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How many times have you gone to the doctor in the past year? What about the past five years? Ten years? Every single time you visit a doctor or medical professional, they gain valuable – yet personal – information about your current health status, whether it’s good news or bad news.
This information is necessary for the short-term and long-term monitoring of your health – it’s like a cheat sheet for your doctor. It allows the doctor to keep a running tab of your medical history, which is crucial to ensuring you live a long, happy, healthy, quality, and rewarding life.
With that being said, have you ever wondered how they keep track of this information? Not only that, but they’re able to easily share this information with other doctors – so long as you give them permission. This is possible with EHR software and the technology is only getting better.
So, what is EHR software?
EHR software, also known as electronic health records (EHR) software, is one of the single most important tools for medical practices, doctors, specialists, hospitals, and more in the medical field. It has revolutionized the way we digitally store a patient’s health records.
In Layman’s terms, EHR software is designed to store, monitor, and share electronic health records from one party to the next. Sometimes that means sharing records with the patient, while other times it means sharing records with another doctor. Either way, it’s very useful.
Since it’s normal for a patient to see several doctors throughout the detection, diagnosis, and treatment process, EHR software allows for a seamless transition from one specialist to the next. Before you arrive at your appointment, that doctor already knows a lot about your health.
How to Create EHR Software
The need for EHR software is obvious and the demand for higher quality software options is growing by the year. That’s why so many developers and companies are constantly trying to create EHR software that’s better, faster, easier, and more extensive with unique features.
The opportunities are endless when creating EHR software, but the real question is who will step forward with the next best idea and who will accept the challenge of bringing that idea to life? Who knows, it could be you – after all, you’re reading this article for a reason, aren’t you?
If you’re interested in creating an EHR software that health professionals can trust and rely on, then you’re on the right track to success. Better yet, our team here at CodeBright is ready and willing to help you bring that to life – especially if you don’t have the developer skills necessary.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at the eight major steps that make up the EHR software development process – starting from the very beginning:
1. Idea Creation & Implementation Plan
Before you can start developing EHR software, you must first have an idea. Not just an idea, but a plan of action for taking that idea and turning it into reality. This part of the process is very important because it’s where everything is born – it’s where your ultimate vision is created.
During this step, you’re going to want to jot down all of your ideas, thoughts, and potentialities. Getting everything out of your mind and onto a piece of paper makes organization much easier.
2. Market Research & Competitor Analysis
You’ve got an idea, but how is that idea going to differ from what’s already available? What are you going to bring to the table that another company isn’t already offering? The truth is there’s no shortage of EHR software options today and yours has to be special if you want to succeed.
What that means is you have to do your research and analyze the market you’re entering. Identify what others do well, identify what they don’t do well, and then capitalize on both.
3. Building a Reliable & Talented Team
If you’re a one-man team, then you can skip this part, but let’s be honest – going through this process alone is going to be extremely difficult. After all, you’re going to need an applications analyst, software developers, quality assurance team, designers, project manager, and more.
For those that want to be heavily involved, it’s best to figure out what you do best and focus on that. For everything else that needs to get done, build a superstar team that you can rely on.
4. EHR Design, Wireframes, & Mockups
During this step, you’ll be working with the software designers to create visuals, wireframes, and mockups of your idea. This is where you’ll finally start to see what your EHR software will look like and what it will do. It’s an exciting step in the process and your first sign of true progress.
As you go through the design of your EHR software, make sure you’re taking into account all the different features and capabilities you hope to see implemented – don’t leave anything out!
5. Ensure HIPAA & GDPR Compliance
When developing EHR software, there are a number of standards, protocols, certifications, and compliance requirements that must be met. This isn’t true with all software, but it is with EHR software – especially since it’ll be tasked with storing and sharing private patient information.
Before you proceed with development, make sure it complies with HIPAA and GDPR requirements. You’ll also want to receive an ONC-ATCB certification and EuroRec certification.
6. EHR Development & Engineering
By now, you and your team are ready to begin software development. This is where your idea and vision come to life. It’s where you inch one step closer to a real product. Your developers will follow the time-sensitive plan and do their best to stay on schedule throughout the process.
Although changes can be made once the development process begins, it’s best to keep these to a minimum since it’ll only drive up time-to-market and overall cost. With that said, don’t hesitate to let your developers know of any changes that need to be made during this crucial step.
7. Testing & Quality Assurance
Once your developers have completed their work, there’s one thing you’ll have to do before you can start to implement the software for use by clients – quality assurance. Especially considering the amount of sensitive information involved, you want to make sure it’s secure.
During this step, your quality assurance team will test the software from every angle possible. They’ll make sure there’s no errors, bugs, typos, or inconsistencies that would hurt the quality.
8. Data Migration & Release
Now that you’ve confirmed the software works as intended, you can start to roll it out to your prospective clients. This means releasing the software, marketing it, and helping clients implement it into their day-to-day operations. This might take time, but it’s worth it in the end.
All that’s left to do now is maintain the software, make updates, and search for ways to improve for the future. Oh, and you might want to do a little celebrating, while you’re at it – you deserve it!
Are You Ready to Create EHR Software?
EHR software is taking the medical community by storm. With new advancements in technology, new ideas, and new possibilities, there’s no telling just how useful this type of software will become in the coming years. The good news is you can be at the forefront of it all!
If you have a new EHR software idea and you’re serious about bringing that idea to life, then you’ve come to the right place. At CodeBright, we pride ourselves in being a versatile and flexible team of software developers that help people like you build incredible EHR software.
To learn more about our process, discuss the scope of your project, or receive a quote for your project, contact CodeBright today. We can’t wait to help you get the most out of your project!