For the sixth year in a row, Auriga is included in the Best 10 Rising Stars[1] by Industry Focus -Healthcare sub-list of the Global Outsourcing 100 List by the International Association of Outsourcing Professionals (IAOP). This high estimate of Auriga’s performance is certainly not a minor achievement.
Since 2003, Auriga has been providing a wide range of services covering the full life cycle of software for the healthcare industry. During this time, the company has accumulated considerable experience in developing system-level and embedded software for life-support and monitoring systems, lung ventilation systems, X-ray systems, etc. However, the healthcare and medical equipment industries are fast changing. Auriga keeps an eye on healthcare software market trends and adapts its gathered expertise to the most likely changes.
The main focus of these changes is tied to the development of technologies that allow healthcare providers and patients to connect in new and exciting ways. Thanks to new opportunities and the increased connectivity of devices, emphasis has shifted toward preventative care and monitoring. In 2007, diagnosis, monitoring, and prevention healthcare spending amounted to just 30% of total expenditure. In 2012, this figure was 34%, and by 2025, it is expected to reach 49%.
Cutting-edge medical devices are being designed for the early detection and prevention of diseases. Frost and Sullivan’s analysts believe that communication between patients and healthcare providers, connecting the hospital with those outside the institution, will be a future trend that will change the face of the healthcare industry. Global mobile penetration is much higher than the penetration level of healthcare. It is a foundation that will lead to the significant improvement of healthcare services as well as their availability through access to mobile services in all areas of the world.
Certainly, the worldwide use of information technologies in the healthcare industry is not a new phenomenon. “Health informatics” became a well-known term back in the 1970s and 1980s. Today, we are hearing about eHealth or mHealth with increasing frequency. These terms incorporate such systems as the following:
- Remote health monitoring (monitoring of diseases outside the healthcare institution, remote ECG monitoring, medication intake control, patient activity monitoring)
- Telemedicine (telediagnostics, remote consultations, remote training/simulation, medical information transfer (case records, radiographs, CT scans, sonograms, etc.))
- Key IT services (electronic health records, medical information exchange, portals for patients, cloud infrastructure)
- mHealth (professional applications, information services, apps for health and fitness)
The development of mHealth resulted in a great number of personal medical devices, such as blood pressure sensors, blood glucose meters, weigh-scales, cardiographs, and insulin injectors. However, it was the development, availability, and ever-growing use of network technologies and communication devices that made it possible to connect these personal monitoring devices to computers and smartphones using IEEE and ISO interfaces.
All this opens up fresh opportunities for Auriga as a software developer in the healthcare industry. These opportunities include the development of software not only for traditional medical devices (e.g., bedside patient monitors) but also for mobile devices (e.g., iOS, Android, etc.). It must be noted that the interest in such devices is currently picking up in the Russian market. In the last year alone, our engineers have participated in two such projects for Russian customers.
For example, our engineers have experience developing software for a portable ECG monitor. The developed software solution allows users to obtain an ECG tracing of the patient, process the ECG data on a mobile device, transfer the data to the server, and store it there. The physician in charge receives the data in a timely manner and can then make a decision on whether admission to the hospital is required or whether the course of treatment should be adjusted. Additionally, a web interface on the server has been created, which allows users to search and analyze ECG tracings as well as look through the treatment history.
Another significant project for Auriga in the area of mHealth was the development of a hardware medicine device controlled by a mobile app that allows patients to organize and control the intake of medications in accordance with doctors’ prescriptions. This project could be of interest to insurance providers, which spend a substantial amount of money yearly, because many patients do not follow prescribed treatment regimens or visit their doctors regularly. This is not to mention the benefit for patients and their relatives who can now be sure that all medications have been taken on time.
Due to Auriga’s experience, the company is able to develop complex solutions within an effective timeline. Considering the estimations of global experts who believe that by 2015 the mobile health market will double (GSMA The Mobile Economy 2013), we can confidently assume that the amount of work for our engineers will increase in the coming months.
[1] The Rising Star category is designated to judge small to mid-sized providers
