Custom Hospital Apps vs. Off-the-Shelf Healthcare Solutions
Technology is penetrating every industry slowly and steadily and healthcare is also included. In fact, the industry seems to be craving for a wide range of off-the-shelf and custom software solutions that have the potential to meet different needs and requirements. Fortunately, there are a plethora of mobile application development companies that are reliable and trustworthy and above all have a proven track record of offering the best possible solutions across different industry verticals including healthcare.
The following post emphasizes on what is a custom-based healthcare solution and what is an off-the-shelf healthcare solution, how they are both beneficial and above all, which one is better. So if you are confused about whether to build or buy, time to read the following post. And it is quite obvious that whatever decision you make, it will have a great impact on your healthcare organization and every person related, whether he or she is a professional, doctor, nurse or even patient.
In the software development realm, off-the-shelf softwares and custom softwares have been pretty much in demand. Not just businesses but every industry requires efficient softwares and solutions to scale up and keep up with the evolving times. Fortunately, the tech market offers a wide range of ready-made and custom-built softwares and solutions that not only streamline internal processes but also guarantee high-end effectiveness and productivity with no hidden costs. Now for a better understanding, let’s have a comparative assessment between the two concepts and then decide which one is better to invest in.
Introducing Custom Software Development
Benefits of Custom Software Development Solutions
#1 Cost-Effectiveness
#2 High-end Scalability
#3 More Secured
Introducing Off-The-Shelf Software
Benefits of using Off-the-Shelf Software
#1 Quite Affordable
#2 Easy to use
#3 Large Community
Custom Hospital Apps vs. Off-the-Shelf Healthcare Solutions 6
#1 Specific Needs
#2 Decision Making
Final Verdict
Introducing Custom Software Development
So what is custom software development? Well, as the name implies, the concept features the process of designing, developing, testing and deploying software that is developed to specifically cater to specific needs and unique requirements. Custom software development also stands for bespoke and tailored software development and is mostly considered by different industry verticals to gain a competitive edge and offer 100% customer satisfaction. Moreover, these are meant for in-house use or internal use purposes and not for sale.
One of the finest examples to consider here is an app that records a patient’s documents and suggests appropriate medications or locations of the local clinics nearby. In addition, custom software development can also be considered as a practice for taking any existing software and upgrading or tweaking it a bit in accordance to specific organization needs. Now when do you need to opt for a custom software solution? Well, when you want to go a tad further than your existing traditional softwares then this is it. Apart from that, here are some perks of incorporating custom software development within your organization.
- Increase efficiency
- High-end scalability
- Cost-effective solution
- Increased Return on investment
Now custom hospital apps are pretty much the same, the only difference is that they are built for hospitals and made to cater to all the specific needs of the healthcare organization. In other words, these apps are well-integrated with your existing apps to ensure that the workflow is highly streamlined and things become more easier and efficient.
Further, let’s have a close look at certain crucial benefits of using custom software development.
Benefits of Custom Software Development Solutions
#1 Cost-Effectiveness
The first and foremost benefit of considering a custom software development solution is that it is cost-effective. Yes, building an application can be cost-effective, no kidding! At first, you may not believe me, but you can do the math yourself. First, you pass the requirements to a reliable custom software development company where they have a team of professionals who are well-experienced in building, testing and debugging applications in a single go according to your pre-determined requirements. And what’s more crucial to know is custom software usually requires a lesser deal of resources which means all the scope for additional cost is automatically eliminated.
#2 High-end Scalability
The next benefit offered by custom software development is that with time passing by your organization will definitely grow and so will your custom software. Yes, custom softwares are pretty easy to scale or update in comparison to off-the-shelf solutions. However, off-the-shelf softwares can be a better solution for small companies or the ones which are in their startup phase.
Overall, you are way smart! You need to make a savvy choice by investing in software that is worth the risk and works wonders for a pretty long run.
#3 More Secured
Lastly, custom softwares are fully-fledged especially when it comes to security. Yes, with security breaches happening every now and then, custom softwares are developed in such a way that it can safeguard all your organization’s crucial data and information from potential security threats. So having software developed featuring the latest security, compliance, and data protection is definitely worth considering.
However, this is not it! There are several other benefits of considering custom software such as easy to use, seamless third-party integrations, high-end efficiency, productivity, enhanced reliability, and so more! So what’s there not to like about custom software apps or custom hospital apps?
Moving on! Time to focus on off-the-shelf softwares or off-the-shelf healthcare solutions.
Introducing Off-The-Shelf Software
So what is off-the-shelf software? Earlier, when there was no term like custom software development, off-the-shelf was the hero. Yes, as mentioned, custom software seeks to meet specific needs, and off-the-shelf software has the potential to handle different problems. Yes, it’s basically a general-purpose software.
Off-the-shelf softwares can be called ready-made products featuring a wide range of functionalities that cater to the needs of a large segment of users at once. Unlike custom softwares, these are pretty universal and mainly designed for commercial use. So integrating an off-the-shelf software with your existing system won’t be an issue. Moreover, you aren’t required to conduct any complicated configurations.
Some of the popular examples of off-the-shelf softwares include Oracle’s SAP ERP, Microsoft Dynamics, Sage Intact, Insightly, HubSpot CRM, Zoho CRM and more. Also, Gmail and Microsoft Office are considered as off-the-shelf solutions. Now without any further delay, I would like to mention how these ready-made solutions or off-the-shelf softwares can be beneficial.
Benefits of using Off-the-Shelf Software
#1 Quite Affordable
One of the obvious reasons to consider here is that off-the-shelf softwares comes with a way more reasonable price. So if you see the initial investment, it can be pretty affordable in comparison to custom software. As mentioned above, these solutions are mainly designed for the masses so the price is pretty low.
#2 Easy to use
Another benefit of using off-the-shelf software is that it is pretty easy to use. All you have to do is buy the software, download it and Voila! You don’t have to wait for the software to be developed and executed. Moreover, off-the-shelf softwares are well-documented, certified and complies with several industry standards and privacy regulations. Also, maintenance is no longer your headache. It’s a quick, easily accessible and easy-to-implement solution.
#3 Large Community
The next benefit of using off-the-shelf software is that here you will find a wide range of communities featuring all the like-minded people who tend to use the same product. So in case of any confusion, you will be able to freely ask questions and find relevant solutions in case of any bugs or issues. Lots and lots of your time and effort is saved here.
So where exactly does the difference lie? Now we will be finding out the difference between the two; custom hospital apps and off-the-shelf healthcare solutions.
Custom Hospital Apps vs. Off-the-Shelf Healthcare Solutions
#1 Specific Needs
The first and foremost factor is catering to specific needs and requirements. Let’s face it we are talking about hospital apps, now here every patient might have a different need and catering for them separately is the key to success. What’s more even healthcare professionals might have different approaches and different ways of treating their patients so it varies from case to case.
For instance, let’s say a nurse requires to include the latest lab test results and at the same time a physician wants to compare and conclude between the previous one and the latest one. So the custom software app must be able to show the results in the form of a neat graph or comparison stating what’s the progress. However, off-the-shelf softwares or healthcare solutions cannot afford such services. Yes, and even if you try to do so, the app’s functionality becomes overloaded and things can certainly go out of control. Off-the-shelf solutions are meant to address the basic needs only. And custom hospital apps not just cater to specific needs but turn out to be pretty flexible and effective here.
#2 Decision Making
Custom hospital apps in general are developed using specific algorithms and analytics, so in other words, the app developed here will be better at gathering all the crucial data and analyzing it and assisting the healthcare professionals in decision-making. Whereas with off-the-shelf softwares, this is certainly not the case since it features a limited amount of algorithms and analytics. So getting accurate results with off-the-shelf healthcare solutions is pretty next to impossible.
Custom softwares aren’t any basic software, in fact, it comes with a lot of bells and whistles. So you can kill several birds with one arrow. And accurate decision-making is definitely one of those benefits.
#3 Integration
Now whenever you decide to build or buy an app or software, I am sure you must have thought of integrating it with other existing apps in your healthcare organization. Integrating a custom-built app directly with EHR systems means all your patient’s data is safe and secured.
However, integration can be easily done when both the softwares are developed by the same software development companies. In cases where softwares are owned by different software development companies, data exchange can be quite difficult to conduct. The reason is high incompatibility or security measures that can affect easy integration.
In such cases, a custom hospital application can definitely have an upper hand. Smooth integration can be developed since the app is customized thoroughly according to existing softwares as well as the needs of the healthcare organization.
Final Verdict
Well, both the concepts of custom hospital apps and off-the-shelf softwares comprise benefits and disadvantages. Choosing either of the two highly depends on what your needs and requirements are. However, I personally feel that custom software offers way more advantages than off-the-shelf software. Also, they can be easily integrated and are pretty custom-made. So if you are looking for a tailor-made solution then consider custom apps and if you want a generic, ready-made solution then definitely consider off-the-shelf healthcare software. So now you tell me which one is the better option?
