EHR Software Development - How to Build It from Scratch?

Quick Summary: In this latest article, we’ll walk you through the ins and outs of Electronic Health Record (EHR) software development. We'll dive into why it matters, the key features that make it stand out, the tech stack required, and the process of building a comprehensive EHR system. Whether you're a tech enthusiast or a healthcare professional, you'll get a clear picture of the exciting journey that goes into creating these digital health assets. Let's get started!

Technology has advanced by leaps and bounds and brought revolutionary changes in every industry. The Healthcare sector is no exception. Patients now have access to some of the best and most cutting-edge treatments because of healthcare technology advancements.

Additionally, the professionals in the healthcare industry now have advanced tools at their disposal to enhance patient care, provide quality experiences and save a lot of time. Latest technologies like ML, IoT, and AI are playing an important role in revolutionizing healthcare.

In earlier times, transporting patient medical records used to be a challenging task because so many crucial documents would frequently get lost or damaged.

Not just that, referring patients was also a lengthy process as doctors had to go through long piles of documents containing the patient information.

In short, there was a lot of chaos and the healthcare sector had enough reasons to adopt telehealth.

However, gone are the days when bulky files and worn-out papers were moved from one department to other. As mentioned above, technology now acts as a savior in solving healthcare challenges.

Thankfully, the introduction of EHR systems has made life easier for everyone involved in healthcare, including patients.

The development of this type of software helps in the replacement of paperwork. Additionally, it automates healthcare management.

As per the report, the Global Electronic Health Records (EHR) market size is expected to reach USD 52.98 Billion by 2027 with a 9.3% CAGR.

EHR software development is really simple. Thanks to all of the tools and services available for software development out there.

Before getting started on how to develop the best EHR software, let's first understand the basics.

What is EHR?

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) are summaries of a patient's digital medical records that are collected, stored, and shared using structured computer software. All the authorized individuals engaged in the patient's treatment, including physicians, labs, pharmacies, nursing homes, state registries, and patients themselves, can share medical information using EHR systems. Another term related to EHR is an electronic medical record (EMR). There isn’t much difference between EHR and EMR, and therefore, both of these terms are used interchangeably.

The information present in these digital summaries can be anything from lab reports, diagnoses, prescriptions to details about regular checkups, stays in the hospital, and more. Medical records software provides professionals with better insights into a patient’s health leading to more precise diagnoses and higher-quality patient care.

EMR hospital software programs make it easier for labs and specialists to share information, which enhances coordination and collaboration. Digital records have the potential to improve accountability and lessen medical malpractice if properly implemented and maintained.

Simply put, EHR systems provide users with a centralized platform to access important information and help make sure that nothing falls through the cracks. They help medical professionals in reducing the risk of mistakes and make the entire process seamless and less time-consuming.

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What are the Must-Have Features of Fully Developed EHR Systems?

EHR software development involves creating applications that digitize patient records, improve clinical workflows, enhance care coordination, and support compliance with healthcare regulations like HIPAA.

Although there are different types of EMR systems available in the market, an effective one contains each of the features listed below, making it a full solution to provide a bird's eye view of patient's medical history.

1. Patient Management Portal

Most of the administrative tasks such as new patient registration, admission, facility transfer, and discharge are included in this key component of the EHR system.

For instance, the admission desk must inquire about specifics like phone numbers, addresses, insurance information, employment records, contact details, and demographics when a patient registers with the hospital for the first time.

Every patient receives a special ID on the system, commonly known as a medical record number, after registration is finished. This number is used by electronic medical software to track all subsequent interactions with the patient, including lab results, diagnoses, drugs, visits, etc.

2. Clinical Records Section

The clinical component improves patient management capability by giving care teams the instruments they need to make informed decisions.

This component enables clinicians to gather and record patient interactions, including the patients' histories, physical examinations, and surgical notes.

Moreover, this aspect of EHR systems integrates seamlessly with a pharmacy management system, incorporating crucial details like nursing records and pharmacy information, further centralizing patient data for better health outcomes.

3. Billing and Financial Dashboards

The profitability, productivity, and efficiency of a hospital are significantly influenced by its billing records. They can track every charge a patient incurs while receiving care, making them an essential part of the EMR software systems.

The billing component is capable of much more than just keeping accurate records of expenditures. Dashboards for tracking key performance indicators and other analytical reports can be created with this component's help. It continuously gathers information from many sources all across the healthcare facility.

The finance department can make additional use of this data to monitor historical revenue, department-specific billing, costs, and potential improvement areas. Hence, there is a very important role of EHR in medical billing.

4. E-Prescriptions

As we know, the future of healthcare is virtual, and this is why everything has become digital now, even the prescriptions.

E-Prescriptions are another very important feature that is necessary for electronic health record software. All prescriptions are maintained and recorded on this unique platform. It includes information about all the treatments, conditions, and issues.

The purpose of this feature is to make information about patient's health more visible. Additionally, it assists medical professionals in understanding how to construct and make wise decisions.

Considering that everyone can access the data in the system it gets easy for professionals to comprehend past medical histories.

5. Integration with Test Labs

Integration with the testing lab enables doctors to monitor and receive test results quickly. They will have a clear idea of how to continue the treatment. It streamlines the entire process and increases credibility. It makes it easier for clinicians to get accurate results and for labs to decide which tests to run.

This integration connects patient’s medical history with the current procedures. This way even lab technicians are aware about the exact medical conditions of the patient. They can recognize the symptoms of a condition and speak with the doctors directly. This feature makes the EHR systems more efficient and quicker.

Types of Electronic Health Record (EHR) Software

From a technical point of view, Electronic Health Record software systems come in different kinds, each with their distinct use cases in the healthcare industry. And the best system type significantly depends on the care it provides, messaging requirements, lab result communication needs, e-prescribing, and clinical documentation used. The most popular EHR types include:

1. Cloud-Based EHRs - You host these cost-effective and scalable systems on remote servers so that healthcare professionals can access patient data anywhere, anytime.

2. On-Premises EHRs - With on-premises EHRs, you get greater control over data as you install them locally within your infrastructure. Maintenance is completely your responsibility.

3. Web-Based EHRs - These EHRs are accessible through a web browser, hence more convenient if you have multiple locations or healthcare professionals who need remote access.

4. Mobile EHRs - As the name says, users can access these easily movable EHRs on smartphones and tablets.

5. Personal Health Records - PHRs are for patients to help them track their health information, such as appointments, medications, and test results.

Tech Stack for Building an EHR System

There is no one ideal solution for the tech stack used to create EHR software. Every healthcare software development firm has its own collection of technologies that it believes are ideal for putting healthcare solutions into practice.

Some technologies and business developments are more popular than others. For instance, Python is currently among the most popular programming languages. It is recognized as one of the most secure and functional languages available (it complies with HIPAA).

These are just recommendations; if for whatever reason you decide against using a particular programming language or framework, you can always look for an alternative.

The most popular technologies used for EHR system development are listed below:

Team Required to Build an EHR Software

To create an EHR software, you'll need the following team composition:

• Web developers (back-end developers and front-end developers)
• Android developers
• iOS developers
• QA engineers
• Project managers

Cost is another important factor to consider. It is important to note that EHR software costs may vary due to various reasons. It entirely depends on the EHR software development company you choose to work with.

Now that you know what is EHR and what its key components are, let's understand how to build a fully developed EHR software.

How to Build an EHR System?

The process of developing an EHR is challenging since there are many technical factors to take into consideration. Because of this, you might require the help of a competent EHR development company that has extensive knowledge of everything about healthcare software development.

EHR development allows healthcare providers to build smarter medical systems, modernize care delivery, and automate tasks.

We'll briefly explain the EHR development process and the considerations you should make in order to have a robust and well-functioning medical software system and use it without fear of incurring penalties.

1. Idea Validation

The first and foremost step to building EHR software is to validate the software idea and concept. The software development services you select will consider the EHR solution's profitability and market fit before beginning development.

You need to determine your goals, your needs, and your rivals while finalizing the elements that would make your business stand out.

The agency will move forward with the designing step after reviewing your app idea from a technical and market perspective.

2. EHR Model and Prototype

Once you have validated the EHR software idea, the next step is to make a prototype.

Making a list of features, choosing a team, and deciding on the technology stack are the first steps in the process.

Next, request a prototype from your service providers that closely resembles how you envision the software will seem and function.

3. Designing and Development

Once you approve the prototype, it's time to begin with the final design phase of EHR systems. You may want to finalize a design that fits your organizational needs; hence, look for a custom software development company that designs the software keeping your unique requirements in mind.

In this stage, the project is given to the programmers, who get to work on implementing the system's functionality.

Each sprint in the development process aims to produce a fully functional platform or a ready-made functionality component.

4. Testing

The quality assurance team finds the flaws throughout the testing phase. They follow the software development process, examine the design, and keep an eye on other processes. They also know how to create a more advanced electronic health record system.

The goal is to determine whether or not EHR software meets the need. Testing must go on until and unless the development objectives are met by how the EMR software functions.

5. Launch and Maintenance

After the functionality is developed, the QA team does any necessary final checks before the software development team launches the product, either by integrating it into the current system or by launching a brand-new one.

The cooperation with the vendor continues even after the technology is put into service. The platform continuously gets monitored by professionals for bugs or any potential future problems.

How much does it cost to build an EHR?

The cost of developing an EHR system depends on various factors, including specific needs, budget, target audience, technology, features, and functionality. Based on Radixweb's extensive experience in EHR development, we’ve compiled a breakdown of the estimated costs, which can help businesses plan their budget effectively-

The average cost of developing a simple EHR software range from $50,000 to $150,000, with a development timeline of 6 to 12 months. This type is ideal for smaller practices and includes essential features such as appointment scheduling, patient portals, billing, lab integrations, e-prescriptions, analytics, and more.

For a medium complexity EHR system implementation typically ranges from $150, 000 – $500, 000 and takes 12 to 18 months to complete. These systems include advanced features such as lab integrations, e-prescriptions, compliance with HIPAA, HL7, or FHIR standards, and advanced reporting capabilities.

The cost of developing an enterprise-level EHR system ranges from $500,000 to over $1,000,000, depending on custom requirements. Designed for hospitals or large healthcare networks, they feature custom modules, real-time analytics, scalability, and interoperability with other systems.

In addition to development costs, EHR maintenance costs typically range between 15% and 25% of the initial development cost annually. The exact maintenance cost depends on factors such as the type of software, its complexity, and compliance requirements. For simple EHR software, maintenance costs range from $7,500 to $37,500 per year. Medium-complexity EHR systems have annual maintenance costs ranging from $22,500 to $125,000. Enterprise-level EHR systems incur maintenance costs of $125,000 or more per year.

Radixweb as Your Reliable EHR System ProviderThe advent of EHR systems is one of the most significant developments in the healthcare industry. Organizations must stay on top of it and reap the benefits of telehealth services if they want to improve the quality of their healthcare services.The details outlined above provide you with a clear of what is electronic health records software and how to build one. Right from idea validation, and using appropriate technologies to finally releasing the software, it is imperative to keep a check on every single detail for EHR software development.Therefore, you might need to look for assistance from experienced EHR software vendors.Get in touch with our experts at Radixweb and avail our Healthcare IT services if you need help with developing an EHR system that will be both convenient for patients and extremely efficient for healthcare providers. Our EHR developers design, develop, and modernize digital tools for the healthcare industry to improve efficiency and stay compliant with evolving healthcare regulations. We've worked on a number of healthcare projects and have extensive expertise in delivering state-of-the-art healthcare solutions development services. And we’re all set to provide a cutting-edge digital solution for your healthcare institution as well. So, get in touch with us right away and take your healthcare services to another level by building top EHR software.