How to Find the Right Partner for Digital Health Development Projects

IT staff augmentation involves the supplementation of your existing development teams, with expertise from an outsourced company. The outsourcing service only contributes to your project, rather than taking ownership of it.

For this reason, staff augmentation services need to be well suited to your specific projects. Augmented staff will be working alongside your in-house teams, so there needs to be a cohesive relationship.

Needless to say, it can be challenging to find the right partner. Ultimately, augmented teams are not your own team, so they need to be onboarded well. They also need to be supported just as much as your existing teams.

Often, IT staff augmentation services operate using a nearshore or offshore project outsourcing architecture. This presents difficulties of its own, including language barriers, time zone differences, and distance from the project.

Finding the right partner for your digital health development projects is paramount. A good partner can help you to meet deadlines and provide a great quality solution. A poor partnership will cause delays and errors, due to miscommunication. Here’s how to find the right staff augmentation services for your digital health projects.

Your Requirements

Firstly, you need to know your project requirements inside out. You can’t reach out to a potential digital health development partner without clarifying what you need. Consider creating a plan, or proposal, for the entire project and your staffing requirements. 

Begin by analyzing your project, and the reasons that you need staff augmentation services. For instance, are you looking to fill gaps? Or, do you need a reliable development team to take over an existing project, so that your in-house teams can start something new? Consider whether the contract will be short term, or long term. 

Then, identify the amount of staff you need. This should qualify out potential partners straight away, depending on your staffing requirements. 

You will also need to identify what kind of expertise you need. Take a look at what teams are short-staffed, and where your teams could benefit from further support. Again, this should help to qualify your available partners. They need to have the numbers in your area of expertise.

Finally, make a note of all key deadlines for your project. Ultimately, a partnership cannot work if your partner cannot meet your project timeline and doesn't have the staffing numbers, or the expertise, that you need. This should be the basis of your search for a digital health development partner. 

Find the Expertise

Digital health can be a challenging industry. In a post-covid world, digital health needs to move quickly, as it is constantly evolving. Your development partner needs to be able to keep up with the pace of the health tech space, while still delivering a quality product. 

Portfolio

Your partner should be able to prove that they can deliver high-quality digital health solutions. Ensure that potential partners offer a portfolio of their previous work. This should demonstrate their experience in the digital health space. 

Not only that, but their portfolio should prove that they have a high standard of work. This is particularly important in digital health, as there is little margin for error. It is particularly useful if they have a recognizable partner that you can talk to, or a valid testimonial. 

Discuss your potential partners' previous projects in some detail. For instance, how did they deal with deadlines? What expertise did they need to complete the project? Consider how these skills translate into your own digital health project.

Compliance Knowledge

Digital health development is already challenging, and requires a vast knowledge of the health industry. However, handling patient data requires compliance expertise. 

Compliance with privacy regulations is critical to all digital health projects. In the US, HIPAA dictates the appropriate use of personal health information for US citizens. Outside of the US, GDPR present their own challenges. 

Any potential partner needs to be experienced in compliance. Whether they have compliance specialists in house, or conduct compliance training for employees, it’s key that any building work is carried out with compliance as the priority. 

Focus on Communication

Communication is key to all teamwork. Ultimately, IT staff augmentation is the combination of two very different teams, for one goal. Without communication, mistakes are made. Any kind of project outsourcing can present challenges with communication. 

By their nature, outsourced teams are distanced and have varying company cultures. It’s key to ensure that in-house teams and augmented teams are able to work together and drive the project forward. 

Time Zones

Depending on your choice of partner, there could be a considerable distance between your teams and outsourced teams of software developers. Time zones can be a challenge for digital health development. The difference in working hours can cause delays in communication, and misunderstandings. Ultimately, this leads to more time spent on the project and more resources used to address errors. 

Consider whether your teams are able to work across time zones. Your choice is to either hire nearshore, or work on improving your best practices to provide the best offshore approach possible. Best practices might include a standardized method of communication, and ensuring the cleanest coding practices. 

Alternatively, consider a “follow the sun” development partner. The follow the sun architecture provides 24 hours of development work per day. As a team in one time zone finishes up for the day, the team in the next time zone takes over the project. As a result, coding must be as clear as possible, and best practices are key, as handovers need to be smooth for all teams. 

Language Barrier

Similarly, language barriers can be a real challenge when working with IT staff augmentation services based around the world. 

The further away your partner is located, the more likely they are to speak a different language. This could be detrimental to your important IT projects. 

Language barriers prevent effective communication. If your potential partner is based offshore, consider hiring teams with the same primary language as your own. Ideally, this should offer the best of both worlds, as teams can communicate, while taking advantage of more reduced labor costs.

Best Practices

Company-wide best practices can be the answer to challenges presented by IT staff augmentation. Strong procedures in your workplace can help to guide new team members. Ultimately, this contributes to the effective onboarding of outsourced talent. 

Outline the procedures and expectations for all team members. For instance, consider the best means of standardized communication for the project. Or, consider creating a plan for project handovers, and best practices for coding. 

Each of these should guide new team members, and help them to assimilate into your own local teams as best as possible. Your potential partner should ensure they are comfortable with your requirements, and understand your need for standardized procedures. 

Overall, IT staff augmentation services need to be able to combine with your existing staff both on a technical level, and a cultural level. When conducting your search, provide the most information possible to your potential candidates. Your relationship should be more than transactional, and a thorough understanding of your project and your requirements should help to build a real partnership for success.

At Vertrical, we understand the challenges that IT staff augmentation can have for digital health. That’s why we specialize in digital health development. We want to partner with teams to create the best in digital health innovations. Our teams of development and compliance experts are available to meet your staffing requirements. Get in touch with us today to discuss your next project.