Today, healthcare providers have too many hoops to jump through. Excessive data entry, complex patient journeys, overwhelming regulations, and other hurdles pull medical professionals further from focusing on effective care. Healthcare software solutions stepped in as a response to these distinct challenges, forming the immense healthcare IT market of $312.9 billion.
This guide explores 14 distinct types of healthcare software that lighten the load for healthcare providers and help bridge the gap to more patient-centered care.
Electronic health records (EHR) systems
Electronic health records are systems that electronically collect and store patient information, including their medical history, diagnoses, prescribed medications, treatment plans, and test results. EHRs document the patient’s entire healthcare journey and make it easily available to healthcare providers at the point of care.
Because EHR software acts as a single source of truth for patient data, doctors and nurses also use it to define the best course of action for their patients, including personalized care. Many mHealth applications and health systems, such as Laboratory Information System (LIS), Radiology Information System (RIS), and others, also integrate with EHRs to obtain a richer and more dynamic understanding of an individual’s health.
Compared to manual data storage, electronic health record software is better at protecting sensitive healthcare information due to its strict built-in access protocols. These systems also minimize medical errors, improve care coordination, and automate various administrative tasks, including patient intake, insurance verification, and appointment scheduling.
Examples: Epic Systems, athenahealth, Altera Digital Health.
Telemedicine platforms
Telemedicine platforms are applications that enable remote care delivery through the combination of electronic data and communication technologies. Telemedicine apps facilitate secure healthcare consultations, often providing access to specialized care that is otherwise unavailable.
Along with virtual doctor visits, telemedicine applications also comprise dedicated modules to streamline the following tasks:
- Appointment scheduling — Equipped with online booking, automated reminders, and real-time schedule management, telemedicine applications allow patients to book and manage appointments at their convenience. It also takes the admin burden off the doctor’s hands.
- Remote patient monitoring — Used as a part of remote patient monitoring (RPM) systems, telemedicine apps connect with medical devices and wearables to gather vital signs and physiological data for the doctor’s later analysis.
- Real-time/Asynchronous communication — With telemedicine software, both patients and doctors don’t need to wait for another visit; they can communicate remotely and do routine check-ins.
Unlike traditional care options, telemedicine applications are not bound by location, allowing healthcare providers to bring high-quality healthcare to patients in rural areas, underserved communities, or individuals with physical limitations.
Examples: Teladoc Health, Talkspace, Amwell: Doctor Visits 24/7.
Medical practice management software
Practice management software (PMS) is a type of healthcare software focused on accelerating the daily operations of a medical practice. Usually, it’s a suite of dedicated modules that help medical professionals drive both clinical and operational efficiency.
As an operational backbone, PMS helps solo and group practices automate such tasks as appointment scheduling, billing, patient record management, and insurance claims processing. Also, PMS's analytics and reporting features provide doctors with a nuanced view of appointment trends and financial outcomes, allowing them to strategically grow their practices.
However, the true potential of practice management software goes beyond automation and practice expansion. PMS often comes with telehealth functionality, a mobile app for medical records, a client portal, and ePrescribe tools. Combined, these capabilities improve patient experience and provide healthcare professionals with everything they need to deliver better care and personalized support from anywhere they want.
Examples: Simple Practice, CureMD, Open Dental.
Hospital management systems (HMS)
Hospital management software is essentially an information management hub that helps coordinate various hospital departments, including the front desk, doctors' offices, the lab, the billing office, and other areas.
Back in the day, healthcare personnel had to flick through paper diaries and confirm information via phone calls. An HMS replaced manual processes with digital workflows, allowing staff to set up appointments with a few clicks, access patient digital files through a fully integrated EHR module, and send lab orders to the hospital’s laboratory.
Along with the functions mentioned above, hospital management systems also aid healthcare organizations with the following functions:
- Acting as a digital nervous system of the hospital, an HMS connects with other healthcare systems such as Radiology Information System, Laboratory Information System, and Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) to streamline diagnostic flows.
- An HMS brings all financial management under one roof, replacing the need for spreadsheets, paper records, and a hodgepodge of finance applications.
- Tracking medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, and equipment, HMS makes supply chain management easier for healthcare staff.
- In the US, a hospital management system also helps healthcare providers implement the necessary technical access controls to ensure HIPAA compliance.
Examples: eClinicalWorks, Veradigm, MocDoc. Larger healthcare organizations with complex workflows tend to create custom HMSs.
Healthcare CRM systems
Similar to traditional CRM systems, healthcare CRMs bring patient data from various sources together to create a comprehensive patient profile for more personalized healthcare services. A CRM logs all communications across channels within the patient's record, providing a history of interactions and eliminating duplicate effort.
A healthcare customer relationship management system has a full deck when it comes to communication channels. It can provide secure online forms, chatbots, messages, and other alternative digital channels for inquiries that would otherwise require a phone call.
Such platforms also automate follow-up activities and proactive outreach, assist healthcare organizations in personalized marketing campaigns, and help track potential leads across many channels.
The emergence of generative AI has upped the capabilities of CRMs’ chatbots, enabling them to engage in anticipatory, empathetic, and tailored interactions with patients based on individual patient needs, concerns, and preferences in a nuanced and empathetic manner. For example, modern CRMs can generate a follow-up message after a specific procedure that anticipates potential questions based on the patient's medical history and the typical recovery process.
More importantly, healthcare CRMs support the promise of patient-centric care. They analyze medical histories, treatment plans, appointments, and billing data to fine-tune patient care provisions and improve patient experience. CRMs also keep patients engaged in their own care, opening a two-way communication highway across the channels most convenient and accessible for patients.
Examples: Keona Health, Veeva CRM, Cured by Innovaccer.
Medical billing software
Designed to streamline the entire financial data management and billing process, medical billing software offers a suite of features that optimize end-to-end revenue cycle management for hospitals, home health agencies, dental practices, and other healthcare providers.
Medical billing software comes with a raft of features dedicated to:
- Insurance verification — The software can automatically verify patient insurance eligibility and coverage in real time to prevent claim denials.
- Coding and charge capture — Medical billing applications can help accurately assign specific codes (CPT, ICD-10) to medical procedures, diagnoses, and services provided to patients to generate an accurate superbill.
- Electronic claim submission — From claim scrubbing features to integration with clearinghouses, medical billing software automates the process of getting claims processed and paid.
- Denial management — The software also aids healthcare organizations in handling denied insurance claims through proactive denial prevention and a streamlined appeal process.
- Patient billing and statements — Medical billing applications ditch the manual work involved in generating and sending patient invoices and processing patient payments. Some systems also include e-payment options and patient portals.
Functioning as a unified hub for billing-related information and integrated data, such as appointment scheduling, medical billing software also doubles as a decision-making engine that delivers insights into KPIs and financial performance metrics.
Examples: DrChrono, Tebra, CareCloud.
Clinical decision support system (CDSS)
A clinical decision support system is a health information system that analyzes patient health information against a repository of medical knowledge to offer point-of-care assistance, including diagnostic support, medication management, clinical guidelines, and more.
CDSS solutions may come in two forms: those driven by a knowledge-based architecture and those powered by machine learning algorithms. A knowledge-based CDSS relies on codified medical knowledge, such as literature-based, practice-based, or patient-directed evidence, to deliver recommendations. A non-knowledge-based CDSS has machine learning algorithms or statistical pattern recognition at its core to generate insights without explicit, human-set rules.
Whatever the approach, a CDSS is an indispensable tool for reducing medication errors, improving adherence to clinical guidelines, supporting preventive care, and lowering the cost of care by offering more affordable medication alternatives or minimizing duplicate tests.
Used as a diagnostic support tool across different specialties, a clinical decision support system can analyze data with utmost precision to make sure no important insight slips from the professional’s view. For example, it can highlight areas that need attention in imaging and laboratory results or suggest likely seizure types based on EEG readings.
Examples: Regard, Levy Health, Valar Labs.
Laboratory information management system (LIMS)
Research and development organizations often use LIMS software to manage and track samples, scientific test data, and processes, to keep all this data accessible and ready for real-time validation. So, instead of grappling with paper-based documents, R&D companies can store and track the complete lifecycles of protocols and standard operating procedures electronically within the LIMS. This, in turn, allows for better identification of quality issues and easier compliance demonstration during inspections and audits.
Although a LIMS is in essence a database, its potential far surpasses that of a simple database. It also enables:
- Study management — A LIMS can organize lab samples by associating them with research studies or projects and consolidate all this data within a unified interface to facilitate easier data management for researchers.
- Inventory management — Supplemented with lot number tracking, purchase order management, and other features, this module helps the laboratory staff keep track of materials and automatically triggers re-orders to minimize the risk of stockouts.
- Lab equipment lifecycle management — A LIMS solution tracks lab instrumentation, including liquid handlers, chromatography systems, and other equipment, and notifies users of pending or overdue maintenance.
The exact capabilities of LIMS vary depending on the end-user group. For example, a clinical diagnostic LIMS would prioritize features such as patient sample tracking and generating clinical reports. A quality control laboratory within a pharmaceutical company would have a greater focus on batch management, stability testing, and rigorous audit trails to comply with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP).
Examples: LabVantage, Sapio LIMS, Labworks.
Health information exchange (HIE) systems
Health information exchange systems are like the medical information highway in the healthcare industry. They collect and store information related to various episodes of care to ensure that different providers involved in a patient's care can easily access the same, consistent information.
First and foremost, HIE systems were designed to improve care coordination, giving each provider a more comprehensive view of a patient's health. With every lab result, imaging report, and diagnosis transmitted through a HIE, medical professionals have a cohesive narrative, which reduces the risk of errors, duplicate tests, and readmissions.
For example, when a patient is referred by a primary care physician to a cardiologist, the HIE activates the secure handover of the patient's medical history via HL7 messaging standards. With the PCP's initial assessment, EKG results, and current medications on hand, the cardiologist gets the context necessary to provide informed care, right from the first consultation.
HIE systems also improve patient outcomes by keeping critical health data available at all times, including during care transitions and emergencies. The ability to quickly access data about patients' allergies and medications can be life-saving in critical situations.
Today, HIEs are also evolving to include patient portals, giving individuals a streamlined gateway to their own health records from all of their providers. This transparency gives patients a seat at the table of their own care and enables them to actively participate in the decision-making process.
Examples: Healthix, Manifest MedEx, eHealth Exchange (US states have their own designated HIE organizations).
Remote patient monitoring solutions
Another software node in the healthcare ecosystem, remote patient monitoring applications give the tools and capabilities to extend care beyond the hospital setting. Usually used in combination with medical devices, RPM apps collect vital signs and other health-related data from patients and pass it on to healthcare providers.
Not only do RPM solutions bridge the communication gap between medical teams and at-home patients, but they also provide a more dynamic view of a patient’s health status thanks to the continuous collection of longitudinal data. This detailed image enables a proactive approach to health management and early intervention — something that is often out of reach with infrequent in-office visits.
The ability to track health condition trends over time proves especially helpful in managing chronic conditions, rehabilitation, and elder care. In each of these cases, care teams can be notified by an RPM system whenever the data exceeds the predefined threshold.
Along with robust data collection and analysis features, RPM solutions also incorporate the following features:
- Telemedicine capabilities — A secure messaging channel and video conferencing connect patients and care teams in real time or asynchronously.
- Patient engagement — Medication reminders, educational materials, and appointment notifications within RPMs help patients stay in the loop and inspire positive lifestyle changes.
- Care plan management — Advanced RPM solutions build on collected patient data to personalize and inform treatment adjustments.
Examples: Doccla, Sensi AI, Acorai.
Healthcare analytics platforms
Today, healthcare organizations have a range of data-generating devices, tools, and applications, yet struggle to operationalize the data they collect. Healthcare analytics solves this data problem by collecting, integrating, analyzing, and visualizing vast amounts of healthcare data.
The core functions of healthcare analytics platforms revolve around the data management lifecycle. Such platforms aggregate, cleanse, and standardize data from different sources, such as EHRs, lab results, medical devices, and more. They don’t leave this data sitting untapped. Instead, analytics platforms apply ML algorithms to generate actionable healthcare trends, patterns, and insights.
Healthcare analytics platforms are often the go-to applications for administrators, researchers, and clinicians who analyze population-level data. However, such platforms can also belong to more specific use cases, such as supplementing medical diagnosis software as an additional module.
The ability of healthcare analytics platforms to sift through and interpret vast healthcare datasets at scale bodes well for early disease detection, faster and more accurate diagnostics, and personalized treatment interventions. As healthcare analytics platforms handle many aspects of the data lifecycle, they also reduce the manual effort that a healthcare IT data team would normally put into data management.
Examples: H1, N1 Health, Prognos Health.
Pharmacy management systems (PMS)
Behind the scenes, the medication dispensing process is not as straightforward as it may seem on the outside. Pharmacists have to juggle multiple data points to ensure the right medication is given to the right patient in the right dose at the right time via the right route. Pharmacy management systems help get all the ‘rights’ right by centralizing data streams into a cohesive workflow.
In particular, PMS solutions equip pharmacies with the necessary resources to streamline and automate behind-the-scenes operations, including:
- Inventory management — PMS tracks data on medication stock levels and expiration dates, triggering automated reordering processes when the storage is running low.
- Medication dispensing — With built-in automated prescription verification, the system checks prescription details against patient profiles, drug databases, and potential interactions.
- Prescription processing — PMS incorporates electronic prescription receipt and management, automated checks for drug interactions and allergies, streamlined refill authorization workflows, and tools for managing prior authorizations and communication with prescribers.
Most PMS software also offers features for regulatory compliance and tools for managing over-the-counter sales and payment processing.
By sharing the admin and operational burden, pharmacy management systems allow pharmacists to focus on what matters the most, standardize internal processes, and handle prescriptions with more confidence.
Examples: PioneerRx, RX30, DocStation.
Medical imaging software
Medical imaging software is powered by advanced computer algorithms that analyze medical imaging across different modalities, including CT scans, MRIs, X-rays, and others. This type of software doesn’t replace medical professionals; instead, it supplements their diagnostic abilities, allowing them to review more images in less time.
The true power of AI-enabled medical imaging applications lies in their ability to identify patterns in imaging data that may be hidden from the human eye. The ability to see the ‘unseen’ empowers radiologists to diagnose cancer, Alzheimer's, or cardiovascular diseases at their nascent stages.
Also, medical imaging software has unique capabilities of enhancing visualization. If necessary, these applications can adjust the contrast, sharpen edges, or merge images from different scans to provide a richer visualization for greater diagnostic confidence.
As a critical link in the healthcare IT ecosystem, medical imaging software usually integrates with Picture Archiving and Communication Systems to store and retrieve medical images. Integration with EHR is also recommended to associate a patient’s medical history with their imaging studies.
Examples: Gleamer, Quibim, Harrison AI.
Clinical trial management system (CTMS)
An essential software companion for biotech and pharmaceutical companies, clinical trial management systems offer a wide range of modules and tools to handle specific functions throughout the entire clinical trial process. From the early protocol design and patient recruitment to financial management and post-market surveillance, CTMS platforms bring the infrastructure clinicians need to keep their trial execution efficient and compliant.
A CTMS bundles a whole lot of features to centralize the multifaceted operations of clinical trials. Some of the most distinctive features include:
- Protocol management — CTMS systems are geared up with tools for designing, documenting, and managing study protocols, amendments, and deviations to keep information up-to-date for all stakeholders.
- Site management — CTMS solutions also include features for monitoring participating research sites, including investigator information, site initiation, training, and communication.
- Data management — Such systems help clinicians consolidate and manage the immense amount of clinical research data, usually through integrations with electronic data capture systems, tools for electronic patient-reported outcomes, and other systems.
- Regulatory compliance — On the compliance side, CTMS features include managing regulatory documents, tracking approvals, handling protocol deviations and amendments, and ensuring adherence to guidelines from the FDA, EMA, ICH-GCP, and other relevant authorities.
Examples: Medidata Solutions, RealTime CTMS, Veeva Systems.
How to choose between custom healthcare software vs off-the-shelf clinical solutions
When you are thinking of adopting some kind of healthcare software, whether it’s medical equipment management software, CTMS, or any other solution, you can choose one of the two paths.
The first option is to purchase an off-the-shelf product and customize it to meet your needs. The second option is building a custom healthcare solution from scratch. Here are the factors to consider when choosing between the two options:
- Uniqueness and complexity of your workflows — the more distinctive your internal processes are, the harder it will be for an off-the-shelf solution to replicate them. Most likely, a custom healthcare solution will be a better fit for highly specific and complex workflows.
- Your core IP — unlike a third-party solution, a custom healthcare application offers greater control over protecting and advancing your company’s core intellectual property or competitive advantage.
- Scalability — if you anticipate significant growth or changes in your operations, custom solutions will be a better option, thanks to their scalability being tailored to the anticipated growth trajectory.
- Integration needs with specific infrastructure — off-the-shelf options usually come with limited integrations, while custom solutions can be designed with specific integration points in mind.
Orangesoft: your end-to-end tech partner for building custom healthcare software solutions
Since 2011, Orangesoft has delivered over 300 custom solutions to companies all over the world. Our seasoned expertise in the healthcare domain equips us with a solid understanding of the unique healthcare needs, workflows, and regulatory compliance requirements. This understanding allows us to develop custom healthcare solutions that balance innovation with compliance, improve health outcomes, and ease the strain on healthcare professionals.
Whether you’re developing a virtual care solution, a telemedicine application, or any other healthcare software, feel free to reach out to our team of experts.