No Code/Low Code: Advancing Digital Transformation for Healthcare

According to PwC Health Research Institute, 2024 will be a year of sustained economic compression for the health services industry. Medical costs are projected to rise alongside inflation rates, and the labor market will remain tight. Meanwhile, patients are seeking personalized care that’s also convenient and affordable.

In this landscape, healthcare organizations are feeling pressure from all sides, almost like a fist is tightening around them. PwC calls this “the big squeeze,” and while it may feel inescapable or limiting, there is hope — and it comes in the form of tech-enabled transformation. 

No code/low code is a simplified approach to development that’s enabling healthcare organizations of all sizes, from small care facilities to large-scale health systems, to create high-quality and flexible solutions to meet patient needs on all fronts. This approach is key to streamlining provider workflows, building patient-centric applications cost-effectively, and keeping pace with the rapid evolution of technology.

What is no-code/low-code development?  

Code is the set of instructions and rules that forms the basis of all computer programs, from software and mobile applications to even more complex technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Developers write code in a variety of programming languages to create applications and their features. 

Building an application in this way often requires a lot of manual effort and a very technical skillset. For example, you could describe what you want in a solution to a team of developers, who would then translate that vision into code to create the desired computer program. In addition to taking time and skill, there are big investment costs to building an application from the ground up. 

What, then, is no-code development? Despite what the name may imply, a no-code application does, indeed, have code, but in this development approach, you don’t need to know code to build the application. This is because no-code development platforms have completely visual interfaces. These platforms often come with pre-built templates, components, and modules that you can simply drag and drop into the application you’re building. 

Low code is similar in that you can drag and drop visual building blocks into the application you’re developing; however, you can also add code, creating an extra layer of manual customization. 

Why choose no-code/low-code platforms? 

Software engineers — the developers who create, organize, and test code for computer programs — hold one of the most in-demand jobs in 2024. Competition to attract and retain these developers is steep, and the market is still tight due to a skills gap and a personnel shortage. No code/low code enables healthcare organizations to build the software they need without spending all their resources trying to recruit engineers. 

With no-code platforms, healthcare leaders can bring together all stakeholders and intended users in the same room to collaborate and discuss what features are most needed. No one needs technical expertise, so there’s no worry about framing needs in a technical context for developers to translate into code. Since the platform is entirely visual, a stakeholder can simply see a feature they want and drag and drop it into the application. 

This ease of use can greatly simplify application development, whether you’re building a patient portal, an onboarding system, or an internal workflow for clinicians. You can also adjust the software on the fly. For example, perhaps you thought you’d use a feature more than you do. In a no-code platform, you could remove the feature with a single click or drag it to a different part of the workflow where you may use it more. This allows you to test workflows in real time and optimize them as needs evolve. 

With low code, the ability to manually customize code allows healthcare organizations to change or build on existing templates. For example, you could take a pre-configured scheduling module and make the feature more robust by adding an AI algorithm to better automate the patient-provider matching process. This flexibility is great if you have some in-house technical expertise and would like a solution that better fits your organization’s specific use cases.

How a no-code/low-code approach can support your team

Here’s a closer examination of the ways no code/low code can boost operational efficiency and empower both your staff and your patients: 

• Build complex solutions simply. Healthcare workflows are notoriously complicated and tedious, but they don’t have to be. No-code/low-code platforms can make it easy to create effective solutions that are simple to use. 
• Save on development costs. Without a steep software development investment, you can reroute that money into supporting your staff in other, more strategic ways. 
• Launch applications rapidly. In the age of digital transformation, healthcare organizations need to develop technical solutions quickly. Time to launch is faster than ever with no code/low code, and you can experiment with new features on the fly. 
• Evolve software as needed. The flexible nature of no-code/low-code platforms can enable your team to adjust their workflows as needed to keep pace with the quickly changing market and meet evolving patient expectations and demands. 
• Create patient-centric solutions. The adaptability of no-code/low-code applications means you can deliver more personalized, highly curated patient experiences at scale. If your patients request a feature, you can easily add it to the workflow, showing you hear their feedback. 
• Reduce maintenance burden. In a pre-built system, there is less room for error and bugs — everything has already been tested and hardened from a security standpoint — and the best solutions often have compliance and governance built in. 
• Optimize development resources. In a low-code setup, your developers won’t have to spend time building everything from scratch. Instead, they can focus on tweaking existing features or making them more robust to better fit the organization’s needs. 

A simplified approach to healthcare software development

According to Deloitte, health systems that focus on integrating digital tools into care models and redesigning workflows may have a better chance of advancing the patient and provider experience. However, rebuilding from the ground up is not an option for most healthcare facilities. With a flexible and agile approach like no code/low code, organizations of all sizes can accomplish these goals faster and more cost-effectively without the need for technical expertise. 

This simplified approach is lowering barriers to healthcare software development. For healthcare leaders looking to ease the burden on staff while exceeding patient expectations, no code/low code might be the differentiating factor they need to keep pace with technological innovation and stay one step ahead of competition.  

Unsure of what your primary challenges are and where to begin addressing them with software development? Contact our experts at Elxo to start mapping out and building a no-code/low-code solution tailored for your organization that will enhance the delivery of care, empower every staff member, and elevate the patient experience.