Custom Healthcare Solutions: Innovating In-House to Meet Specific Organizational Needs and Improve Patient Outcomes

Choosing between building custom health technology solutions and buying ready-made products is a tough but important choice for healthcare leaders. A report by Senior Fellows Kevin Mahoney and Raina Merchant from Penn Medicine points out key factors:

• Scale and Speed: Off-the-shelf products can be set up quickly in many departments and offer a consistent user experience. But they may not fit special goals of some institutions.
• Agility and Innovation: Building custom tools within the organization lets healthcare groups change tools fast and try new ideas. Penn Medicine’s programs like COVID Watch and the Virtual Results Clinic show how custom tools can work well with current systems.
• Integration and Interoperability: Custom tools can match clinical workflows and electronic health records (EHR) systems better. Good interoperability helps data flow smoothly, avoids workflow problems, and protects patient privacy.
• Long-Term Investment: Vendor products usually include support, but custom tools need ongoing help with updates and security, which requires time and money.

About 90% of Penn Medicine’s tech comes from outside vendors, but their experience shows that well-made custom tools can meet local needs better if properly supported.

Tailoring Healthcare Technology for Organizational Needs

Healthcare systems in the U.S. are different in size, patients they serve, specialty areas, rules they must follow, and how staff are organized. One technology system might not work well for every one.

Making tools in-house lets groups build systems that fit their specific:

• Clinical Processes: Custom systems can match clinical work steps, lower paperwork, and avoid repeating records.
• Patient Populations: Custom tools can adjust to different patient groups, languages, or social factors affecting care.
• Data Management Practices: Connecting well with current EHRs and data systems helps keep patient records and other data accurate and consistent.

For example, adding automated scheduling and follow-up tools lowers wait times and helps patients keep appointments. Penn Medicine’s Virtual Results Clinic shows that these tools work best when made to fit the real daily work and needs of the healthcare group.

Financial and Operational Considerations of Custom Technologies

Building custom healthcare tools needs a big upfront spend on developing, hardware, and skilled staff such as software engineers and support teams.

Even though the start costs are higher than buying vendor products, the long-term benefits might make up for it:

• Reduced Vendor Dependency: Custom tools don’t depend on outside companies’ schedules and updates. Healthcare groups can fix or improve them when needed.
• Lowered Redundancies: Custom software avoids paying for extra features that are not needed.
• Enhanced Staff Efficiency: Tailored workflows cut down manual data entry and help communication between clinical and office staff, lowering burnout and staff turnover.

These points matter a lot for medical offices and hospitals trying to work well while keeping budgets tight.

Hybrid Approach: Buy, Then Innovate

A new way to handle cost and flexibility is the “Buy, Then Innovate” plan. Instead of fully building everything from scratch, healthcare groups buy core platforms that can then be customized.

Platforms like b.well show this idea by offering:

• Pre-Integrated Data Sources: Easy sharing of info across EHRs, patient portals, and outside systems.
• Self-Service Data Integration: Letting internal teams adjust data flow and connections without waiting for outside help.
• No-Code and Low-Code Innovation Hooks: Allowing staff without technical skills to make or change functions like care gap management or patient routing.
• Mobile App SDKs: Helping make or change apps for patients and clinicians without big costs.

This approach mixes quick setup and saving costs from vendor products with some flexibility and relevance of custom tools. Hospitals and clinics can adapt these platforms to fit their patients, workflows, or goals while keeping control of costs.

The Role of Remote Patient Monitoring and Integration

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) is an area where custom tech has made a big difference in care and costs. Health Recovery Solutions (HRS) shares real examples of RPM programs that improve patient engagement and health outcomes.

RPM projects have seen results like:

• A 75% drop in 30-day readmissions for high-risk patients at MaineHealth.
• A 71% drop in hospital readmissions for congestive heart failure patients at Hackensack.
• More than $2 million saved in 12 months at Frederick Health with 96% patient satisfaction.
• An 86% rate of daily patient adherence at Henry Ford Health System.

These outcomes come from RPM tools made to work with different EHRs, speed up workflows with real-time data, and offer ongoing clinical monitoring. Automating patient signup and alerts lowers paperwork and helps doctors focus on patients who need care most.

3D Printing and Point-of-Care Manufacturing

Some hospitals use in-house tools like 3D printing to improve their services. From 2010 to 2019, the number of U.S. hospitals with central 3D labs rose from just three to over 100, according to the American Hospital Association.

3D printing helps hospitals with:

• Making custom implants and prosthetics that fit better and help patients heal.
• Creating precise models of body parts to plan surgeries, which can cut surgery time by 1.5 to 2.5 hours and cost about $3,720 less.
• Producing devices like ventilators quickly and cheaply, especially during supply shortages like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Making these things in-house means less relying on outside suppliers, dealing with supply chain problems better, and having more control over critical medical equipment.

AI and Workflow Automation in Healthcare Technology

Artificial intelligence (AI) and workflow automation are changing healthcare work today. Companies like Simbo AI focus on AI-powered phone services that help front offices work better.

Custom healthcare technology often uses AI to:

• Automate Patient Communication: AI phone systems handle appointment reminders, questions, and triage all day and night, easing staff workload.
• Enhance Patient Routing: Smart routing sends calls or messages to the right department without needing a person to do it.
• Support Care Gap Management: AI watches patient data to find missing care or follow-ups and automatically sets tasks to reach out on time.
• Enable Data-Driven Decision Making: Automated reports spot patterns in patient behavior or workflow blocks so leaders can act early.
• Provide Scalability and Agility: AI tools can change fast to meet new needs, which is important during crises or busy times.

Using AI and automation helps healthcare systems run smoother, make fewer human mistakes, lower patient wait times, and lets clinical staff spend more time with patients. Groups using these tools report better patient satisfaction and lower admin costs.

Importance of Interoperability and Integration

Healthcare groups focus on interoperability — how well systems share and use data together — as a key must-have when choosing or making technology.

Custom-made solutions usually fit EHR platforms, workflows, and rules better. Smooth integration:

• Reduces doing the same paperwork twice or typing data manually.
• Causes less disruption to clinical workflows.
• Keeps data safe and follows rules like HIPAA.
• Gives doctors the right data fast to make better care decisions.

Systems like HRS show that good EHR integration plus clinical tools help patients follow care plans better and improve results.

Sustainability and Long-Term Planning

Healthcare tech spending needs to think beyond the first install and focus on long-term use. This means:

• Reliable support and maintenance over time.
• Ability to adjust to new technology, rules, and growth.
• Planning for ongoing staff training and system updates.

Making tools in-house means dedicating staff and money to these tasks. Vendor products often include support but may limit flexibility.

Using a hybrid method or platforms with no-code and low-code options helps balance control, cost, and staying power.

Equity in Care Through Custom Solutions

Custom healthcare technology can help reduce care differences among patients. Off-the-shelf products may not fit language, culture, money issues, or where patients live.

Tailored tools can change how they communicate, use languages, and plan care to better serve all kinds of patients. Groups that build or adjust their own tech can help make sure every patient gets proper and easy-to-access care, which helps lower health differences.

Summary for Medical Practice Administrators, Owners, and IT Managers

Leaders of U.S. medical offices and hospitals must weigh many factors when choosing to build custom healthcare tools or buy vendor products. In-house development offers:

• Better fit with unique clinical workflows.
• More chances to try new ideas and make changes.
• Stronger interoperability and system connection.
• Improved patient care through custom management and tracking.

On the other hand, it costs more at first and needs steady resources over time.

Combining vendor platforms with certain in-house changes — the “Buy, Then Innovate” method — offers a middle way that lowers risk and cost but still gives some control and flexibility.

Technologies like AI-driven office automation, remote patient monitoring, and 3D printing show how custom or mixed approaches can better clinical and office work.

Groups that choose careful innovation have a chance to improve patient satisfaction, cut hospital returns, reduce inefficiencies, and build solid paths for future healthcare.