Why Building In-house Software Engineering Teams Can Transform Not-For-Profit Hospitals

Written by: Antony Prem, Chief Digital Officer, GM, St.Johns National Academy of Health Sciences

The healthcare landscape in India is witnessing a surge in corporate hospitals. While they offer advanced technology and amenities, non-profit hospitals will always remain a vital pillar of the healthcare ecosystem. Here's why:

The Ethical Compass of Healthcare

Accessibility

Not-For-Profit hospitals prioritize affordability, making quality care accessible to all socioeconomic backgrounds. This is especially crucial in a country such as India, with its diverse population.

Community Outreach

They go beyond treatment, organize health camps in remote areas, offer free/subsidized consultations, and set up preventive care clinics. This empowers communities and fosters trust.

To stay relevant, keep the trust, and be competitive, non-profit hospitals must embrace digital transformation:

Telemedicine

This offers remote virtual consultations with specialists, bridging geographical gaps and serving underprivileged areas.

Patient Engagement Platforms

Self-service kiosk ecosystems, mobile apps, online appointment booking, virtual consultations, intelligent queue systems, and electronic medical records (EMR) enhance patient convenience and greatly improve the experience.

Data-Driven Decision (3D) Making

Analyzing patient data helps optimize resource allocation, improve patient outcomes, and identify areas for cost-efficiency.

The hospitals demand solutions tailored to their unique needs, yet large non-profit hospitals are often constrained by the inflexibility and costs of commercial Hospital Information Systems (HIS). Establishing an in-house HIS development team represents a bold initiative with significant potential to transform hospital operations, enhance patient care, witness efficient adoption of technology, and ensure sustained success in the long run.

The Case for Internal Teams

Experience Agility

Traditional HIS vendors are overwhelmed by their customer base, struggling to adequately serve their needs, combined with inflexible software architecture and cumbersome requirement-gathering processes, often struggle to keep pace with rapid change requirements.

In contrast, in-house teams enable swift innovation and possess significant influence in collaborating with doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals as needed, directly aligning technology with evolving hospital priorities.

Whether it's implementing a new patient engagement feature, streamlining billing processes, simplifying EMR by specialty, or integrating new laboratory/radiology equipment, in-house teams can swiftly address these needs.

Seamless Workflows

Instead of bending and re-engineering well-established processes around the software, in-house development lets your workflows shape the system. This improves efficiency, reduces healthcare staff frustration, and can directly impact the quality of care.

Ownership and Understanding of Data

Commercial healthcare information systems (HIS) may limit access to the production environment, employ proprietary formats that restrict data access, adopt creative licensing models, or utilize complex procedures and sophisticated data architectures for data extraction.

Conversely, internal teams ensure complete data control, enabling customized business intelligence and analytics. These insights inform decisions regarding resource allocation, revenue cycles, inventory management, patient visit patterns, and trends related to prescribed investigations or treatments.

Efficient Cost Management and a Catalyst for Innovation

Despite substantial initial investment, sustained long-term savings are achieved. Resources previously allocated to customizations will now bolster essential patient care initiatives or enable the exploration of new technologies.

Drawing in Skilled Professionals

Non-profit organization’s mission-driven values often attract software engineers from relevant communities seeking meaningful work that goes beyond building healthcare digital platforms.

They are drawn by the opportunity to make a tangible impact and meaningful contributions, supported by benefits such as healthcare, accommodation, and other non-monetary perks.

Addressing the Challenges

The Kick Start Phase: Collaborating with specialized software vendors through a Build, Operate, and Transfer model can kickstart development, bridging any knowledge gaps until the internal team gains expertise.

Find the Right People: Utilize established contact networks to identify enthusiastic tech professionals, establish a distinct recruitment process, introduce unique job titles that differentiate from conventional IT roles, and foster a culture of ongoing learning within the IT team.

Regulatory Adherence: Actively involving compliance specialists in healthcare regulations, cybersecurity, and the Data Protection and Privacy Act of 2023, while utilizing available open-source frameworks, can help mitigate this risk.

When In-House Software Engineering and Development is the Winning Strategy:

This strategy is most suitable for non-profit organizations that:

Have clearly established long-term goals, ensuring alignment between the HIS development plan and the organization's mission.

Are committed to strengthening their IT capabilities as a core strategic asset, highlighting IT as a profit center.

Appreciate the invaluable contributions of doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals, while recognizing the unique expertise and role differentiation within IT professions.

Demonstrate enthusiasm for embracing bold innovation, understanding that initial challenges pave the way for long-term benefits.

Embracing the Future

Undertaking in-house software engineering and development is a weighty decision that demands careful consideration. However, for the appropriate non-profit organization, it can represent a pivotal investment.

This approach enables hospitals to regain authority over their technological trajectory, enhance both patient and staff satisfaction, and establish themselves as frontrunners in a healthcare industry primed for innovation.

Moreover, they might explore the option of offering their developed product as a SaaS platform, generating additional revenue to extend their reach to a broader spectrum of socioeconomic backgrounds.

This progressive strategy not only enhances the well-being of patients and healthcare professionals but also positions these organizations as pioneers in shaping the future of healthcare delivery.

While certain not-for-profit hospitals have already experienced long-term advantages, I am convinced that it is now time for others to follow suit.

[Disclaimer: This is an authored article, DHN is not liable for the claims made in the same.]