EMR Software Development – Complete Guide 2025

In the last few years, the tides of digitalization have completely changed the way the healthcare industry works. From replacing paper-based health records to bringing virtual consultations to reality, it can be argued that technological advancements are dictating the terms for the future of the healthcare industry.

However, amidst the high adoption rate of the healthcare software, EMR systems have recorded a 50% failure rate. Moreover, the study also found that most of the systems are not even properly used to their full potential.

Digging deeper into the EMR software development landscape it was seen that the error rate even after eight months on implementation reached the highest of 44.6% and only attained stability after 1.5 years of implementation at 7.3%.

There is no doubt that customizable EMR can revolutionize the practice, promoting quality care and embracing administrative efficiency. But the main question here is, ‘Why does EMR software development have such a high failure rate and post-implementation challenges?’

Looking for answers amongst various client feedback, it was clear that the problem was lacking during the EMR software development phase.

On that note, here is your complete guide on the EMR software development process and how to be on the other side of the statistics.

Requirement Gathering & Analysis for EMR Software Development

The first step in the custom EMR development process is requirement gathering and analyzing your system. And interestingly, this is where most of the mistakes are committed, leading to the failure of the system. 

Let’s see some of the most important aspects that you need to consider at this stage:

1. Understanding Client Needs:

You can only provide healthcare software solutions, only when you understand the healthcare providers’ needs. That is why you need to conduct a thorough analysis of their needs and gather a detailed analysis of what clinicians and practice administrators actually need in their system.

Along with this, you also need to identify the specific workflows, clinical needs, and desired functionalities that you want to integrate into your software system. One of the best ways to understand your client better is by conducting interviews, surveys, and workshops that aim to give you a comprehensive overview of your needs.

2. Defining Scope and Objectives

While understanding and analyzing the practice’s needs, you also need to define the main objectives of your EMR software development and the scope of development and growth. This is crucial for determining the success criteria of EMR software and how it will impact practice.

Having said that, you also need to curate the project specifications and document everything so that no leaf is left unturned. And the most important aspect of defining the scope and objective of the EMR software is to ensure all the stakeholders are aligned with the objectives and goals you’re trying to achieve.

EMR Software Designing & Prototyping

After you’ve gathered all the necessary information for EMR software development, the next step is to draw the blueprints of your software. On that note, let’s try to understand the design phase of Electronic Medical Records development:

1. User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) Design: 

The first step in this is to design an intuitive user interface. The design should be user-friendly as most of the users using this software will be from a non-technical background. It can be hard for them to navigate and use the software effectively. Once you’ve decided on the user interface that you’ll be using for your software, the next step is to create wireframes and prototypes so that you can visualize the user interface and gather feedback so that you can create an effective, user-friendly software design.

One thing that you need to keep in mind while designing the software is to make the design accessible and usable for diverse user groups, including those with disabilities.

2. Database Design

Along with the frontend of your software, you also need to emphasize on the database design so that your data is stored securely and efficiently. Design a robust database with enough space left for future scalability and customization options. By designing such a database, you can easily store patient data and manage it efficiently.

Some of the checkboxes you need to tick in this are ensuring data integrity and confidentiality so that your patients data is used for delivering them care, while protecting their fundamental rights.

Also, ensure that your scalability features are intact so that your EMR software can easily accommodate future development and growth.

Development & Implementation

Once you’ve finalized your EMR software design, the next step is to put your EMR software developers to start coding the final product. In this stage, the development methodology you choose plays a crucial role in its accurate development. Here are some of the things that you can consider:

1. Agile Development Methodology:

There are several EMR software development methodologies, such as agile, waterfall, hybrid, etc. One of the best and most followed methodologies that you can imbibe in your development strategy is agile development.

This is one of the iterative developments and offers great flexibility during the development phase. In this development methodology, you break down your EMR development into smaller milestones, which can easily be managed in sprints. This way, you can easily add features or certain functionalities that you might have missed during the planning phase.

However, for this, you need to regularly review the EMR software development progress and make the necessary changes or adjustments wherever necessary.

2. Coding and Testing:

When it comes to coding to build your own EMR, you need to hire experienced EMR developers and implement industry-standard best practices. This is important for various aspects because it helps in the development of software that can be easily integrated with disparate healthcare software solutions.

But just coding is not enough; along with coding the software, you also need to test it rigorously. Conduct different types of tests, such as unit testing, integration testing, and user acceptance testing, to ensure the EMR software is built and functions exactly as it is supposed to function. 

And just in case you encounter any bugs, address them promptly and efficiently.

Integration & Deployment

Once you have done coding and testing to ensure that the software is working efficiently, you need to move ahead with the next development phase, which is integration and deployment. At this stage, you need to integrate your software with other disparate systems that are necessary for your practice, and deploy the software for use. 

Here are some of the factors that you need to consider in the integration and deployment stage:

1. System Integration

Identify different healthcare systems that your practice depends on for both clinical care delivery and administrative needs. Some of the systems that you need to integrate are practice management software, healthcare testing lab systems, radiology imaging systems, and pharmacy systems.

Only after successful integration will you be able to seamlessly share data with other healthcare systems and fulfill the main purpose of your EMR software solution.

2. Go-Live and Training

After you’ve successfully integrated your EMR software with a desperate healthcare system, you sort of enter the last stage of EMR software development, which is to go live. In this, you need to plan every step of deployment and execute a smooth go-live process. An integral part of deployment is training the users for the effective use of the software. This way, when the software is live, they can easily use the software and deliver care better and faster.

Ongoing Support & Maintenance

The post-deployment phase is something that is the most important phase and is an ongoing phase. Though most of the important phases in the development process are completed by this point, this phase plays a crucial role in determining the success of your EMR software.

When you use the software for care delivery, the software will deal with different types of data. In this process, there can be bugs that might arise, which can disrupt the day-to-day functioning of your clinic. With ongoing support and maintenance, you need to fix bugs, patch security gaps, update the software with advanced security features, and provide technical assistance to users when they encounter a problem.

One of the most important parts that you need to imbibe in your EMR developers at this stage is to address user feedback and implement all the necessary things to improve the performance of your software.

Last but not least, come to terms with your EMR developers to offer regular software updates and enhance the system to ensure the EMR software system remains current and effective.

Frequently Asked Questions