The healthtech industry has hit several speed bumps over the past two years, but 2024 finds it preparing for a return to growth. According to Deloitte’s 2024 Technology Industry Outlook, “efficiency” is the primary focus for tech organizations this year, driving these industry players to adopt offshoring as a viable strategy.
While cutting costs still matters this year, new offshore software development models attract business leaders as they present a path to sustainable growth. Gone are the days when healthtech companies handled all of their projects. Now, they demand longer-term partnerships to maximize their ROI from these offshore software development partners’ specialized skill sets and fresh perspectives.
Discover how offshore development can help you deliver high-quality healthcare software while maintaining a focus on margins in 2024.
What is Offshore Healthcare Software Development?
Offshore healthcare software development is when a business outsources its healthcare software project to a development partner in a different time zone from the company’s in-house team, referring to outsourcing the design, development, and maintenance of healthcare software solutions to specialized teams. Offshore healthcare software development can include developing various types of healthcare software, such as electronic health records (EHRs), telemedicine platforms, health information systems, and other specialized healthcare applications.
This approach leverages the expertise of offshore development teams to create tailored software solutions that meet the various needs and requirements of the healthcare industry. By collaborating with these specialized teams, businesses can ensure that their software solutions meet industry standards and regulations.
Onshore vs. Offshore vs. Nearshore
Understanding offshore development compared to onshore and nearshore options helps when making outsourcing decisions.
| Onshore | Nearshore | Offshore | |
| Definition | Onshore outsourcing refers to software development within the same country or geographic region. | Nearshore outsourcing involves a partner company in a nearby country. | Offshore outsourcing refers to hiring a company based in a different country and operating in a different time zone. |
| Advantage | – No language or cultural barriers. – Complete control over the development process. – More accessible communication with the option for in person meetings. | – Time zone differences are manageable. – More cost-effective than onshore software development. | – Access to a global expert pool for your project. – Lower costs for high-quality services. – Ability to organize round-the-clock work. |
| Disadvantage | – Significantly more expensive than offshoring or nearshoring for the same work. | – Cultural differences can impact the workflow process. – A limited talent pool compared to offshore options. | – Cultural and language differences. – Different time zones. |
Benefits of Offshore Healthcare Software Development
If you do it right, offshoring can be a viable strategy for organizations looking to remain competitive in the market due to the following:
- Lower cost
- Access to Global Talents
- Flexible Staffing Strategy
- Faster Time-to-market
- Better Software Delivery
- Lower Staff Burnout
- Regulatory Compliance and Specialized Technology
Thought leaders stress the importance of these advantages. Here’s how:
1. Lower Cost
One of the main advantages of offshoring healthcare software development is the significantly lower costs. Thanks to lower labor costs, offshore development reduces infrastructure, recruitment, training, and deployment expenses — allowing businesses to hire talent at a fraction of the cost of in-house or onshore teams.
Lower software development costs provide financial flexibility, allowing companies to invest more in marketing and business development. For startups and small businesses, this can boost profit margins and enable competitive pricing, attracting more customers and strengthening market position.
2. Access to Global Talents
According to research, 90% of IT leaders plan to expand their modern software engineering and cloud environments, yet 80% say they need more employee skills to hold them back. Offshore development allows businesses to access a vast, global pool of experts with specialized skills and expertise that may be difficult to find and hire locally. That access proves especially valuable in the healthtech sector, where demand for experienced developers with deep knowledge of healthcare solutions is high.
Global access speeds up hiring and promotes innovation by bringing diverse perspectives and skills together. Cognitive diversity leads to more innovative and effective healthcare software solutions, improving the quality and competitiveness of the products.
3. Flexible Staffing Strategy
Offshoring healthcare software development offers significant benefits in terms of scalability, enabling businesses to adjust their development teams up or down based on the project’s needs. Whether you’re in the initial stages of building your product or need a larger team for a significant update, an offshore partner can provide the necessary resources quickly and efficiently. Conversely, once your product is on the market and you only need occasional updates and regular maintenance, you can scale down the team just as quickly.
Offshore development allows businesses to take control of fluctuating work volumes and quickly adapt to market changes with much lower recruitment expenses. Leveraging these benefits helps companies stay agile and competitive in the healthcare industry.
4. Faster Time to Market
A significant advantage of offshoring healthcare software development is achieving a shorter time-to-market. By hiring an offshore development company, you can access a ready-made team of experienced professionals who can start building your product immediately. These flexible teams already have effective project management practices, enabling them to handle complex projects and problems efficiently.
There are many advantages to a faster time-to-market, and the disadvantages are few. Rapid response to market demands will position your business as a leader, enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty by delivering high-quality products sooner, and reduce overall costs. As a result, your business’s profitability is significantly improved.
5. Better Software Delivery
Investing in offshore healthcare software development services lets you focus on your core business activities, such as strategic planning and market expansion. Outsourcing development tasks frees up internal resources and management time, allowing your team to focus on driving growth and improving operational efficiency.
Offshoring can significantly shorten project timelines as experienced teams accelerate development. Their expertise allows for faster delivery and more efficient progress, ensuring your projects are completed promptly. By offshoring, you free up in-house resources to concentrate on strategic goals such as marketing and business expansion.
6. Lower Staff Burnout
Overloaded in-house teams often suffer from errors and decreased productivity, leading to staff burnout. Offshoring healthcare software development can help address this issue by allowing you to manage resources more flexibly and efficiently. By delegating tasks to experienced professionals, companies can ease the workload on internal staff, reducing burnout and improving overall performance.
Reducing staff burnout improves well-being and job satisfaction, boosting morale and lowering turnover. It also reduces errors and enhances work quality, leading to greater efficiency, better performance, and higher profitability.
7. Regulatory Compliance and Specialized Technology
Navigating the stringent regulations of healthcare software development requires expertise and robust resources. An experienced development partner can help you meet these challenges, ensuring your applications adhere to the latest technology standards and comply with critical regulations like Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) and HIPAA guidelines.
Additionally, offshore companies with advanced tools and resources are well-positioned to leverage emerging technologies such as AI and ML. This expertise allows you to integrate cutting-edge innovations into your software, keeping your product ahead of the competition and enhancing its overall sophistication.
Overcoming Common Challenges of Offshore Healthcare Software Development
The traditional IT delivery model focuses heavily on individuals and specific locations, while offshoring emphasizes a more process-oriented approach. Therefore, communication barriers, cultural differences, and time zone discrepancies can complicate collaboration and disrupt the project.
- Communication Barrier
- Time Zone Differences
- Data Security and Compliance
- Management challenges
Tackling these obstacles requires a strategic approach:
1. Communication Barrier
Offshoring involves collaborating with a global team, which can introduce challenges like inconsistent communication and language barriers. These issues can derail software development projects, leading to delays, errors, and increased costs. Misunderstandings about requirements and unclear documentation often result in incorrect features and implementation mistakes.
Solutions:
- Establish clear communication protocols: Before starting the project, set guidelines on how and when to communicate with your offshore team.
- Regular check-ins: Schedule weekly meetings to ensure everyone stays aligned and the project remains on track.
- Encourage open communication: Foster environments where team members are comfortable sharing thoughts and asking questions, preventing misunderstandings.
Implementing these strategies helps maintain effective communication, leading to smoother project execution and better outcomes.
2. Time Zone Differences
Time zone differences can complicate coordination in offshore software development, making it harder to schedule meetings and align workflows. These differences can also introduce distinct working cultures that affect project execution and team dynamics. While round-the-clock development provides benefits, balancing these advantages with effective communication and project management is essential. Head those issues off by remembering to:
- Utilize practical communication tools: Adopt channels like Slack, Jira, and Asana to keep teams aligned and manage projects efficiently.
- Leverage strong language skills: Partner with teams with excellent English proficiency, such as those in Vietnam, and facilitate productive technical discussions across time zones.
- Engage expert developers: Outsource to software developers with the right expertise in programming, technology, and agile methodologies for reliable communication and responsiveness.
- Assign a local project manager: Choose offshore providers with a project manager based in your country to oversee operations during business hours.
Additionally, outsourcing to expert software developers with robust knowledge in programming, technology, and agile methodology, along with having a local project manager, can ensure reliable communication and responsiveness despite time differences.
3. Data Security and Compliance
Navigating regulations and ensuring data security in offshore healthcare software development can be challenging. Different countries have varying standards, adding complexity to compliance.
Additionally, the sensitive nature of health data requires strong security measures to prevent breaches. Failure to secure patient information can damage reputations and compromise trust.
Solutions:
- Verify Regulatory Expertise: Select offshore partners familiar with relevant regulations.
- Enforce Strong Security Practices: Ensure robust data protection protocols are in place.
- Conduct Regular Compliance Checks: Perform periodic audits to maintain adherence to security and regulatory standards.
These strategies enable you to navigate regulatory complexities, secure patient data, and maintain trust and compliance in offshore healthcare software development.
4. Management challenges
Managing a remote offshore healthcare software development team is challenging due to geographic distance, cultural differences, and a lack of face-to-face interaction. These factors can lead to low productivity, lack of accountability, and high team turnover.
Without effective management, remote teams may feel disengaged and disconnected, reducing their enthusiasm and effectiveness. This results in missed deadlines, poor performance, and potential derailment of the entire project.
Solutions:
- Set clear expectations: Clearly define the offshore team’s roles, responsibilities, and deliverables.
- One team, one project model: Ensure that your project has the team’s complete dedication.
- Regular check-ins: Schedule frequent meetings to monitor progress and align the team with project goals.
These strategies enhance management, improve accountability, and support remote teams effectively, leading to better project outcomes and higher team satisfaction.
Factors to Choose a Good Offshore Healthcare Software Development Company
So, what qualities and advantages should you seek in an outsourcing partner for healthcare software development solutions?
Here are six key factors to look for in a successful software development partner:
1. Product Thought Leadership
Distinguish your project with a team focused on creating enduring products, not just temporary solutions. Successful product teams always value release discipline, select appropriate tools and technologies, emphasize automation, and pursue continuous optimization.
2. Product Mindset: Business Analysts and UX Designers
Business analysts and user experience designers are crucial for crafting the software prototype, framework, and design. These experts must have a keen and innovative vision to understand customer needs and address their problems effectively.
3. Get Designers, Not Just Coders
Software engineers should think critically about product creation rather than merely writing code to specifications. With these skills, offshore healthcare software development offers a competitive advantage by anticipating future issues like scalability, modernizing user interfaces, and developing new features based on customer feedback.
4. Testers Who Understand the End Users
Exceptional testers empathize with end-users and suggest improvements that better meet user needs. Test scripts help, but their feedback ensures users get the most out of the product.
5. Long-Term Commitment
Choose offshore healthcare software development with a history of long-term commitment. The product development team should remain involved throughout multi-year development cycles, providing maintenance and enhancements. This consistency allows you to launch innovative products and confidently serve your customers.
6. High Employee Retention
High employee retention ensures that the same engineers and managers stay with your project from start to finish, leading to positive outcomes. Retaining veteran employees reflects a happy, satisfied, and productive team.
FAQs
1. How much does offshore software development cost?
The cost of offshore software development varies based on the team’s location, technical expertise, support services, and project complexity. Rather than providing specific figures, we recommend using a tool to get a tailored estimate. Use our Cost of Engineering Calculator to assess and compare pricing options for a precise calculation based on your project’s scope and requirements.
2. When should you hire an offshore healthcare software development team?
Consider hiring an offshore healthcare software development team when your in-house resources are stretched thin, local talent is limited, or you’re dealing with tight deadlines and complex projects. Offshore teams provide the flexibility and scalability needed to accelerate development and handle intricate tasks efficiently. They also offer access to specialized expertise outside the domain, allowing you to achieve high-quality outcomes at a lower cost. Offshoring helps overcome local resource constraints to stay competitive in the fast-evolving healthcare industry.
Bring Your Innovative HealthTech Idea to life with KMS Healthcare
Your healthcare software development team creates solutions that enhance patient care and experience — but even the best healthcare software companies can achieve tremendous success with additional resources:
- Expert Teams: KMS Healthcare provides a dedicated team of developers and engineers skilled in building and maintaining successful software platforms that exceed healthcare industry expectations. Our technology teams will extend your capabilities and deliver remarkable results.
- Focused Implementation: We create effective solutions emphasizing strong user focus, agility, MVP development, and integration of automation and critical technologies.
- Faster Market Delivery: Let us help deliver outstanding products to market quickly, addressing critical challenges for your healthcare customers and staying ahead of your competitors.
Separate yourself from the pack by choosing KMS Healthcare as your offshore healthcare software development partner. Contact our team today to discuss your business needs and objectives.
