With the United Nations Public Service Day this month and the General Election the next, we’re turning our attention to the public sector.
In this blog, we’ll shine a light on some great examples of healthcare software development, and how the maturity of the market can inspire investment and development from other sectors.
The upcoming General Election is an opportunity for parties to pledge and promise support for the UK’s public services. This is a critical point: NHS appointment waiting lists, overcrowded prisons and staff shortages in the care sector have all featured prominently in media and political debate.
Underfunding and management issues impact both the public and the workforces serving these sectors. It’s apt timing then, that the United Nations Public Service Day falls a week or so shy of polling day: a reminder of the dedication and contribution of public sector employees. And a reminder of the importance of getting out to vote to ensure our public services remain viable and our workforces supported.
Spending money wisely
The level of investment these sectors receive – and the results of this spend – will remain an unknown until (at the very least) the new government is announced. But within these sectors there’s one area that continues to deliver: investment in custom software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms for healthcare.
This bespoke approach to software development means applications can be tailored to suit different requirements and integrate with legacy technology. This latter point is of special concern to public sector organisations that are often unable to invest in a full-scale overhaul of their current IT stack.
Fortunately, the market is healthy both for public sector organisations and companies operating and investing in the space. In 2021, there were over 3,300 suppliers signed up to the Digital Outcomes Specialists 5 framework which is where “public sector organisations [can find] suppliers who can design, build and deliver bespoke digital services using an agile approach”. This should mean greater choice for organisations, and healthy competition (including a drive to enhance products and services) between vendors.
Healthcare software: the clear front-runner
We’ve already seen progress in two areas – healthcare and education – however, the SaaS market in other public sectors is less mature. Spending on healthcare software development ramped up during covid: growth of more than 21% pushed the value of the UK’s health software and IT services market to over £2.6 billion in 2022.
The Spring Budget earlier this year looked promising in terms of continuing this upward trend: £3.4 billion was promised to boost NHS productivity through AI, digital and other tech-related investments. Of course, this is all subject to change, but whatever happens we’re confident that healthcare software development will remain prominent in spending plans.
What are the results of both public and private spending in the sector? Below are just a handful of healthcare software applications and bespoke healthcare platforms that have been created – and are benefitting – the sector.
Zesty, Induction Healthcare
According to its website, 90% of NHS Trusts use Induction’s patient portal software, with more than 12 million appointments delivered through its systems. This has reduced cases of non-attendance of appointments as well as estimated savings of £115 million. The company’s patient portal application, Zesty, allows users to make and manage appointments, send and receive messages and notifications, store and access documents and attend video consultations.
This benefits patients, who get closer control and more visibility of their healthcare. It also delivers for healthcare providers: Induction’s solutions support things like monitoring and analytics, and allow healthcare professionals to create and share guidelines and documentation. Integration with other systems and organisations is also important when considering benefits to patient portal software users. Zesty integrates with Oracle Health; the only such firm that does so, claimed CEO Paul Tambeau in an interview earlier this year. Something to consider when building or buying healthcare software.
Lantum
In addition to patient portal software, workforce management platforms are another key area of investment in the healthcare sector. Lantum is one organisation operating in this space. The company’s mission is to ‘help save the NHS £1 billion in staffing costs’ with its Connected Scheduling platform. This allows organisations to build rotas, manage staff schedules and access a network of clinicians. These clinicians can make use of the platform, accessing shifts and timeshifts, messaging organisations and receiving notifications on jobs that match their set criteria.
Again, its website features some strong stats: 20,000 clinicians ‘use and trust Lantum’ and five million patients have been ‘seen by Lantum doctors’. However, a 2023 news story casts a slight shadow on this success. A reported data leak ‘potentially exposed personal details relating to 3,200 individuals via unsecured S3 buckets, which one expert said could be used to launch ID theft attacks or blackmail.’ Data breaches and security errors regularly make headlines in tech news, and data security should always be a key consideration when buying and building SaaS platforms.
Clinova
Generative artificial intelligence is revolutionising the AI market. OpenAI recently revealed the latest iteration of ChatGPT and Apple’s Tim Cook has been hinting at gen AI integrations and developments for some time now. UK healthtech firms have also been investing in the technology. Clinova, for instance, launched Healthwords last year, which was claimed at the time to be ‘one of the world’s first conversational AI tools solely focused on providing healthcare advice and self-care products in the UK.’
The consumer app aims to support self-treatment: it features a search platform with resulting health-related content divided into ‘Conditions’, ‘Symptoms’, ‘Treatments’ and ‘Articles’. It’s chatbot looks much like ChatGPT, utilising the same kind of generative AI to answer queries and offer advice.
The bespoke approach
Patient portals, workforce management and self-treatment are just three areas that are benefitting from SaaS development. Bespoke business applications are supporting more productivity and streamlined workflows in the healthcare sector, while consumer apps are giving users more control over their health.
At Appdrawn we’ve seen first-hand the results of similar technology. We have developed custom CRM solutions in the healthcare sector. This vastly improved the day to day working lives of the users and is helping the organisation to provide a more comprehensive, unified service offering to its clients.
Investment in public sector services must continue and must include introducing and updating software and business systems. The healthcare sector has set a strong example for other sectors to emulate – provided they have support and financial resourcing from whichever party takes power come July.