Resources 
Agile healthcare solutions, embracing methodologies like Scrum and Kanban, are revolutionizing healthcare by enhancing task management, team empowerment, communication, and adaptability. This approach addresses the healthcare sector's challenges, including complex patient needs, rising costs, and technological advancements. Successful examples from the VHA in the U.S., Aravind Eye Care in India, NHS in the UK, and ADHA in Australia demonstrate its efficacy. Key principles like customer-centricity, collaboration, and continuous improvement are pivotal. Implementing agile software solutions involves choosing the right development team, focusing on iterative development, user-centric design, and data-driven decision-making. While agile healthcare offers significant benefits, it requires a mindset shift and ongoing commitment to learning and adapting among all stakeholders.
“Success today requires the agility and drive to constantly rethink, reinvigorate, react and reinvent.” Bill Gates.
In the healthcare industry - staying still is falling behind. So, it's unsurprising that organisations have looked at applying Agile principles in their day-to-day operations. As a project management system, the Agile method is growing in popularity. But is it just a passing trend? A buzzword? And how does it apply to healthcare software development? Let’s dive into these points and more in this blog.
Agile is technically not a methodology by itself and is better thought of as a mindset in approaching how projects get done. It's not considered a methodology because Agile doesn't specify which exact tools and processes should be used.
However, Agile is the umbrella term for many management methodologies. Scrum, Kanban, and Extreme Programming (XP) are each considered different Agile methodologies,
Some of the frameworks used to implement Agile methodology include
Agile healthcare approaches transform how healthcare setups and organisations deliver care, resulting in improved patient outcomes. The key features of agile healthcare include Efficient task management, which breaks tasks into smaller, manageable pieces, enabling faster and more efficient completion.
Overall, agile healthcare methodologies are tailored to the needs of customers (patients and health enthusiasts) and stakeholders (medical practitioners, hospital administrators, insurers, and regulators), helping healthcare organisations navigate challenges like rising costs, the demand for transparency, and changing patient needs.
Agile healthcare is increasingly vital for addressing major concerns and seizing opportunities in the healthcare sector. This approach is particularly relevant due to
Healthcare IT solutions, leveraging technologies like AI, blockchain, cloud computing, and big data analytics, are well-positioned to meet these challenges with agility. Agile-based software solutions enhance the quality and efficiency of healthcare services while ensuring the security and privacy of crucial patient data.
Discover how IT services are revolutionising healthcare. Our blog 'How Healthcare IT Services are Booming the Medical Industry' dives into the transformative impact. Click here to see the future of healthcare technology!
Agile software development in healthcare is not a theoretical concept but a practical reality. Several countries have adapted healthcare IT solutions to enable personalised and preventive care and foster innovation and research in the medical domain for example
1. The United States
Veterans Health Administration (VHA) used agile healthcare solutions to build and implement the latest electronic health record (EHR) system called VistA Evolution. This system improved the safety, efficiency, and quality of medical care for millions of veterans.
2. India
A leading name in ophthalmology care, the Aravind Eye Care System utilised the best of agile methodology in healthcare to design and deliver top-notch eye care services at affordable costs that helped millions of eye patients in remote areas in India. They used a hub-and-spoke model of hospitals and vision centres.
3. United Kingdom
The National Health Service (NHS) used an agile healthcare solution to create and launch its new digital service known as NHS.UK. The portal provided reliable and user-friendly information, including suggestions and tips on health/wellness, remedies, treatments, and services.
4. Australia
Agile software development in healthcare is also prevalent in the Australian Digital Health Agency (ADHA). Using the method, they developed and deployed a national digital health platform, MHR – My Health Record. MHR offers secure and seamless health information and data sharing among patients, healthcare providers, and organisations.
Agile methodology in healthcare is not an inflexible or prescriptive framework but a scalable and adaptable approach. Nevertheless, some key principles and practices underpin agile healthcare, as mentioned below
An agile healthcare solution puts the customer (here, a patient) at the centre of everything. Agile healthcare solution development teams must understand patients' needs, preferences, and outcomes and involve them in every process stage.
The agile method fosters teamwork by streamlining communication and trust among all the stakeholders. Agile healthcare software development teams must work in cross-functional and self-organising units with clear roles and responsibilities.
A learning-by-doing approach is at the core of agile healthcare solutions wherein the participating teams test their assumptions and hypotheses by performing small-scale experiments with prototypes.
Feedback is another tool agile healthcare relies on. Frequent and continuous feedback from patients and other associates is sought to improve decision-making and tactics. Agile healthcare solution programmers rely on feedback through analytics, surveys, observations, interviews, etc., to refine the products or services.
Healthcare solutions based on agile methodology promptly adapt to changing demands and requirements. In that sense, in software development, the teams need to embrace change to improve rather than consider it as a threat. Taking it positively would progress their plans and actions accordingly.
The health and wellness industry strives for excellence and innovation to deliver quality medical services. Agile practitioners, thus, should constantly monitor their performance and outcomes by identifying gaps and issues and implementing changes or enhancements.
The advantages of agile healthcare systems are manifold, offering adaptability, efficiency, and enhanced patient care. The best way to harness these benefits is through implementing effective software solutions developed using agile methodologies. This approach ensures a streamlined, responsive development process involving all stakeholders.
By engaging everyone from medical professionals to patients in the development process, healthcare software solutions can be tailored more precisely to meet the diverse needs of the healthcare sector. This collaborative and iterative process accelerates development and ensures the end product is both user-centric and highly functional, maximising the potential of healthcare software solutions to transform patient care and operational efficiency.
Maximise efficiency in healthcare web app development with cloud applications. Read our blog 'Unlocking the Power of Cloud Computing in Healthcare' to discover how. Click for innovative cloud-based strategies!
Agile technology is a context-specific approach, not a one-size-fits-all solution. When selecting a third-party team to develop your healthcare software, it's essential to ensure they follow key Agile practices for successful project delivery.
Interested in healthcare web app development? Discover key factors to consider when selecting a development team in our blog 'Finding the Perfect Fit: Selecting Healthcare App Developers for Your Digital Solution'. Click here to learn how to choose the right team for your project.
Here's what you should expect from your development team
By ensuring the healthcare software development team adheres to these Agile practices, you can expect a more prosperous and responsive project outcome that meets your needs.
Choosing an Agile framework for a healthcare software project depends on various factors like project scope, team size, regulatory environment, and the healthcare organisation's specific needs. Often, a hybrid or customised approach combining elements from multiple frameworks best addresses the unique challenges of healthcare IT projects.
Check out our detailed blog on agile and dev-ops methodologies in software development for more information.
An agile healthcare solution is a promising and powerful way to deliver medical and wellness services in the 21st century. Solutions with such advanced methods overcome some of the challenges the healthcare industry faces today. You can ask a healthcare IT company to provide agile-based solutions to create a more patient-centric, collaborative, experimental, evidence-driven, adaptive, and continuously improving healthcare system.
On the other hand, it is worth noting that agile software development in healthcare is not a silver bullet or a quick fix because it requires a shift in mindset and practice among all users, such as patients and healthcare providers. They need a commitment to learn, experiment, and improve.
