Understanding the Custom Home Healthcare Software Development Lifecycle
It’s been almost 2-3 years since the COVID-19 pandemic. But some of the shifts that we have made during the pandemic have somewhere made a permanent impact on the way we approach life. Some of the significant changes have been observed in the trends of receiving healthcare as well.
Amidst the healthcare facilities facing the problem of space and patient management, a trend that is slowly turning into a norm has become the center of healthcare. Yes, we care about home care services and the convenience that it has brought to many patients and healthcare facilities alike.
Furthermore, the credibility it has added to itself with technological advancements is simply redefining the landscape of healthcare ecosystems across the world. Furthermore, if you are a home care service provider and looking to make a shift, then custom home care software development is the way for you to go.
It will not only improve the efficiency of your clinic as per your workflows but also help in scalability and getting better patient outcomes. This flexibility and easiness is usually absent in off-the-shelf software solutions.
So, when you go out to get a custom healthcare software solution, you must know one thing, which is its lifecycle, which can help you save thousands of dollars and hours of time and know what you are developing.
In this case, we’ll discuss the software development lifecycle of custom home care software and the important things that you need to know.
Planning & Requirements Gathering
The first step in the software development life cycle is the planning phase also known as the discovery phase. In this stage, you will collect all the custom home healthcare software requirements that you need to develop.
Some of the key steps that are involved in this are identifying the core user base, understanding their needs, creating different user groups. And last but not the least, aligning that with the clinical workflow of your practice.
Furthermore, it is crucial to understand that every function this home care software will perform needs to be defined. That is why clarifying all the necessary functionalities, scope, and goals that you want to achieve with your custom application development and software engineering practices is necessary.
Expert Tip: The best way to make the most out of this stage is to know everything that there is to know about your home care agency and how you deliver care.
Home Care Software Requirement Checklist
Free DownloadDesign & Prototyping
The second stage in this involves designing the layout of the software prototyping it before moving ahead with the final production. Attention to details in this stage is extremely important since it is where you decide the flow of your software. And since user experience and user interface is developed at this stage, this stage plays a crucial factor in deciding the user-friendly nature of your custom home healthcare software.
While you might start designing your home care software, you’re developing a certain healthcare software which can do many things to simplify your healthcare delivery and management. So your needs and requirements during the stages might change. That is why different methodologies are put in place.
Depending on your needs and requirements you can choose the designing methodology that is most appropriate for you. Some of the most popular design methodologies and tools used for home care software development are Agile, Waterfall, Lean, DevOps and Design Thinking.
During this stage, you can ask the healthcare software development company about the tools they use to design the software since, depending on the tools, you can understand what kind of interface would be developed and how it would be prototyped. Also, for designing different design aspects of your software, different tools are used. For instance, Figma is used for wireframing, Adobe XD for prototyping, Sketch for UI/UX design and many more.
Once you’ve designed your software’s design, emphasize creating prototypes, and it will give you a real-time functioning visualization of the software. It is important to know the software’s functionality and the kind of experience it is giving to its users.
UI/UX Best Practices for Healthcare Software
Free DownloadDevelopment & Coding
Once you have finalized the design you want for custom home healthcare software and home care app, it is time to actually code and develop the software. The initial steps in this stage include selecting the appropriate programming language, frameworks and tools. The selection process is important for the unique advantages that every language, framework and tool provides.
Furthermore, just like there are different designing methodologies, there are different home care software development methodologies as well. For instance, agile custom home healthcare software development methodology is commonly used for developing healthcare software systems. Since it brings flexibility in adding or removing certain features and functionalities during the development of every stage. Along with that, agile custom home health care software development methodology also has a responsive nature to change, which ensures that the software is developed exactly the way you want.
Once the software is completely coded and developed, it enters the testing phase, where the home care software solution is rigorously tested for quality assurance. It is at this point where you know the reliability and performance of the software and if it is the right fit for your home care agency and care delivery.
Benefits of Agile Development for Healthcare Software
Download Free WhitepaperIntegration & Deployment
After the software development stage is complete, it later enters the integration and deployment stage. Being a healthcare professional, you know why it is important for your home care software solution to communicate with other healthcare systems. Since it is a collaborative industry, you would be requiring certain integration with disparate healthcare systems such as EHR, telehealth platforms, medical billing, insurance systems, etc.
However, a specific attention must be given to the data security and privacy aspect. As the home care software will be collecting personal information of patients, failing to ensure its safety not only compromises their fundamental rights but also results in heavy fines and reputation damage for your home care agency.
TIP: One of the ways to ensure data safety and privacy is by complying with the necessary regulatory requirements such as HIPAA, HITECH Act, etc.
Once all the necessary compliances are adhered, it is time to deploy the software into your healthcare practice. Here, the most crucial part is choosing the database, where you basically get two choices: on-premises and cloud-based.
Here, choosing cloud-based deployment can be beneficial as it brings flexibility to your software.
Best Data Security Practice for Healthcare Software
Free Guide DownloadMaintenance & Support
Oftentimes, healthcare providers think that once the custom home healthcare software is developed and deployed, it can basically do everything on its own. However, that is not the case for almost every home care software. Since there will be a lot of things that will be exchanged between multiple systems, there is a chance that it might encounter a bug or malware or even if you want to add any additional features.
This is where maintenance and support become a crucial part of the home care software development lifecycle. Discussing the terms and conditions of providing ongoing maintenance and support from your home care software vendor is crucial. Also, the security landscape is ever-evolving, so addressing security vulnerabilities and improving the performance of the software with regular updates is to be decided beforehand.
Last but not the least, the developers usually know how the software works, and it is completely new for your staff. Here, providing your practice staff with necessary technical support, training and ongoing development is necessary. To ensure optimal performance, curate an extensive training process which covers all the necessary aspects required.
How to Choose the Right Software Maintenance & Support Vendor
Download Free GuideConclusion
In a nutshell, the home healthcare software development life cycle typically involves these five stages mentioned above. On that note, let this blog be your guide to ensure your home care software solution is developed appropriately and start your home care software development process today. Book your free consultation here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Requirements gathering involves identifying and documenting the specific needs of a project. This can be done through various methods like interviews, surveys, workshops, and document analysis. Once gathered, requirements are typically documented in a clear and concise manner, often using tools like requirements management software. This ensures a shared understanding among stakeholders and helps guide the project’s development.
Here are some ways to ensure your requirements are clear and concise:
- Use simple language and avoid jargon.
- Be specific and avoid vague terms.
- Prioritize requirements and focus on the most important ones.
- Break down complex requirements into smaller, more manageable ones.
- Get feedback from stakeholders and make necessary revisions.
By following these tips, you can create requirements that are easy to understand and implement.
The typical timeline for custom home healthcare software development ranges from 4 to 9 months. However, this can vary depending on the size and complexity of the project. Smaller projects with fewer features may take less time, while larger projects with more complex features may take longer.
The cost of custom home healthcare software development varies widely depending on factors such as features, complexity, development team’s location and experience, and project management approach. While it’s difficult to provide an exact figure without knowing the specifics of your project, you can expect costs to range from several thousand dollars to tens of thousands of dollars or more.
The key stages in the development process typically include:
- Planning: This involves defining the project’s scope, goals, and resources.
- Design: This stage focuses on creating the product’s specifications, architecture, and user interface.
- Development: This stage involves building the product’s code and implementing its features.
- Testing: This stage ensures the product meets quality standards and is free of defects.
- Deployment: This stage involves launching the product to the market or users.
- Maintenance: This stage involves ongoing support, updates, and improvements to the product.
Custom software provides tailored solutions to specific business needs, leading to increased efficiency and productivity. It offers better scalability, flexibility, and control over data security. Additionally, custom software can be integrated seamlessly with existing systems, eliminating the need for complex workarounds.
The design phase of the development process is where the blueprint for the software is created. This includes defining the user interface, data structures, algorithms, and overall architecture. It’s like creating a detailed roadmap before starting the construction of a building.
Testing is the final stage of the development process where software is thoroughly evaluated to identify and fix errors, ensuring it meets quality standards and user expectations. It involves various techniques like unit testing, integration testing, system testing, and acceptance testing to validate functionality, performance, and reliability.
The implementation phase is the stage in software development where the actual coding and creation of the software system take place. This involves writing the code, testing it for functionality and errors, integrating different components, and ensuring the software meets the defined requirements.
Handling requirement changes in home healthcare software development involves:
- Elicit and Document: Clearly capture all existing and new requirements using techniques like interviews and workshops.
- Prioritize and Analyze: Evaluate the impact of changes on the project scope, budget, and timeline.
- Communicate and Collaborate: Keep stakeholders informed about change implications and seek their agreement.
- Adapt and Iterate: Modify the software development plan accordingly, ensuring that changes are integrated effectively.
- Test and Validate: Thoroughly test the updated software to verify that it meets the revised requirements.
