The critical importance of Healthcare Software Testing
The healthcare IT market is on the rise. A recent report estimated that we can expect a growth up to $45.42 billion in 2022.
The quality requirements for healthcare, medical applications are highly strict, specific and stringent. There can be no room for error-absolutely at all because lives are at stake. Quality Assurance vendors have pushed the bar for safety and accuracy for medical application testing to ensure that there is no inaccuracy, infiltration or hacks. The IT industry too is under tremendous pressure, because they have to provide error-free apps to their customers, and with the surge in demand, the need for quality apps went several notches higher.
Given below are some areas that the QA team must peruse before they are ready to release an application in the market:
Data security. All the areas of vulnerability should be identified and focused. Data encryption makes it secure, so the data has to be encrypted, both when in motion and when at rest. However, it could be a bit tricky to verify data that's at rest. Usually, these applications are downloaded on mobile devices, either permanently or on an intermediate basis. Hence, it is important for the encryption to work optimally, and this should be stringently checked in web and hybrid applications.
Data privacy
Strict authorization and access control can make the application more focused and result-oriented. Certain boundaries should be set so the information reaches only the people who are authorized to receive it. While the patient information is shared across people, care should be taken to ensure that it reaches only the members of the caregiving team and not the entire facility, so boundaries should be set from that level.
Usability
Usability is a critical aspect of healthcare software testing. There cannot be absolutely any room for error of any sort because lives are at stake. Usability issues can lead to clinical issues, and the patient can suffer through an adverse event.
Regulatory compliance - wherein there are certain rules and regulations mandated under HIPAA, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), data security regulations and more. Healthcare entities can also abide by the Common Security Framework (CSF) prescribed by HITRUST (Health Information Trust Alliance) to prove their security standards.
Performance
The performance aspect of a healthcare application is extremely important. Social media platforms are meant to handle millions of transactions per second. Fortunately, medical applications do not have to handle such a huge volume because they cater to a limited user group. Nevertheless, when you look at the implications of a medical application, performance becomes a critical aspect.