ABSTRACT
This chapter explains the main features, challenges and benefits of healthcare software for managers and administrators. It defines clearly and uses real-world examples of the key concepts used in healthcare software and data to give the healthcare software and data use case more relevance and context. The way the industry is now in respect of healthcare software and data policy is a state of ‘guarded welcome’. Healthcare software and data do not stand alone or in isolation from the real world in which they are deployed. Understanding the requirements of physicians and nurses as healthcare software and data users is key to designing and developing the right healthcare software and data for them and, by extension, a large section of the medical industry itself. Hospitals, clinics and doctor’s general practice/surgeries are also users of healthcare software. Healthcare software is potentially better served with a range of different, but complementary, operating systems.
