How much does the hospital information system cost?
Let me be clear that these are just average numbers. Your HIS can be much lower or higher, depending on the development quality, project complexity, and your requirements. Keep in mind that in addition to paying for the software, you also have to pay for development tools, maintenance fees, software updates, and training fees.
There are 2 ways to attain an HIS. An off-the-shelf or SaaS HIS subscription can cost between $200 and $2000 monthly. Despite being affordable, it lacks flexibility and scalability and poses a risk of vendor lock-in, which urges many facilities to choose the second method: Building one from scratch.
On average, a simple HIS serving one platform can cost $80,000 to $120,000. This figure can range from $150,000 to $300,000 for a more complex system serving cross-platforms.
In short, HIS development costs depend on many factors, which we will break down below so you can estimate them yourself. Alternatively, you can talk to an expert on HIS and get a more accurate quote.
Analyze the factor of hospital information system cost
What factors are the costs of HIS made up of? Let’s break down.
Number of features
HIS is a complex system consisting of many modules, each module will handle different tasks. Since you can select which modules to add and which not, the more modules, the higher the cost.
Here are some of the common modules and features that every HIS should have:
| For Doctors/ Staff | For Administration | For Patients |
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
The module is highly flexible and compact. If a requirement arises, a module can be swiftly designed and integrated into the system at a reasonable cost.
Some modules, such as EMR/EHR or telehealth can cost more than basic modules such as appointment scheduling.
Technology stack
Your chosen programming languages, frameworks, and databases will directly affect the HIS cost. The same software with similar functions but using different technology stack and software architecture will have different costs.
For examples:
- On-premises software (such as prescription software, medical image analysis, or EHR/EMR) can cost a lot, from $200K to $500K, due to the hardware, infrastructure, and maintenance costs.
- Cloud-based software is a better financial choice than infrastructure and hardware, and the investment could range between $50K and $300K.
- Mobile applications for HIS could range from $50,000 to $200,000, while a web-based HIS can range from $20K to $100K, as the case may be.
- Most HIS relies on IoT technology, but if you want to add something more advanced such as AI for better diagnosis, data analytics for accurate prediction, or blockchain for management, the price will be higher.
Development approach
Do you want to hire an in-house team under your management? Or outsource to a development company?
In most cases, outsourcing will be cheaper than building an in-house team. That’s because outsourcing can free up recruitment and HRM budgets. At the same time, most hospitals are facing a lack of IT talents, while a development company has plenty.
The outsourcing cost in countries is also different, depending on the economy and exchange rate. Keep in mind that it doesn’t reflect 100% service quality. For example, countries like Vietnam or India will charge $20 to $50 per hour, while Americans and Europeans will most likely charge above $40 per hour.
Regulatory compliance
The HIS must strictly complies with HIPAA, ACHC, and GHA regulations, which require the company or service providers (in case of outsourcing) to have a good grasp of these regulations.
Keep in mind local regulations as well. It’s best to work with a vendor near your location who understands your culture and political scene.
Integration requirements
Will your HIS be integrated with the existing hospital system? Will it be integrated with non-healthcare-related software as well, such as CRM, ERP, or HRM, for example?
If yes, allocate a part of your hospital information system budget to set up API development, deploy it to connect the two systems, and back up if the API fails to connect.
UI/UX
HIS serves doctors, hospital staff, and patients. Thus, it must have a friendly interface and provide a good experience for users of all demographics to be accepted. This requires regular updates during operation to improve UI/UX, which is also a contributing factor to overall costs.
Testing and quality control
Regular software quality testing is a must, especially for healthcare facilities, because a small error can greatly impact patient health and healthcare facility finances.
Running multiple rounds of tests and doing regular checks may take a large sum of hospital information system cost. The key is to do testing strategically.
Vendor experience
If a company opts to outsource instead of building an HIS internally, seeking the right provider is critical.
The outsourcing company needs to have top-notch IT talents, experience in the healthcare industry, and knowledge of markets and regulations. A seasoned vendor may have a high price but will save you on incidental expenses.
Team size
A large team size doesn’t equal faster development. Research shows that a team of 30 developers produces fewer quality lines of code than a compact team of 4.
You need to find a suitable number to manage and distribute work equally throughout the team. This will avoid duplicate or ineffective work, which will help you optimize the labor cost for your project.
Hardware size
In addition to software, hardware also accounts for a significant portion of overall hospital information system cost. Large healthcare facilities will incur higher costs as they must maintain a local EHR instance, expense for self-hosted servers and network infrastructure.
Hidden cost of hospital information system
Determining the exact number of HIS is challenging because there are loads of indirect costs that can appear during and after the project implementation process. You should review those hospital information system cost to keep the project under control and on budget.
- Data migration cost: Data migration from existing systems to new software includes technology, experts and migration tools.
- Maintenance and upgrade cost: This cost may vary depending on how often medical facilities maintain and upgrade the system to keep it operating properly.
- Professional services cost: Authorizing consultants and professional companies with expertise during the stage or designing or creating architecture for your software can also silently eat into the project’s budget.
- Indirect costs: To not be surprised by the final cost, you should consider the indirect costs, including decreased revenue and lost productivity during under-development, the stage of deployment, and training staff. These costs are often overlooked, but they can add up to a significant portion of the project cost.
- Training cost: Including time lost spent on training staff cost and session provided by the vendor. Cutting training costs can reduce project costs but will lead to ineffective use of the system.
Example cost calculation of a custom HIS project
To make it clear how you spend your money, we will use our clients as an example.
Normally, a hospital information system project with Synodus requires 5 to 7 developers, detailly:
- 1 project manager.
- 1 to 2 testers/ quality assurance.
- 2 to 4 developers.
- 1 UX/UI designers.
Depending on the project requirements and which level of talent (mid-level or senior) you require, we can charge from $25 to $35 per hour.
How long will each project take, and the overall hospital information system cost, let’s break it down:
1. During product discovery: We will briefly learn about your requirement, understanding the complexity of requirement and propose a POC. This is our on-the-house offer, as we are getting to know each other.
2. During architecture engineer and UX/UI design: After everything is set, our project moves into its first milestone. Under this phase, we will set the foundation of your HIS, which take us:
- Small projects: 25 to 60 hours
- Mid-size projects: 60 to 120 hours
- Large projects: 150+ hours
Our secret to optimize development time and cost is utilizing a packaged solution, which is a pre-built HIS architecture that we will customize what is needed to fit your requirements. Our clients adored this approach, as it skips the foundation part and jumps to the development details very quickly.
3. During development: The longest stage of production, which normally takes us 2 months to a year-long (for complex projects) to finish.
4. During testing: To optimize development speed, our team will test alongside development phase and immediately fix any bugs that arise. Extensive testing post-development can take a few days to 2 weeks.
Some tips to optimize your hospital information system cost
Having worked with 10,000+ healthcare staff and 30+ healthcare facilities, here are some tips we recommend our clients to balance between cost-effectiveness and high-quality products:
- Outsourcing to a low-cost region such as Vietnam, India or Ukraine. They have the same level of technical expertise but also much lower rate than USA, Singapore, Australia, or Europe.
- Choose the right cooperation model. Staff augmentation is best when you need a specific role to fill the in-house spot. Project-based is best when you don’t have an in-house team and look for a long-term partner.
- Cutting down on design is also one way to save the budget.
- Utilize agile methodology for faster iteration and speed up the development process.
- Ask your vendor to sign an SLA to ensure project quality and deadline.
Learn more about other tips and tricks through this article: 11 Convincing Strategies To Reduce Software Development Cost
Wrapping up
There are a lot of things that go into hospital information system cost, not only the cost of purchasing software, but there are also software and hardware maintenance and updates cost, hidden costs – often overlooked but can add up to a significant figure. Breaking down these factors will help you manage and allocate your budget effectively.
