The healthcare industry is one of the most dynamic sectors, quick to jump on technological developments. We didn’t think it was possible, but the COVID-19 chaos and the need for remote patient monitoring showed us how quickly we’re able to adapt to changes and adjust our software, systems, and the way we provide healthcare.

The industry has long developed various tech products to help providers and patients, but we’ve almost perfected remote medical practice this time. We’re, of course, talking about custom patient portal solutions that allow doctors and patients to reach out to each other and safely communicate about healthcare appointments, treatments, and medication.

We’ve seen an unprecedented surge in patient portal software development, influenced by the desire to receive remote services. From offering 24/7 access to medical records to reducing phone calls and paperwork, these portals are now significant aspects of modern healthcare delivery.

There are several types of patient portals on the market:

1. Standalone patient portal: They are independent and operate without the healthcare provider’s system
2. Integrated patient portal: Such a patient portal is usually embedded into existing EHR systems
3. Mobile app-based portal: This is a patient portal app that we design for mobile devices specifically
4. Web-based portal: This includes healthcare web portal development accessible through a web browser without the need for software installations

In this guide, we’ll explore some of the most asked questions about custom patient portal software to guide you through the whole development process.

Benefits and Potential of Patient Portals

When we’re talking about the benefits of patient portals, we include three types of audiences: patients, healthcare facilities, and healthcare professionals. Yes, a patient portal is a versatile tool that creates a win-win situation for all stakeholders.

Benefits for patients

Patients love using a patient portal system since it helps them access their medical information and test results and communicate with doctors without a hassle.

The most significant benefits include the following:

• 24/7 access to information: Including lab results, appointments, medication, treatment plans, and so on
• Convenient communication: Often, a patient portal system will have telehealth features and offer patients video or text chats with their doctors
• Appointment scheduling: This benefit also helps your administrative tasks. Patients prefer to schedule appointments online, and a patient portal sends them reminders as an additional benefit
• Higher chances of medication adherence: Patients are more likely to stick to their treatment plans if your patient portal has notifications and reminders
• Educational resources: Some patient portals have community and educational features, which help users learn more about their health

Benefits for healthcare facilities

Clinics, labs, pharmacies, and other healthcare facilities also benefit from patient portal software. The following are the most significant benefits for this audience type:

• Reduced administrative work volume: Integrated patient portals often allow administrative staff to schedule appointments and facilitate their work. Additionally, patient data management features and enhanced data security help them reduce their workload
• Reduced operational costs: Even though custom patient portal solution development may have high costs, facilities are seeing reduced operational and long-term costs with the use of these systems
• Better regulatory compliance and reporting: Patient portals can simplify the process of regulatory adherence. When you develop such a portal with a professional team, you won’t have to worry about HIPAA, GDPR, or other standard compliance
• Data-driven decisions: Such portals allow healthcare facilities to gather and use customer feedback to improve their healthcare delivery

Benefits for healthcare providers

Healthcare professionals spend extra hours on mundane and routine tasks that can be easily automated by patient portals. The benefits for this audience group include:

• Faster access to patient information: As we mentioned, medical professionals spend hours looking for specific information. Patient portals help them access this data real-time and faster than before
• Better healthcare coordination: These systems help professionals deliver more data-backed decisions and treatment plans
• Reduced paperwork: Digital solutions like a hospital management system or a patient portal help reduce paperwork and administrative tasks
• Efficient communication: A patient portal creates efficient communication channels between doctors and patients and also various professionals across facilities

Challenges healthcare firms face when developing patient portals

While patient portals improve workflow, optimize processes, and benefit the whole medical practice, they’re difficult to develop when you want a custom-made solution that is personalized to your company’s needs.

Various firms face several challenges when developing these portals, and they either give up or launch bug-ridden software without compliance or specialty features.

Data security and privacy are some of the challenges faced by many companies. Since healthcare data is sensitive and sharing it between facilities poses a significant risk of cyberattacks, professional service providers spend weeks developing solutions that comply with industry-specific regulations.

Another challenge that some of our clients had to address us with is integration with existing systems. Developing a standalone patient portal or a health billing management system may sound like a regular task for a professional development team. Still, hospitals have existing systems, and you need to create a patient portal that can be easily integrated.

And finally, many companies face difficulties when creating interfaces for their apps and web apps. Users don’t like non-user-friendly interfaces, so companies spend thousands of dollars creating intuitive designs, adjusting them to user feedback, and updating them regularly.

What We Do to Make Patient Portals Efficient: Step by Step Development Guide

Glorium Technologies has been helping healthcare companies create software for 14+ years. We have professional development teams, UI/UX designers, researchers, and many professionals who actively participate in the development process. In this section of the article, we want to show you how we address the development process to help you understand what you should be looking for.

We start by conducting an initial interview with our clients to understand their company better. We learn about their services, their offers, and goals. Once we know the specific requirements of the company, we start analyzing the portal idea and researching the audience.

This step helps us understand what the end users are looking for and their challenges with competitive apps and websites, and it allows us to offer them something that solves these pain points.

As we already mentioned, users find apps that cater to their every need more attractive than those that only offer functionality but not intuitive design. For example, your software may have the best and most-asked features, but if you don’t offer intuitive CTA button placements, profile, and registration options, then your competitors who have better UI/UX design may persuade your potential users to use their products instead of yours.

We mentioned this part in the challenges section, and we also mention it in our process because it’s an essential step. Hospitals already have existing systems; we’re not living in the Middle Ages, and obviously, many clinics, labs, and pharmacies use various types of software to improve their workflow.

Often, these systems are outdated or use different data formats and require integration with your new patient software. We help our clients integrate these portals with existing EHRs, EMRs, and other systems.

We finally reached the stage where our development team is ready to build your portal. At this stage, we’ve already chosen the tech stack and have design mockups, and our testers are working on real-life scenario creation.

Once the portal has been developed, our QA engineers utilize automated and manual testing processes to launch bug-free software.

Please don’t overlook this step when choosing a service provider or hiring an in-house team member. Make sure whoever develops your software provides ongoing support and maintenance.

For us, this stage includes continuous maintenance and control of our client’s software to get user feedback, suggest changes, update the app as the regulations and requirements change, and educate medical professionals and other types of audiences.

How to Develop a Patient Portal Software

When it comes to developing software, you have a choice: In-house development, freelance development, or working with professional service providers.

While in-house development may seem like a good idea for long-term support and maintenance, it’s quite costly. You’ll have greater control over the development process, but you may have to find new developers to fill the skill gaps. Remember that recruiting and retaining a qualified IT specialist is not an easy task.

You can hire freelancers for a one-time project and re-hire them or others for ongoing maintenance. This is the least costly way to develop software; however, you may need to put in a lot of effort into managing freelancers and coordinating them.

Working with a professional outsourcing company, on the other hand, offers flexibility and cost savings. Companies like ours bring expertise, scalability, and faster turnaround than other forms of development.

How to Find the Best Partner for Patient Portal Development

If you decide to work with a professional team, you must ensure they have enough experience and expertise. Our little guide on the company assessment can help you make the best decision:

• Evaluate the company’s experience in developing healthcare software
• Review their success cases and find the software that matches your idea the most
• Make sure their development team members are all well-trained in regulatory compliance
• Review customer testimonials and find proof that they’re a legitimate company (e.g., on Clutch)
• Request a quote or a detailed project proposal and timeframe
• Schedule a consultation with them to find out more about the team members and their vision
• Make sure they offer post-launch support

How Can Glorium Technologies Help?

At Glorium Technologies, we specialize in developing patient portals for various healthcare facilities and have been doing so for 14+ years. Our professional team members understand the ins and outs of the industry and can help you embody your ideas.

We offer flexible collaboration methods, lower development costs (compared to the US market), complete control over the project, transparency, personalization, and confidentiality.

We’re sure you’ll have many more questions than our FAQ has to offer, so please schedule a free consultation with us and ask our experts as many questions as you’d like.