The healthcare industry is heading towards digitization: software for IoT and embedded solutions, electronic health records, cloud solutions, AI, VR, gamification in health apps, and more to keep businesses competitive and efficient.

To implement software solutions, healthcare companies have two options: gather an in-house team of developers, or delegate it to a custom software development company. We’ll discuss reasons and cases when outsourcing software developers proves more effective.

What custom software development company can do for healthcare businesses

Depending on the direction, the software can help healthcare businesses optimize internal processes, connect patients with doctors, analyze data, entertain users, and more. A few examples of what software development companies can offer healthcare:

  • Electronic health records software 
  • CRM system
  • IoT or embedded systems: for automation, optimization of energy consumption, monitoring, etc. 
  • Telehealth apps 
  • Simulators, training software  
  • AI-based solutions for analyzing MRI or X-ray scans

Let’s say, you already have an idea of how healthcare software product development can benefit your business. Your next step is to decide whether to hire an in-house engineering department or team up with an outsourcing software development company.

When to opt for outsourced software development for healthcare

1. Software is not the core business function

Every business has primary and secondary functions or roles. For example, there’s a company or startup that offers a behavioral healthcare app as the main product. For this company, the role of software development is primary. The healthcare app here is what drives business success.

Entrusting the essential part of the business to an outsourcing team may be risky. In this case, it’s worth considering hiring in-house developers and building the team around it. However, even in this case outsourcing may be justified. We’ll discuss it in more detail in the next sections.

Another example is a hospital or pharma company that offers medical or pharmaceutical services or products. Such a company may need software development services to optimize or automate some internal processes that don’t directly affect the core business functions. The role of software development here is secondary and auxiliary.

Choosing an outsourcing software development company for the secondary role is the most optimal choice. Here the company can benefit from lower costs, innovative solutions that the experts can offer, and faster solution delivery. The healthcare firm can continue focusing on its main goal while the tech questions are entrusted to the specialists.

2. The project is on a budget

Outsourcing healthcare development spares the need to rent the office, pay salaries and taxes, and cover other regular internal needs: the healthcare development provider takes over all this spending. As a rule, the overall cost of the service is still lower than the cost of accommodating the in-house development team.

When you sign a contract for outsourcing development, you agree to a fixed rate for the duration of the project. Outsourcing companies can offer a fixed-price contract: you come to terms with the partner on what should be done for the given price. This model helps ensure you don’t exceed the budget and get the software within the agreed timeframe.

An outsourcing software development company can help you build a reliable strategy and find a balance between the available budget and the required software functions. Be careful and don’t be tempted to choose the lowest possible price. Make sure the contractor has enough experience with healthcare projects. For instance, if you’re outsourcing IoT development, inquire the future partner about past projects with similar technologies, used in healthcare.

3. Short-term projects or niche skills

Healthcare software development is a complex field that often requires skilled engineers in rare technologies. Furthermore, it requires not just senior developers in rare technologies, but senior developers in rare technologies plus experience in healthcare development. Hiring an engineer with such a skills combo is a huge challenge. The competition is so high recruiters may need to “fight” for the candidate. 

Another difficulty stems from the workload. Sometimes rare skills are needed to complete an indispensable yet relatively small task. While choosing a project, senior developers may refuse offers from your company in favor of bigger or longer-term projects.

If you’re at the beginning of the healthcare software development journey, consider outsourcing software developers for the entire project. This way, the technology and staffing chores won’t be your concern at all.

For companies that already have their engineering departments, a wise choice would be to opt for staff augmentation. It’s a hybrid approach that allows complementing the team with the skills it lacks. In this case, you don’t need to worry about the duration of the project and can sign a contract with a rare senior developer for whatever period, or for part-time.

4. Strict deadline for the release 

High competition in the IT industry can make the recruitment process last several months. Finding developers experienced in healthcare can take even more time. If you’re lucky enough to gather the team relatively fast, the engineers will still need to adapt to the new environment and teammates.

You may also try to lower the bar and gather a team without previous experience in healthcare. The trial period usually lasts 3 to 6 months and during that time some developers may decide not to continue with the project, so the process will start over. It all can get worse if you are recruiting from regions with a skill shortage. All the recruitment iterations delay the kick-off of the project.

To avoid setbacks, consider outsourcing software developers. This way, you aren’t limited to your country or city. Having access to worldwide outsourcing software development services and talents, you can get the team much faster. Of course, you will also need some time to find the company and sign papers and agreements, but the software outsourcing process can start in several weeks instead of months.

How to find and choose the outsourced software development for healthcare

Here’s an approximate guide on how to start the software outsourcing process.

  • Think about the desired outcome: plan the budget, roadmap, scope, and deadline 
  • Decide on the outsourcing location
  • Use Google or Clutch to find companies by healthcare-related keywords plus desired location, for example, software development outsourcing Ukraine or healthcare software development company 
  • Visit the company website and look for similar healthcare projects the company developed in the past: check the website for the Cases or Expertise section
  • Optionally, check out the company’s social media: it will show you a sneak peek of the team you’re going to partner with 
  • Book a call or submit a request in the contact form 
  • During negotiations, pay attention to the expert’s advice on the technology choice and other tech matters

Conclusion

Outsourcing can be an answer to pretty much every question concerning software development in healthcare. Focusing on business tasks instead of tech questions, gathering the team faster, saving costs, and augmenting the in-house team with niche specialists are cases to opt for outsourcing in healthcare.