Medical Billing Technologies in Modern Healthcare

According to a recent Deloitte study, 76% of American companies outsource their IT functions. What drives this trend? Does outsourcing truly win the in-house vs outsourcing development battle? In this article, we will explore both strategies, evaluate their advantages and disadvantages, and help you choose the approach that best suits your project.

What Is In-House and Outsourcing Software Development?

In-house development refers to the process in which a company independently creates its digital products. In this case, only the internal team is involved in development, without hiring external specialists.

Do you think this approach is ideal because all IT functions will be handled by a reliable development team that you assemble yourself? In some ways, you’re right. However, it also comes with significant responsibility and high costs. After all, you will need to hire and manage developers, designers, product and project managers, and other personnel. But we will discuss the pros and cons of this strategy in more detail later.

Outsourcing software development implies hiring an external team or individual remote specialists to work on a software solution. Depending on the budget size, required technology stack, and other project specifics, you can choose between nearshoring, offshoring, and onshoring. What do these terms mean?

‍Offshoring refers to delegating processes to a distant country, often on another continent. This is considered the most cost-effective outsourcing option, as service rates vary significantly across countries. However, such price differences do not always affect the quality of the final product.

Take a look at these impressive figures: In Switzerland, developers earn around $100,000 per year, whereas in Norway, Australia, and several other countries, this amount is nearly half as much. Does this mean that specialists in those regions are less qualified? Hardly.

Nearshoring—outsourcing to a neighboring country. Preferably one that borders yours or is at least located on the same continent. The goal is usually the same—to save on IT services.

Onshoring—hiring external specialists from your own country. What is the point? It’s simple. Even within the same state, the cost of creating an identical digital solution can vary significantly.

As an example, take a look at the salary range in major USA cities (data provided by Indeed):

• Columbus, OH – $142,605 per year
• Bellevue, WA – $137,206 per year
• San Jose, CA – $120,751 per year
• San Diego, CA – $118,932 per year
• Houston, TX – $98,751 per year

So, we have figured out the definitions of in-house and outsourced software development and also discussed the types of the latter. What are the key differences between these strategies?

In-House vs Outsourcing: Key Differences

In-house vs outsourcing development is a choice that many teams face. The fact is that there are several fundamental differences between these approaches. They should be taken into account when organizing the development process in a company.

This comparison highlights the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches to software development. However, to make these differences even clearer, let's take a closer look at the pros and cons of outsourcing and in-house development.

Outsourcing Software Development: Pros and Cons

Let’s start by looking at outsourcing software development – the pros and cons of this approach allow the global outsourcing market to grow at an impressive rate. This suggests that the cons of this approach are not so significant, right?

If in 2024 it was valued at $611.8 billion, it is projected to grow to $1,345.5 billion in the next 10 years.

Outsourced Development Pros

Teams that opt for outsourcing digital solution development can expect the following benefits:

1. Cost Savings.
‍We’ve already mentioned that companies can save by outsourcing to regions with cheaper labor.

However, that’s not all. Toptal has created a calculator to estimate the actual costs of hiring in-house developers and remote specialists. According to the calculations, even with the same hourly rate, outsourcing will cost the company 1.5 times less:

This is explained by additional expenses for office rent, employee training, providing necessary infrastructure, and so on.

2. Access to the global talent pool.
Finding a developer with the necessary skills can be challenging, especially in regions where the number of specialists is not very large.

Take a look at how the number of IT specialists differs in various countries:

Access to the global talent pool allows you to use the latest technologies that may not be widely available in your region.

‍3. Flexibility and scalability.
According to Indeed, the hiring process can take anywhere from a week to a month or more! Therefore, if you anticipate the need to expand or reduce your team, it is wiser to consider outsourcing.

It also makes more sense to consider a remote candidate for short-term projects if there is no further collaboration planned after the project ends.

‍4. Accelerating Time to Market.
Outsourcing allows you to reduce the time spent on recruiting and hiring specialists. Additionally, there is no need for training and onboarding the development team, which, as you’d agree, is also a lengthy process.

Moreover, you can engage several teams to work on the project. They will work on different aspects of the application simultaneously, bringing its release closer. An additional benefit is the ability to work around the clock due to time zone differences.

‍5. Optimization of company operations.
Outsourcing IT functions will allow you to focus on other activities, such as marketing, customer service, implementing financial strategies, and more.

Furthermore, outsourcing makes sense even if you have an in-house development team. Engaging external specialists will reduce the load on your team and allow you to implement innovative technologies that your developers may not be proficient in.

Outsourced Development Cons

Along with the benefits for a company, turning to IT outsourcing can lead to certain challenges:

‍1. Communication problems.
This issue is especially relevant with offshoring, when specialists are located in different time zones. Just imagine: you need to urgently address an issue, but it's outside your team's working hours. This can seriously affect the efficiency of development.

Another possible barrier to productive collaboration is different languages and cultural differences. Wouldn't it be difficult to understand your counterpart if their vocabulary is unfamiliar to you, or if they adhere to values and traditions that differ from yours?

‍2. Quality control challenges.
When an in-house team is working on a software product, they are clearly aware of the standards they need to follow. This enables them to create solutions that meet the needs of the audience and business expectations.

In the case of outsourced development, there is a risk of discrepancies in quality standards between internal and external teams, especially when communication gaps exist.

The result is an unsatisfactory final product, which may lead to another outsourcing drawback—as we'll discuss next.

‍3. Hidden costs.
If the final product quality is lacking, you’ll have to hire other specialists to fix defects. However, this problem can be avoided by working only with trusted providers. 

Still, there is the risk of additional costs for managing remote specialists and the possibility of project expansion due to control issues.

‍4. Data and intellectual property (IP) security.
Collaborating with third parties on development involves sharing confidential information about your business and clients.

Again, only work with reliable partners to ensure they won’t misuse your data or share it with unauthorized individuals.

We’ve discussed the pros and cons of outsourcing software development. How does the situation look with the advantages and disadvantages of creating an in-house team?

In-House Development: Pros and Cons

Despite the growing popularity of outsourcing, many companies still prefer to develop software in-house. This approach also has its own pros and cons.

In-house Development Pros

Developing software internally offers the following advantages:

‍1. Full control over the development process.
The decision to hire an in-house team is a step towards complete control over the development process.

You can select the optimal tech stack, implement methodologies that you deem suitable, and track every stage of the SDLC and its duration.

‍2. Intellectual property security.
According to ABI Research, U.S. companies lose between $180 billion and $540 billion annually due to intellectual property theft.

In-house development minimizes the likelihood of this issue, as the company will be the sole owner, and there is no need to share data with third parties.

‍3. Improved communication on the project.
Teams working in a shared workspace experience fewer communication challenges. They are not hindered by cultural and language differences or time zone discrepancies.

This, in turn, helps avoid several problems. According to recent statistics, poor communication methods can lead to a number of losses for a company. Among these, 68% of work time is wasted, 42% of employees face stress and burnout, and 12% of customers leave for competitors:

4. Team engagement and a deep understanding of business nuances.
An internal development team is likely to be better informed about the company's values, culture, and target audience. This enables them to create a tailored solution that aligns with the client’s vision.

Additionally, in-house developers are more invested in the success of the project, as they are part of the business.

In-house Development Cons

If you are an advocate of in-house development, be prepared for some challenges along with the benefits. Here are a few of them:

1. High costs.
With outsourcing, the company only spends money on the developer’s rate. The situation is completely different with an in-house team.

We present a list of expenses to consider:

• hiring costs;
• total salary of the team;
• provision of necessary infrastructure;
• training fees for technologies;
• bonuses and benefits;
• software license purchases;
• overhead costs.

Overall, the difference between in-house vs outsourcing development can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. And as you can see, it is not in favor of the in-house team.

2. Limited resources.
In-house specialists may have limited experience and knowledge in specific areas needed for the project. There are two solutions to this issue: employee training, which again incurs additional costs and time, or opting for familiar technologies that are unlikely to yield the desired results.

Moreover, the lack of resources may become noticeable when scaling the project significantly. Hiring an in-house specialist is a lengthy and complicated process.

3. Hiring issues and employee turnover.
According to Statista's analytics, in 2023, 54% of organizations experienced a shortage of tech talent. And this is not the peak—two years ago, this figure was at a record-high 70%.

However, even if you manage to hire the best talents, don’t rush to celebrate your victory. You still need to retain them. And here’s where the real challenge begins. To attract a developer to work specifically for your company, you will need to offer a high salary (higher than your competitors), social benefits, bonuses, etc. In other words, you will be committing yourself to unforeseen expenses. Whether this is justified is up to you to decide.

So, we’ve thoroughly discussed the advantages and disadvantages of in-house development and outsourcing. Now, it’s time to determine which strategy is best suited for you.

In-House vs Outsourcing: How to Make the Right Choice?

In-house vs outsourcing software development—which one should you choose for your company’s success? Here are the types of projects optimal for each of these strategies:

For in-house development:

• Long-term projects. If a project requires constant development, support, and close collaboration, it makes sense to build an internal team. This is especially relevant for complex systems that are continuously evolving and require in-depth knowledge of their architecture.

• Projects involving confidential data. If you are dealing with confidential data, in-house development can guarantee its complete security. This is facilitated by better control over work processes and the absence of the need to share data with third parties. However, as an alternative, you can turn to a reliable outsourcing provider who guarantees the security of confidential data on par with an in-house team.

• Projects that are critical for the business. These are projects that involve creating products that must fully reflect the vision, culture, and strategy of the company. If you are not sure that you can achieve this with external developers, it is better to opt for an in-house team.

‍For outsourced development:

• Projects with a limited budget. Outsourcing allows savings on developer salaries and related expenses.

• Short-term projects. If the team is only required to create a product without further updates and support, hiring in-house specialists is not advisable.

• Projects where quick time-to-market is a priority. Time savings on hiring and adaptation, the ability for round-the-clock work, and involving multiple teams contribute to faster releases.

• Projects with changing resource needs. Here, the ability of remote teams to scale quickly is key.

• Innovative projects. Access to a global talent pool enables the use of cutting-edge technologies that may not be well-developed in your region.

Thus, if you are looking to save costs, use an innovative tech stack, and outpace competitors, outsourced development will be the best choice for your company.

Darly Solutions—Your Reliable Partner in Outsourced Software Development

The Darly Solutions team is ready to be your guide in the world of creating high-quality digital solutions. We provide comprehensive services, including web and mobile development, UI/UX design, MVP development, QA and testing, and much more.

By outsourcing your project to us, you can be confident in our full immersion in your product vision, data and intellectual property security, and guaranteed adherence to project deadlines.

Contact a Darly Solutions manager, calculate the estimated costs, and start your journey to digitalization today!

Creating simple yet effective versions of new products, known as Minimal Viable Products (MVPs), is a crucial strategy for improving services and making the most of resources. This method focuses on testing products gradually and getting feedback from those who matter most. In this article, we'll look at what MVPs are and give examples of how they've been successfully used to develop better final products.

What is MVP and Why Create It?

An MVP, or Minimal Viable Product, is an important step in creating new products. It uses a straightforward method where a product is built with just enough features to be usable. This approach allows for regular feedback from users, making it easier to adjust and improve the product over time. Starting with the basics, it helps to quickly see if an idea is worth pursuing, saves time and money, and ensures that the final product meets the needs of its users more accurately before it's fully developed and released.

Benefits of MVP

An MVP offers a cost-effective means of gaining insight into a product's potential early on. It comprises essential features, allowing for validation and subsequent addition of functionalities in the final version. Typically, these features are outlined in the product roadmap. Now, let's explore the advantages of introducing an MVP to the market:

• Time to Market. MVP enables a faster route to market, helping you stay ahead of competitors by launching quicker than with a fully developed product.
• Cost Savings. By creating a basic functional version with innovative features, MVP saves money, which is especially beneficial for startups.
• User Testing. MVP allows real user testing, providing valuable feedback to identify what works and what doesn't, enabling you to add only requested features and reduce market risks.
• Flexibility. MVP offers flexibility in product development, allowing you to adapt based on user feedback and market responses, ensuring the product meets evolving needs.
• Investor Appeal. Utilizing MVP demonstrates the product's real value to users, increasing the likelihood of securing funding from investors, even at the concept stage, before market entry.

MVP Development Team

Creating innovative solutions requires a talented team. This team, made up of different experts, works together to make sure the products they develop are both useful and easy to use. Let's take a closer look at the key roles:

• Project Manager. Leads the team, providing guidance, motivation, and problem-solving support to keep the project on track. They also suggest ideas for making the product better and plan for its future.
• Business Analyst. Focuses on understanding what users need and how they use the product. They use data to figure out how to improve the product and make suggestions for changes or new features.
• UI/UX Designers. Create a user-friendly and attractive look for the product. They make sure it's easy to use and looks good, so people enjoy using it.
• App Developers. Build the product based on the design. They write the code that makes everything work properly.
• QA Engineers. Test the product to find any problems and make sure it works well. They help make sure the product is good quality and works as it should.

MVP Development Process

Crafting an MVP demands a carefully planned approach to ensure it meets the needs of users and aligns with market trends. Here's a detailed breakdown of the steps to help you navigate this process effectively:

• Market Research. Conduct thorough research to understand the MVP's purpose, target audience, and competition. Define the ideal customer and assess competitors to find opportunities. Clarify what makes the MVP unique and better than existing options.
• Define Product Value. Clearly explain the problem the MVP solves. Figure out why people would use it and make sure it meets their needs well. Make sure the business model, design, and services all add value for users.
• Feature Prioritization. Decide which features are most important based on what users need and want. Customize features focusing on what's essential for the MVP's success.
• Budgeting and Resourcing. Develop the MVP within a reasonable budget to save money. Decide whether to use your team or hire outside help. Consider hiring professional MVP developers for specific tasks.
• Development and Iteration. Build a skilled team, using outside help for convenience. Focus on making the MVP user-friendly and useful. Keep improving based on user feedback to make it even better.

MVP examples

Even the biggest names in the business world started small: launching a basic version of their product, known as a Minimal Viable Product (MVP). These early versions were their first steps, proving there was a real demand for their vision. By smartly using MVPs to engage early users and gather crucial feedback, they laid the groundwork for what would become global success stories.

Dropbox - Cloud Storage

Dropbox is a classic example of an MVP that used a simple video demonstration to validate consumer interest and market demand for cloud storage solutions. Without initially developing the technology, Dropbox focused on showing potential users the ease and functionality of file syncing across multiple devices. This approach allowed them to gather significant interest and feedback, for refining their product and scaling their user base effectively.

Airbnb - Accommodation Sharing

Airbnb started with a basic website that offered short-term living quarters, breakfast, and a unique business networking opportunity for attendees of large conferences who had trouble finding accommodation. Using their apartment as the first listing, the founders were able to test the market's response to their concept. This MVP proved a demand for such a service, paving the way for the platform's evolution into a global peer-to-peer accommodation service.

Zappos - Online Shoe Retail

Zappos began as a simple website testing the online demand for shoes. The founder, Nick Swinmurn, started by posting photos of shoes from local stores without actually holding inventory. When a pair was ordered, he would purchase the shoes from the store and ship them to the customer. This MVP approach validated the concept that people were willing to buy shoes online, leading to the development of a billion-dollar e-commerce platform.

Uber - Ride Sharing

Uber's MVP started in San Francisco as a simple mobile app that connected users with luxury car services. The initial focus was to solve a specific problem—finding a reliable ride in the city. By limiting the initial service to a small market and focusing on a premium service, Uber was able to refine their model, understand user needs, and eventually expand to offer various transportation options globally.

Spotify - Music Streaming

Spotify's MVP tackled the issue of illegal music downloads by offering a legal streaming service with a vast library of songs. The initial product was a desktop application that provided free, ad-supported music streaming. By addressing copyright issues and focusing on user experience, Spotify was able to demonstrate the viability of streaming as a business model, leading to partnerships with major record labels and a rapidly growing user base.

Conclusion

Creating an MVP demands careful planning and execution. MVPs offer advantages such as quicker market entry, cost-effectiveness, and user-focused design. By adhering to the MVP development process, organizations can drive innovation and enhance customer service in the dynamic industry. Ready to develop your MVP? Contact us to start right now.

Nowadays, AI technology is significantly changing the different industries and the healthcare industry isn’t an exception. One of the additions—chatbots—has the potential to save time and money.

But should the healthcare industry use a bot service, it is a question many medical workers ask. However, we can define healthcare as a service that happens when patients visit the doctors, we will strictly limit our potential productivity gains. Chatbots can help healthcare providers with customer service and interact with healthcare consumers through text conversationally. So it is one of the most effective solutions to increase patient satisfaction.

According to surveys and researches published by IBM, up to 80% of routine questions could be answered by a chatbot. And it isn’t a surprise that the big part of these questions are asked by the patients and a simple chatbot can help with that.

For being in a win-win situation in healthcare, the providers should think about how to give patients, prospective patients, and other site visitors a way to answer questions, find the important information, and even book appointments as soon as possible without calling in. It’s easier and more convenient for people. It’s more efficient and successful for providers. And it can save a tremendous amount of money and time. That’s the dream, right? In the healthcare sector, the patient’s experience and satisfaction continue to be the top priority.

Chatbots in healthcare can offer the best health care service.

So the real question for clinics, hospitals and other private practices looking to improve the patient experience: Is it worth it?

Will chatbots really help and make a difference for your staff and patients?

At the end of the article you will find the answers to all your questions, so let’s have a look at how healthcare chatbots actually work, their benefits, and potential use cases.

We can divide chatbots into three categories:

Rules-based: Rule-based chatbots can also be named decision-tree bots. This type of chatbot uses a series of defined rules. These rules are the basis for the types of problems the chatbot is familiar with and can deliver solutions for. Usually, there are very simple or complicated rules. They can’t, however, answer any questions outside of the defined rules. These chatbots do not learn through interactions. They only perform and work with the scenarios you train them for. They follow pre-defined, if-this-then-that “playbooks” that automatically respond to a list of pre-populated queries and questions. These chatbots might answer common questions with simple and canned responses. They might also lead people to dead-ends like “I’m having trouble understanding” due to their limited technical capacity.

Adaptive: Using machine learning (ML), adaptive chatbots can learn patterns the more requests they receive.

AI-powered: An AI-powered chatbot is a smarter version that uses natural language processing (NLP) and ML to better understand the intent of the human and provide a more natural, near-human-level communication. An AI chatbot can quickly determine intent and context, move through more complex and nuanced conversations, and deliver the look and feel of chatting with an actual human being.

Chatbots are created to mimic human conversation. Using chatbots, patients can ask health-related questions, check on their appointments, or explore treatment options without calling in.

Why chatbots are perfectly suitable for healthcare

The chatbot is useful for any type of business. But for the healthcare field, they are especially valuable, because chatbots can provide the required information and actions to patients.

24/7 Service

Anytime chatbots can provide patients service and support. According to this, patients can get immediate engagement and answers.

Follow-up medical care

Quality and results are the most important goals for the patient experience. In many cases, it is difficult for doctors to provide quality care once a patient leaves the hospital. Chatbots could be a good solution for this challenge, and they can give follow-up care by prompting patients to record their symptoms or track their progress.

At-home care

Chatbots can be used anywhere, especially at home. The patient can use the range of actions that include not only looking up symptoms and scheduling appointments, it could also use chatbots for the patients after they are discharged from the hospital. The chatbot could help patients take their medications in time and connect with their doctors.

Keep patient update

This is a new way to address any patient. This will keep the patient and family to remain updated till the last moment. Do you need to go to the appointment? The chatbot will remind you via text message or email. Will the surgery for which you need to be prepared? A chatbot can help patients prepare for any size of surgery or operation beforehand.

Better Patient Experiences

In the end, chatbots no doubt can enhance patient satisfaction. They help improve patient satisfaction scores by providing the convenience of care and reducing wait time. The providers have the opportunity to offer services to the patients and make it convenient for patients to receive medical attention. Chatbots can also facilitate surveys and other patient feedback mechanisms to record and track sentiment.

Use cases in the healthcare industry

• Let’s imagine the patient needs urgent help and information on what to do? The chatbot could quickly quiz users on the health problem they’re facing and recommend a sequence of actions until the ambulance arrives.

• It can be used as a mass email by local or national health organizations. Nowadays, it is especially relevant to people to get to know important details about vaccinations or epidemics.

• It can help patients track their moods or feelings that can be discussed with the psychiatrist or therapist at the next appointment. It could offer tips, notifications and advice between therapy sessions. Furthermore, it even can act more like a personal assistant. It can remind patients to take their medication, help them stay motivated to stick to their schedules and provide other relevant medical information.

• The hospitals and clinics can use the chatbot to allow patients to learn more about their health by asking questions, check symptoms or conditions, and find relevant specialists if they need them.

• The E-commerce industry that sells medical equipment or supplies could build a bot to recommend products to undecided customers. It is one of the ways to increase the visitors on the websites, directing the users to buy the products from it.

• A doctor could set up a chatbot to let users schedule their next appointment easily.

• The bot can be built to help users find in-network providers near them based on city or zip code.

• A medical spa can increase lead generation and user satisfaction using the bot. It is a great idea to ask what users expressly request. Based on the feedback from the users, and add only those services and products which your users have expressly requested. Finally, it could help the best matches schedule a consultation.

Final Thoughts

The chatbots can significantly replace the great part of live chatting with medical personnel. The main advantage that chatbot can provide is improvement in the patient experience. These chatbots are created to be conversational, so they are more responsive and personal than search engines. Chatbots can pull more specific and relevant information for patients rather than search engines. But they can not completely replace a human medical professional’s expertise, but they can reduce the time and money and make it easier for hospital staff to perform their jobs.