Inherited

How one company’s software enables doctors to better treat their patients

  • Industry

    Medical

  • Time Frame

    Several years

  • Business Type

    Medical

Idea
How a person’s family history matters to their present health

If you’ve ever scheduled a visit to a doctor’s office, you have probably heard, “The appointment is at three, but get here twenty minutes early to fill out the paperwork.”

You dutifully arrive early and begin to fill out the forms, but there’s always the chance you might forget that your great-aunt had breast cancer before you were born or your cousin has Crohn’s disease. Some might shrug their shoulders and say, “It’s good enough. Does a family health history really matter that much?”

The truth? Yes. It matters a lot.

On the other side of the paperwork are doctors and other medical personnel who need to keep the information in the paperwork available, organized, and up-to-date. Missing information or lost paperwork could cause misdiagnosis or worse.

That’s why one company decided to create software to enable family health history to become an integral part of treatment, eliminate paperwork and stress, and organize information to better treat patients.

Genetics
The role of genetics in disease
RARE DISORDERS

Although not all rare disorders are genetic, around 80% of them are. Although a genetic mutation doesn’t always guarantee that one will develop the disease, it does raise the risk.

AUTOSOMAL RECESSIVE INHERITANCE

Knowing one’s family history and genetic risks can help one be aware of both their own health risks and those of their children. Recessive and dominant genes will have different inheritance patterns.

PEOPLE AFFECTED BY A RAGE GENETIC DISORDER

Around one in seventeen to one in twenty people will suffer from a rare disease in their lifetime.

Client
How one company realized software could be the key to better knowledge and better treatment

The client wanted to create a way for patients to receive better treatment. With genetics playing such a major role in disease, they had an idea of how to do that.

By creating a way for doctors and other medical personnel to have extensive knowledge of a patient’s genetic pedigree, they would empower those treating patients to identify risks and prescribe better treatments.

They determined to do this by providing clinics with a myriad of tools to:

  • Import existing data into the software
  • Collect family history online
  • Run risks assessments for a variety of diseases.
  • Order genetic testing
  • Track genetic testing
  • Manage data
  • Enable custom reports
  • Create letters
  • Generate custom queries, reports, and spreadsheets
  • Create genetic pedigrees
  • Integrate with other medical services
  • Identify high-risk patients for specialty clinic referrals
  • Eliminate the constant need for data re-entry
  • Create a secure and HIPPA-compliant environment
  • Empower doctors with more information
Problem
How a company realized they needed outside development help to keep pace with their needs

Security

As a company that dealt with healthcare, the security of the software was paramount. The patient care industry demanded complete privacy for both ethical and legal reasons. The software needed to be secure.

Reliability

The developed infrastructures needed to be reliable and fully supported from the very beginning. With patients’ lives literally on the line, the software needed to be error-free and stable.

Timeliness

Testing and maintaining the existing software while continuing to develop innovative cutting-edge solutions proved to be immoderately time-consuming. The client needed fully tested applications delivered in a time-conscious manner.

Development
Creating the software that would lead to better patient treatment
Team

A team of developers was carefully selected to work with the client’s own development team. The team was hired on a full-time-equivalent and month-to-month basis. This allowed the client company to grow or shrink the team as needed. As the Swan team was integrated, the client company was able to assign them specific tasks that they needed to complete and accomplish their goals in a timely manner

Time frame

The team has been working with the client company for several years. They continue to provide reliable and affordable help on a scalable basis. This enables the client company to always have the people they need to continue to grow and develop new products.

JS

Swift

SCSS

Ruby

React

NET

Results
How software makes the world a healthier place

Using the Swan team, the client was able to continue to grow and release new software to continue helping doctors and other medical personnel better treat their patients.

The company continues to grow and expand while meeting the needs of existing customers.

The software’s ability to identify genetic risks empowers doctors to discover issues in their first stages or even predict a patient’s genetic risk to develop a particular disorder.

With most diseases able to be better treated the earlier they are discovered, this means patients can receive treatment before the disease progresses, and with the knowledge of what diseases they are most at risk for, regular testing can be scheduled if necessary.

The client’s goal is for every patient to receive the best possible diagnosis and treatment plan. Their application allows people to be healthier. And good health is priceless.