Key Takeaway:
- Prioritize patient safety and data security when testing healthcare applications.
- Test all features of the application, including integrations with other systems and devices.
- Conduct comprehensive testing covering functional, usability, security, performance, and regulatory compliance aspects.
- Use experienced professionals who understand the unique challenges and requirements of healthcare applications.
- Ensure testing is an ongoing process with regular updates and maintenance to meet patient safety and data security requirements.
Healthcare applications have revolutionized the way healthcare providers deliver care to their patients. From electronic health records (EHRs) to telemedicine, healthcare applications have made healthcare more accessible, efficient, and convenient. However, with the growing use of healthcare applications, the need for testing has become more critical than ever. Testing healthcare applications is necessary to ensure the safety and quality of patient care.
A software data breach cost US medical organizations $8.64 million on average just two years ago. Such businesses could lose over a billion dollars if app compatibility is not established. Ultimately, a medical website’s poor performance can drive 53% of visitors away. How many such losses be prevented?
Testing for healthcare applications becomes a solution to these issues as well as many others. QA experts assist you in identifying and resolving the most critical software issues. As a result, you will introduce a product that is reliable, effective, and user-friendly and that adds genuine value to patient care services.
Why Testing Healthcare Applications is Critical
Testing healthcare applications is essential to ensure that the application is functioning as intended and is safe for use by patients and healthcare professionals. Healthcare applications are used to manage sensitive patient information, such as medical histories and personal data. Therefore, any vulnerabilities or issues in the application can compromise patient privacy and security.
Additionally, healthcare applications are used in critical situations, such as emergency care and surgical procedures. Any malfunction or error in the application can have severe consequences for the patient’s health and well-being. Therefore, testing healthcare applications is critical to ensure the application’s accuracy, reliability, and performance.
Healthcare quality assurance: six crucial factors
Medical QA services don’t follow a set pattern. The stages of a software testing project for healthcare are entirely dependent on the software specifications and can vary from project to project. Additionally, these requirements help define the tech stack needed for healthcare quality assurance. In certain projects, QA experts personally examine an app using Postman and Apache JMeter. The use of automation tools like Jest is necessary for various healthcare software testing jobs.
Despite the wide range of medical software testing, there are several crucial app aspects you must examine in order to offer a high-quality medical solution. Let’s move on to the most important healthcare testing considerations.
1. Testing for security and compliance
Several laws, like HIPAA, have shaped the medical technology sector. A healthcare provider is accountable for the private health information (PHI) kept in their medical software, per HIPAA Regulation. Massive data leaks could result from even the smallest app vulnerabilities. Businesses that don’t protect PHI, however, risk responsibility or fines of up to $1.5 million.
The best way to protect your medical software against data leaks is through healthcare medical testing. You may check whether all app endpoints are protected with authorization and access permissions using automated medical software testing. Additionally, experts in healthcare application testing ascertain whether your software adheres to Transport Layer Security (TLS). The latter is a standard protocol created to encrypt communication between web servers and apps.
Many tools from the Amazon tech stack can be used for healthcare testing if you construct an AWS-based healthcare application. Amazon Config, for instance, allows you to specify software rules. After that, AWS will review your software automatically to see if it complies with these guidelines. IAM Access Analyzer is another AWS tool pertinent to quality control in healthcare. You can use it to find and remove strange programme permissions that increase the vulnerability of your app.
2. UI/UX testing for healthcare applications
A bad UI/UX layout can destroy everything, even though your product functions flawlessly and has no security or connectivity issues. The medical sector is one where this issue is extremely pressing. Senior adults who frequently feel uneasy using emerging technologies make up a large portion of its clientele. In order to have your patient app function well, you need design it with an intuitive layout that eliminates all user annoyances. UI/UX testing for the healthcare industry enables you to identify any difficulties consumers can run into when utilising your application.
Testing for UI/UX in healthcare IT can be separated approximately into two stages.
1. Testing static healthcare applications. It entails a general analysis of a static app design produced using Figma or a comparable tool. QA experts evaluate whether the business logic and user needs of the programme at this point.
2. The medical industry’s dynamic review phase of software testing. Here, you have the chance to observe how your app design handles various requests and functions under dynamic circumstances.
The design of healthcare application testing can take many different forms. Here are some of the most well-liked.
In conclusion, design healthcare testing enables you to create a highly functional application that caters to a variety of users.
3. Testing of medical device
IoT systems are becoming a crucial component of the medical sector. Because of how much practitioners depend on them, a malfunction in an IoT system can stop the delivery of treatment altogether. As the best strategy to protect your IoT systems from inconsistent data and other issues, concentrate on medical equipment software testing.
Why does an app see a device but not be able to connect to it? Despite being linked to the system, a wearable is not transmitting data. Testing of medical devices offers solutions to all of these issues as well as many others.
You will examine the work and connectivity of medical device databases at this stage of software testing in the healthcare industry. Using InfluxDB, an open-source time-series database that facilitates the creation of IoT systems, is a tried-and-true approach. QA experts examine the application of this database throughout the software testing phase for medical devices. So they make sure no data from a medical equipment is lost.
4. Testing for interoperability in healthcare IT
Healthcare interoperability is becoming more popular. Medical systems’ connectivity and efficient data transmission are increasingly important as they get bigger and more complicated. Significant industry players like ONC and CMSs propose provisions that aid in the growth of healthcare interoperability. While this is going on, breaking these rules may prevent your company from taking part in insurance programmes that offer alluring rewards. It serves as the primary reminder of the significance of quality assurance in healthcare for many businesses.
You can identify any problems preventing your apps and platforms from interacting with one another by conducting healthcare software testing. Data interchange instances in your software are examined for compliance with the FHIR standard by QA specialists using manual requests. A medical software testing expert also tests your app’s compatibility with various third-party services using various testing scenarios. You will be able to ensure the seamless operation of even the most complicated healthcare IT systems after examining the compatibility of medical software solutions.
4. Performance evaluation
One of the most crucial stages of software testing is performance review. Performance medical software testing is essential in the healthcare industry, where quickness and effectiveness are requirements. That is the proper technique to identify any bugs that prevent the app from functioning. Moreover, performance testing of healthcare IT reveals whether an app satisfies the fundamental productivity needs. Understanding how factors like location, device, connection speed, or the number of concurrent users impact the app’s speed is crucial. This enables developers to create extremely scalable programmes that function without a hitch under all circumstances and data volumes.
Performance healthcare testing is frequently organized based on several circumstances. Tools for functional behaviour review, such Apache JMeter, gauge the app’s output under various circumstances. Moreover, QA professionals construct requests that are delivered to the app endpoints or associated third-party services using manual testing technologies like Postman. These requests simulate various data loads, operating systems, and other factors that affect the performance of software. As a result, such testing of medical software enables you to identify circumstances in which your app may have trouble functioning as intended.
6. Other forms of testing
Every project to test healthcare software includes one of the five types of testing mentioned above. Other kinds of testing, though, can be available based on the project requirements. After all, to guarantee their effectiveness, medical apps need to be examined from a variety of perspectives.
- By evaluating the system in accordance with its intended functional requirements, functional testing verifies that the software operates as expected even in unusual conditions.
- Cross-browser testing guarantees that apps run consistently on all devices and operating systems (Android, iOS).
Just the performance of the app on a mobile device is tested during the verification of the mobile version. - Finding out how various elements of the medical software programme communicate with one another is the goal of system integration testing. The parts should operate and integrate with each other without any hiccups.
- Testing a programme both positively and negatively involves using valid and invalid inputs to see if it behaves as predicted in each case.
Best Practices for Testing Healthcare Applications
1. Functional Testing: Conduct thorough functional testing to ensure that the application meets the requirements and specifications. This includes testing for user interfaces, workflows, data inputs, and outputs.
2. Integration Testing: Test how well the application integrates with other healthcare systems, such as electronic health records (EHRs) and laboratory information systems (LIS).
3. Security and Privacy: Test the application for security vulnerabilities, such as data breaches or unauthorized access, and ensure compliance with HIPAA regulations.
4. Usability and Accessibility: Test the application to ensure it is easy to use and accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.
5. Performance and Scalability: Test the application’s performance under various loads and ensure it can handle a large volume of users.
6. Regression Testing: Test the application after making changes to ensure that it continues to function as intended and that new changes have not introduced any new issues.
7. Automated Testing: Utilize automated testing tools to streamline the testing process and reduce the likelihood of human error.
Common healthcare software testing personnel
The size, scope, and budget of the project all have a significant impact on the makeup of the healthcare software QA team. While certain responsibilities in the healthcare software testing process are specific to the sector, others are standard throughout all software testing. The following important positions are typical to most healthcare testing teams:
1. QA manager: The team leader in charge of overseeing the testing procedure, making sure the goal is achieved by the scheduled deadline, and making sure the outcome meets all standards. In the healthcare industry, the manager chooses quality assurance tools.
2. Test engineer: An expert who performs both manual and automated testing is a test engineer. A test engineer creates and runs test plans, examines test outcomes, and reports flaws.
3. Test automation engineer: Engineer in charge of test automation is in charge of creating and implementing automated tests to make sure outcomes are as expected. A test automation engineer does not perform manual testing, in contrast to a general test engineer.consultant for compliance. A compliance consultant, a unique player in the testing of healthcare apps, makes sure that all testing procedures and software comply with all applicable HIPAA, HITECH, and FDA rules and regulations.
4. Test lead: The person in charge of directing the specific testing project and creating the testing plan and timeline.
Which types of healthcare software ought to be tested?
There are many different types of software for testing, and the healthcare software market is broad. The test plan’s content might vary greatly depending on the type of software. Healthcare software generally falls under the following categories:
1. Mobile applications: mobile application for healthcare include telemedicine, personal health management, medical reference, and other on-the-go tools. Since non-professionals tend to interact with these apps the most, usability and UI/UX design are quite important for a nice experience. Comparatively to testing other types of medical software, user experience is even more crucial for evaluating healthcare apps of this kind.
2. Web-based applications: for the healthcare industry, such as patient portals, electronic health records, and medical reference databases. Compared to smartphone apps, these applications are more feature-rich and complicated.
3. Desktop healthcare software: Software used on desktops and laptops for the healthcare industry, such as practice management programmes or clinical decision support systems. Desktop healthcare software is mostly designed for professionals. In most instances, it is not used by patients or casual users. The interoperability of desktop software with other systems used in a professional setting should receive further attention during the testing process for healthcare software.
4. Software medical device: that is directly linked with medical devices is known as medical device software. This includes software that is physically a part of the device, such as insulin pumps, diagnostic software for equipment like MRI machines, or software that regulates the dosage of medications. This is by far the most complicated kind of software and it undergoes the strictest QA. Medical device software is created with real-world scenarios in mind, and both the treatment’s course and result are directly impacted by it.
Any medical software eventually needs to undergo quality assurance. app performance analysis, Compliance testing, security testing, and many other things are all part of quality assurance in the healthcare industry. By putting this step of medical software development into practice, you protect your company from several reputational risks, fines for non-compliance, and even responsibility. Here are some statistics that demonstrate the value of quality control and testing for medical devices.
Why should quality assurance be used in medicine?
A small technical problem can make a customer choose not to buy your product. The results of these issues, however, are considerably more important in the healthcare sector because a mistake could cost a patient their health. There is no doubt that errors in medical software do not necessarily mean that patient treatment is rendered useless. They might, however, harm healthcare enterprises in a variety of other ways. The following are the most typical implementation challenges with medical software:
- Medical interoperability rules that prohibit firms from joining lucrative insurance schemes because they are not followed by ONC or CMS;
- Breaches of security that are subject to heavy fines under HIPAA compliance rules;
- Errors in medical data that cause practitioners to make bad conclusions;
- Inconsistent data that prevents the functioning of current applications or delays the introduction of new software;
- Difficulties with UI/UX design that are inconvenient for users of an app;
- Instances where your software behaves differently on various hardware or operating systems;
- Connection problems with medical device software that interfere with patient monitoring.
Your medical software’s specific implementation problems could arise for a variety of reasons, one of which being the type of healthcare software you use. The best course of action is to plan for as many outcomes as you can before beginning QA testing in healthcare, regardless of the type of software.
What factors influence the price of testing medical software?
All of the elements addressed in the other sections of this article that are related to the cost of healthcare software quality assurance include:
- Application complexity: The more complicated the software, the longer and more expensive the development process will be.
- The team’s size and individual roles: Costs increase as the team size increases. Yet, if the responsibilities are assigned effectively enough, resources might be saved instead.
- Compatibility with other programmes and systems: The process will be more expensive the more connected the programme is with other types of software and healthcare systems.
- The application of testing instruments: The final cost of testing increases with the number of testing tools the team uses. Because of the sophisticated, cutting-edge technologies that support them, automation tools are typically the most expensive ones.
- The ratio of insourcing to outsourcing The amount of work allocated to in-house and outsourcing teams will likely affect the final cost.
Conclusion
Testing healthcare applications is a critical aspect of the software development lifecycle. Healthcare applications are used to manage sensitive patient information and are used in critical situations, such as emergency care and surgical procedures. Therefore, testing healthcare applications is necessary to ensure the safety and quality of patient care. By following best practices, developers can ensure that their healthcare applications are safe, effective, and user-friendly. In conclusion, testing healthcare applications is essential to ensure the safety and quality of patient care.
For more than 12 years, Arkenea, a telehealth software development company, has offered its customers cutting-edge software solutions. Contact Arkenea if you’re looking for telehealth software for your business.