Complete Guide on How to Build an EHR Software

Here’s Why You Should Build An EHR Software!

In the year 2017, the global value of healthcare apps and software was $2.4 Billion. It grew to $40.05 billion in 2020. With this growth rate, the market could be worth a staggering $125.32 billion in 2028.

Technology as we know it has changed the world and every industry known to man. Healthcare industry is a big one in this change. Today, around 63% of hospitals use at least six SaaS applications, including electronic health records (EHR) and medical practice management software.

In fact, EHR are one of the market leading solutions that has helped many healthcare facilities improve their services and deliver better care to the patients. Millions of hospitals are using it and millions more plan to implement their own.

Looking at it from a business point of view, this can be very beneficial for both patients and medical facilities. This is one of the reasons behind excellent growth of the EHR market. It is expected to reach 47.25 Billion by the year 2027.

This booming market and the benefit this software offers has attracted a lot of people to develop and deploy their own EHR software. If you are someone who wants to do just that, this blog is for you.

Here we shall be discussing everything you need to know about how to build an EHR Software. Let’s get right into it, starting with:

What is Electronic Health Record?

Now, the name EHR or EMR is through around a lot in the medical world. So, what are these exactly?

EHR/EMR software is a medical database system as its name suggests. Intended to be used by medical workers, they have user-friendly interfaces along with other functionalities like forms gathering, accessing, managing, and transferring medical records.

Now, both EHR and EMR are different despite having some core functions. Nevertheless, both of these help medical practices and facilities manage their operations, minimize paperwork, and maximize effective value delivery to patients.

This is the reason behind the popularity of EHR/EMR Software Development.  Now, if you are someone who wants to develop health record software of your own for your practice or hospital that is definitely a good choice.

We shall be discussing the reason to build software of your own later down the line. But before we get into that, let’s look at the certain differences between EMR, EHR, and PM.

Let’s look at these below:

What are the Difference Between EMR vs EHR vs PM?

When you talk about medical healthcare record management software, well, there are a few names that are going to pop up.

These are EHR (Electronic Medical Record), EMR (Electronic Health Record), and PM (Practice Management) software.

As we already discussed, EHR/EMR software is more clinically focused while PM is based on an administration like scheduling, billing, claims to process, etc.

Therefore, in reality, both EHR and PM software are used together for the effective administration of medical facilities.

Now, this leaves us with EHR vs EMR. And both of these are medical records of patients just in digital form. So, what is the difference between EMR and EHR Custom Software Development?

Speaking of differences, EHR applications or software have many features along with high-end integrations when compared to EMRs. In the same sense, the EHR has a higher cost to develop.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that EMR revolves around data storage. On the other hand, EHR are more about third-party integration and access to the stored data. They use HL7 FHIR interoperability standards.

These are the major differences between EHR and EMR. And with this said, you can understand which one fits your needs the best.

Moving on, we shall be looking at some of the reasons to invest and build EHR Software in the next section of the blog.

Why Build EHR Software?

Custom software development isn’t cheap.

So, when you are considering investing in the electronic health record, you need a good reason to do so. Because the truth is told, it will cost some good money.

Therefore, in this section of the blog, we shall be a reason to develop a market-leading EHR software development. These are, as mentioned below:

• Improved Efficiency and Productivity

How does a practice or any healthcare facility improve its productivity? The answer is by streamlining their internal workflows.

EHR software helps automate a repetitive task, provides workflow assistance, and in turn, helps streamline the entire operation which helps improve various aspects.

For instance, it enables faster decision-making, takes less space to store paper medical records, removes the need for unnecessary overtime labor, and improves employee morale.

• More Value To Patients

The main focus of any healthcare provider, practice, or caregiver is to make patients comfortable and deliver more value to them.

While the heavy lifting is done by medical staff, technology can certainly help. This is one of the reasons to Build EHR software.

This software help doctors move their focus to patients delivering more value, and personalized care. Plus, when it comes to patients themselves, the overall effect inspires strong loyalty among patients through personalized care.

In addition to this, another benefit is lower readmission rates and stronger patient-physician relationships.

• Reduced Operation Cost

EMR aren’t cheap in any way. But you know what? They are worth every penny. In addition, this software helps practices reduce their total operation cost.

How?

Well, the software automates a lot of repetitive tasks.  Moreover, employees don’t have to do overtime. And everything is done digitally.

So, these are some of the reasons to invest in EHR software. In the next section of the blog,  we shall be going over some benefits it offers to both doctors and Patients.

Advantages of EHR Systems For Doctors & Patients

EHR Systems beneficial for both doctors and patients just like healthcare app development solution. Let’s look at some benefits for both of them.

These are, as mentioned below:

Benefits for Doctors

• Patient related data is made easily accessible to doctors in easy to read format.
• Doctors can find all details about drugs, condition, and treatment on one panel.
• With all the information made available, it is easy to provide better care.
• The platform can be used to schedule appointments and meetings.
• Doctors can improve their preventative care with this software.

Benefits for patients

• The patient panel of the EHR allows them to set appointments
• EHR software comes with push notifications which send alerts or reminders related to billing and appointments as well as medical related things.
• These platforms come with e-learning integration thus providing educational content related to patient’s condition and disease.

These are the advantages EHR offers to both doctors and patients. Let’s look at the features of these platforms.

Features To Include In EHR/EMR Software Development

Features are driving force of any SaaS Development.

So, some of the features that every top EHR/EMR software should have are, as mentioned below:

Moving on, a lot of development process in next section of the blog.

How To Build EHR Software? EHR Custom Software Development Process

So, how do you build EHR Software?

Software development can be a bit complicated for clients. But it is important to understand it before investing in the software.

That is why, in this section of the blog, we shall be going through the entire development and deployment process.

Therefore, with this being said, let’s get right into it:

1) Ideation & Cross-Checking

To create EHR software, you need an idea.

Now, there are a hundred ways to come up with an idea, brainstorm, shower thoughts, or whatever. But try to work with more than one idea. This way you will have the plan to fall back to.

Once you have these ideas, it is time to cross-check it or as some might call it, validation. It is an important thing to do before starting the development process.

Nevertheless, following these, it’s time to….

2) Create an MVP

Won’t you like to know what the will solution looks like before actually starting development?

This is where MVP comes in. There are various reasons to create minimal viable product.

For those asking what is MVP? It is a form of prototype, where you can create a barebones version of your app with minimal functional and complete design elements.

Moving on, let’s get into the technical things.

3) Finalize Tech Stack

So, what is a tech stack?

Tech stack refers to the set of techniques used for Custom software development. It includes programming languages, frameworks, libraries, toolkits, and so on.

Choosing the right tech stack is very important as it can affect the cost, and performance of the solution, among other things.

Now that you are done with it, it’s time to hire developers.

4) Hire Software Developers

It is time to hire dedicated developers.

So, how do you do it? Well, there are actually several ways you can do it. We shall be looking at some of these below:

• Hire Freelancers
• Outsource to a software development company
• Hire part-time developers
• Consult local development company
• Assemble in-house team

These are some of the different popular methods to hire software developers. However, there are some things that you need to keep in mind while hiring developers. These are, as mentioned below:

• Cross-check their experience
• Match their expertise with your needs
• Ask for portfolio
• Interview developers personally
• Ask for NDA and code ownership
• Team size
• Location of the developers

Once you have finally hired developers, it is time to start the development and designing part. We will do it in the next step.

5) Designing & Development

It is time to start development.

This process can be actually divided into two parts, these are front-end development and back-end development.

The former deals with UI/UX designing. Here, the designers will be creating a design that attracts customers and keeps them engaged, converting them into a lead.

When it comes to back-end development, here, just like healthcare app development, developers will be writing source code.

All in all, the whole process is very time and resource intensive. Therefore, it is recommended that you maintain good communication with the development team.

After the development is done, it is time to test the application.

6) Testing

When you build EHR software, it is important to test it before it is sent for deployment.

The QA team will be checking it for bugs and errors, leaving no stone unturned. There are various paid tools used here, but primarily the software is deployed in the live environment for testing.

When this is done, it is time to deploy the solution.

7) Deployment

The deployment process is very simple and quick.

Now, since we are talking about software development and not mobile app development, it can either be deployed online or it can be directly handed over to the client.

Nevertheless, once this is done, the work isn’t over yet.

8) Maintenance

Maintenance services are important, to say the least. It is with these services that the EHR solution stays afloat.

This goes on for entire lifetime.

This is the entire development process to build an HER software. Moving on, we shall be looking at the cost to build EHR software in the next section of the blog.

Read the blog- How to Create a Healthcare App in 2022: The Ultimate Guide

Cost To Build EHR Software

So, how much does it cost to build EHR software?

Well, the cost highly depends on the development process and the factors related to it. Some of these factors are, as mentioned below:

• Platform
• Tech stack
• Developer’s location
• Size
• Complexity

These are the different factors that can affect the cost. Due to these factors, it is recommended that you consult a healthcare software development companyto learn more about the cost.

Conclusion

This is all you need to know about how to build EHR software and everything related to the same. Now, if you are someone who wants to do the same or create an EHR software of your own, you should consult an EHR software development company that will help you with the same.

Niketan Sharma

Niketan Sharma is the CTO of Nimble AppGenie, a prominent website and mobile app development company in the USA that is delivering excellence with a commitment to boosting business growth & maximizing customer satisfaction. He is a highly motivated individual who helps SMEs and startups grow in this dynamic market with the latest technology and innovation.