing mandate to improve patient
experience are changing how the healthcare industry develops software.
Healthcare systems increasingly turn to software solutions to
alleviate some logistical burdens associated with providing quality
care and empower healthcare providers and patients to improve
outcomes. Telehealth, electronic health records (EHRs), and mobile
health apps – to name a few examples – are transforming how healthcare
is delivered, making healthcare more accessible, efficient, and
personalized by leveraging data.
Today, every healthcare company monitors the latest healthcare
software development trends. Healthcare is a heavily software-driven
domain, with different technologies rapidly evolving, usage of the
latest technologies sometimes mandated by regulations, and patient
expectations constantly changing. Identifying and adapting to the
latest trends is essential to scaling, competing, and staying relevant
in healthcare. In this article, we want to draw attention to key
healthcare software development trends driving the future of
healthcare and give readers a sense of how to harness these trends to
develop a more effective, patient-friendly healthcare system.
These new technologies mean real breakthroughs for AI and ML in
healthcare software, as they allow developers to utilize advanced data
analytics, teach computers to make predictions and detect patterns
effectively, and can automate certain initial patient diagnoses. For
example, researchers can utilize this software to analyze millions of
data points in patient files, drug trials, and research studies within
seconds, rather than spending hours doing it manually to gain helpful
insights. Through AI and ML, medicine can more precisely predict
patient outcomes and trends. This can help lower costs for patients
and insurance companies. And most importantly, this can lead to
higher-quality care.
Predictive analytics, which relies on AI and ML to scan historical
patient data to determine possible lines of causation, is one of the
most promising applications of AI and ML. This capability provides
insights to advise clinicians on potential health consequences and
patient treatment outcomes. Better diagnosis and treatment strategies
can result from software systems that anticipate disease before it
becomes severe and offer an early intervention. When combined with
genetic, lifestyle, and other personal information, these systems
could develop highly customized treatment plans that are better
targeted and more likely to succeed.
By combining technologies such as AI and ML into healthcare software,
medical professionals are given greater insights into patient data and
patient health issues, allowing them to improve decision-making and
provide a better service to their patients. An automated system that
can analyze real-time information can provide additional insights or
advice for clinicians, saving them time to assess and treat their
patients properly. AI-powered decision-making support tools can offer
medical professionals an opinion about what needs to be treated or
managed based on the most updated research or patient data, leading to
potentially better outcomes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked a tremendous and rapid expansion of
telehealth solutions, altering how healthcare is accessed and
consumed. As social distancing protocols and stay-at-home orders
reduced or eliminated in-person visits, patients and providers
suddenly embraced virtual consultations for accessing care. The rapid
expansion of telehealth amid the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly
expanded the use of telemedicine platforms, evidenced by the numerous
telehealth apps available on any smartphone that allow for accessing
video appointments, secure messaging, or teleconsultation.
A crucial tool for this new reality is remote patient monitoring
(RPM), which tracks granular health data from a patient’s remote
location. Such RPM solutions can measure vital signs and track drug
adherence and other chronic disease indicators. At the heart of the
issue is that while access has increased, utilization of primary care
services has not. This is a challenge both in rural and suburban areas
of the US. But it is nowhere more acute than in inner-city areas,
where there are a large number of chronic disease patients who often
suffer significantly when their health spins out of control. RPM helps
promote a proactive versus reactive approach to essential medical
services.
To most effectively utilize telehealth and RPM, there’s a need to
integrate them with existing healthcare systems such as EHRs to
exchange data. This would help physicians securely access patients’
comprehensive health data during a telehealth visit. With the seamless
integration of telehealth solutions and RPM with EHR systems, the
entire course of patients’ care experience would be streamlined,
workflows would improve, and coordination among healthcare
professionals would be enhanced. This, in turn, would lead to improved
patient management, higher satisfaction among patients, and better
health outcomes.
Healthcare software interoperability means that data can flow between
systems, applications, or devices, ensuring that a patient’s
information can be shared between EHRs, lab systems, pharmacy
management software, and more. Interoperability brings together a
cloud of caregivers to reduce blind spots in patient records and
create a more comprehensive view of a patient’s health. This enables
healthcare providers to make better-informed decisions that benefit
the patient.
Better, exponentially faster data exchange among EHRs, pharmacies,
labs, and other healthcare systems can benefit patients, too –
ensuring prescribed medications are within safe tolerance levels,
facilitating same-day diagnostic results, and improving care
coordination and communication among healthcare teams. Real-time
access to complete health records also allows for more informed
clinical decision-making, early intervention, and better disease
management. Eventually, improved interoperability can positively
affect numerous aspects of care delivery, enabling more efficient
workflows, streamlined administration, and improved patient
experiences.
Standards and regulations are another vital push toward
interoperability in healthcare. Laws like the 21st Century Cures Act
in the United States and other policies like the Fast Healthcare
Interoperability Resources (FHIR) framework are all designed to
encourage the sharing and interoperability of data in healthcare
settings. Through these regulations, healthcare entities are
encouraged to adopt common and standardized data formats and protocols
that will enable the secure and efficient exchange of data in a
connected healthcare ecosystem, and developers of healthcare software
must prioritize interoperability to encourage a more connected and
agile healthcare environment.
Patients, not doctors, are becoming the guide of the care process, and
software design is responding to reflect this changing reality. With
personalized and patient-centered care, patients are being mobilized
as active agents of their health processes. In this paradigm,
healthcare software is being adapted to respond to patient needs more
effectively, providing direct control of their diagnostic and
treatment information, increasing their participation in clinical
decisions, and supporting them in organizing their everyday life and
health management.
Patient portals and mobile health apps facilitate greater patient
engagement by offering convenient access or reminders about
appointments, medications, and follow-ups. Moreover, these products
often contain educational resources such as symptom trackers, fitness
monitors, and health-related articles that patients can use to learn
more about managing their illnesses or living healthier lives. More
convenient and approachable access to healthcare services and
information will strengthen patient and provider relationships and
make managing illness less burdensome.
Usability and accessibility are critical factors when designing
patient-centric healthcare software. The interfaces should be
intuitive and easy to use, while navigation should be straightforward.
Patients of all ages and backgrounds should be able to operate and
navigate digital health tools efficiently. In addition, digital
healthcare tools should be accessible to patients with disabilities or
limited physical capabilities. Accessibility features, such as
language options and compatibility with assistive technologies, are
crucial for designing user-friendly interfaces. Creating accessible
digital healthcare tools allows everyone to conveniently and
effectively interact with the platform, regardless of their
limitations. Above all, patient-centric software should be designed to
increase engagement, encourage better adherence to treatment, and
enhance the overall healthcare experience.
With more medical information being maintained with the help of
digital technologies, data breaches and cyber-attacks related to the
healthcare sector are becoming severe issues, raising some concerns.
In fact, a lot of clinical information, including patients’ sensitive
details of diseases, circulates within the healthcare organization,
which may make them more attractive targets for cyber hackers. It is
without question that data breaches can lead to many adverse
consequences, such as violated patients’ privacy, economic cost, and
loss of reputation. Given the situation, it is now imperative for
organizations involved in formulating healthcare software development
to ensure their patients’ data are kept safe from potential
cyber-attacks and unwanted access by specific parties.
With these applications, healthcare organizations should implement the
Bogy hands-off approach, like all individuals when they are online.
They must implement encryption protocols so data in transit and at
rest are secure, execute unannounced security audits to discover
vulnerabilities and ensure the software remains updated with security
patches. Healthcare employees must receive comprehensive training for
recognizing phishing and safely handling information. Employees must
be cultivated into this cybersecurity mindset. Assuming that privacy
concerns will magically be addressed when companies and software
developers transform healthcare applications into more secure versions
won’t work in real life – or with our bodies.
Regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) help protect patient data in healthcare
software. HIPAA is a national policy that ensures the security and
privacy of patients’ protected health information. Under HIPAA,
software development organizations must follow certain privacy,
security, and breach notification requirements. This minimizes
exposure to legal risk for healthcare organizations and encourages
patients to trust that their information is protected. Including
compliance into the development lifecycle of healthcare, the software
can help organizations build secure and trustworthy environments where
patient data is kept private while patient care is maintained.
Healthcare software can benefit tremendously from being cloud-based,
especially by providing the opportunity to store and retrieve massive
amounts of data while keeping it safe and easily accessible. Using the
cloud, healthcare organizations can centralize data and make it
accessible across locations and to authorized employees. Not only does
this improve the flow of work, but it allows decision-making processes
to be more effective among the different teams involved in patient
care.
The other key consideration is scalability. If an organization is
growing organically or by merging with another medical practice,
cloud-based solutions provide them with an immediate response, where
adding resources (e.g., computational capacity) becomes very simple.
The unique features of cloud services allow healthcare providers to
deter further upfront investments in additional hardware to provide IT
resources. The cost metric might include not only the hardware but,
more importantly, its maintenance – the expensive crew of IT
technicians, not to mention the actual physical space they take up,
which will unlock precious office space and, hence, reduce rental
costs. Usually, there’s a monthly subscription fee involved. Moreover,
cloud services often come with contractual fine print specifying that
you only pay for what you use. First and foremost, it’s a data storage
play. That means healthcare customers can have more freedom in
allocating their budget, effectively reducing the total investment in
IT infrastructure.
The possibilities for future applications of patient management on the
cloud are vast. The potential for innovation in innovative healthcare
delivery grows exponentially when increasing numbers of healthcare
providers use the cloud. The cloud will provide them with
opportunities for advanced telehealth, remote patient monitoring, and
data analytic capabilities, allowing them to offer more proactive and
personalized patient care using real-time data. Additionally, there
will be an increasing need and motivation for healthcare providers to
create comprehensive services and solutions that are seamlessly
interoperable with other healthcare systems, creating a more
integrated healthcare system that will eventually facilitate
patient-centric approaches to care.
Initially created to manage cryptocurrency transactions, blockchain –
a digitized, decentralized ledger that precisely chimes in thousands
of computers, thus rendering it tamper-proof – is being accepted as a
default protocol for healthcare data because of its indisputable
security through transparency. Blockchain records all transactions in
chronological order. As a central database record that all computers
can access, it shows a changing record of transactions in sequential
order. If a block of information is changed in one computer, the
inconsistency is quickly detected. For example, a block allowing for a
move of 100 bitcoins could not be successfully merged to become part
of the chain in the next instance because it (the old information) no
longer exists on that part of the chain. These factors make blockchain
one of the safest data technologies, rendering attempted tampering
impossible if the protocol is followed across the network. In the
evolution of patient data management, blockchain is becoming the
default protocol for sharing and managing critical healthcare records
securely.
Better data security: since blockchain requires distributed databases,
stored data is cryptographically secured, making it resistant to
third-party breaches or unauthorized access. Better patient consent
management: blockchain records give patients more control over their
health information by creating immutable and transparent records of
consent for data-sharing. Better supply chain management: blockchain
works to tighten the traceability of medical products throughout the
supply chain, all the way from manufacturing through to distribution –
reducing the risk of counterfeit drugs and providing a verifiable
record to ensure the integrity of the supply chain.
Blockchain has many applications in healthcare, including securing the
management of electronic health records (EHRs), permitting secure
telehealth consultations, securing clinical processes and systems,
improving the management of clinical trials, combating the
proliferation of fake and counterfeit medicines through tracking drugs
as they move through the supply chain; tracking blood products; and
tracking of medical devices. The scope of possible healthcare
applications is boundless and continuously evolving with the maturity
of the new technology. As the technology matures, the evolution of
healthcare blockchain applications will likely include some
interoperability of applications in different healthcare institutions,
better data-sharing protocols, and creative solutions for patient
identity issues. Any health data managed on blockchain systems can
similarly be expected to benefit from the additional security,
efficiency, and trust that blockchain affords.
As the implementation of new health IT solutions accelerates, the healthcare software development landscape is poised to be more efficient, secure, and patient-centric than what currently exists. We will likely see artificial intelligence and machine learning making critical decisions on providers’ behalf. Telehealth and remote monitoring capabilities will continue to transform care delivery while broadening access to care. The focus on data exchange in a modern health IT ecosystem will foster innovation and new technologies, strengthening cybersecurity protections. Distributed interoperability based on blockchain and similar technologies could enhance healthcare organizations' command and control capabilities while simultaneously enabling seamless coordination of care, program management, scheduling, and data transfers.
Privacy policy
© All Rights Reserved