MedAble wanted to offer a cost-effective solution that would provide medical practitioners with automated appointment scheduling while safeguarding patient data. But as a startup company, MedAble could not afford major infrastructure investments. In 2010, the company used Windows Azure to create the DocPlaner online patient scheduling service and deliver a high-performance solution that avoided high IT costs and optimized its market position. 

Business Needs
In May 2010, MedAble GmbH began offering innovative appointment management solutions for medical practitioners. The small software development firm based in Munich, Germany, saw an opportunity to help doctors simplify their office calendars and reduce waiting times for patients.

Doctors’ offices consume a lot of time managing patient appointments, and scheduling appointments by telephone can slow staff down. Missed appointments can increase waiting times and make it difficult to plan doctors’ schedules.

Available online scheduling solutions were often components of locally installed account-management applications that did not adequately manage appointments. Many did not function in real time and required manual confirmation, and while medical practices must protect confidential patient information, some appointment solutions allowed unrestricted visibility into practice caseloads. At the same time, the solutions often created high IT costs.

By using Windows Azure, we… reduced development time by 20 percent without any major infrastructure investments. Erik Reisig Technical Director, MedAble GmbH

“Practitioners frequently pay high licensing fees for medical-office software and then have to enter into expensive maintenance agreements on top of that,” says Erik Reisig, Technical Director at MedAble.

MedAble saw that many medical practices had a need for a cost-effective solution that would deliver automated appointment scheduling around the clock, while safeguarding sensitive patient data. But because it was a small startup company, MedAble wanted to avoid major infrastructure investments.

“We did not want to become involved with the large expenditures associated with managing our own infrastructure,” says Reisig. “We also saw the large market potential for a solution. We wanted to keep the people on our staff focused on creating products instead of setting up servers, and we needed better scalability than we could get with a local hosting provider.”

Solution
MedAble wanted to build an automated appointment management system using cloud technology—remote computing resources delivered over the Internet. The company used Windows Azure, the Microsoft cloud service development, hosting, and management environment, to build and launch the DocPlaner online patient scheduling service in September 2010. Windows Azure provides on-demand compute, storage, networking, and content delivery capabilities through Microsoft data centers around the world.

MedAble developers considered using the Google App Engine, but determined that the Microsoft SQL Azure relational database service would process queries more quickly than the Google Datastore. The company also liked the advanced authentication and redundancy capabilities in Windows Azure that it could use to help ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its customers’ data.

To use DocPlaner, patients log on to a medical practice homepage, select a reason for an appointment, such as illness or a test, and immediately find and schedule an available appointment time, but without any visibility into the practice’s caseload. DocPlaner automatically generates a confirmation email and the patient can choose a reminder by email or text message. Patients can also use DocPlaner to cancel their appointments.

Practices use DocPlaner to keep their calendars updated in real time, with access to patient files and a direct contact option by email or text message. “The office staff immediately sees all appointments and maintains control of the appointment calendar at all times,” says Reisig.

MedAble offers subscriptions to DocPlaner through web browsers and mobile devices such as smartphones with the Windows Phone operating system. The company uses Windows Azure to support other solutions, such as the modular website kit MedHome, and the company plans to release the MedAble Healthcare Terminal for submitting copayments online.

Benefits
By using Windows Azure to create DocPlaner, MedAble quickly delivered a high-performance, cost-effective appointment management system, while avoiding a high IT management burden and optimizing its market position.

• High-performance, low-cost solution. With DocPlaner supported by Windows Azure, MedAble can deliver an around-the-clock appointment scheduling solution that functions in real time while safeguarding sensitive patient data. Medical practices can avoid missed appointments, improve planning, offer additional convenience to their patients, and reduce administrative costs. Instead of paying for software licenses and maintenance agreements, practices pay a monthly fee for each DocPlaner subscription, and they can save up to 54 percent per subscription over two years.

• Low IT costs, streamlined development. By avoiding a large infrastructure, MedAble can manage its service offerings with only a few staff members. Without having to spend time on infrastructure configuration and administration, MedAble developers were able to significantly decrease time-to-market for DocPlaner and other MedAble solutions. As the company develops new services and generates new revenue, it can scale up its computing power as needed without buying unnecessary resources.
  
  “By using Windows Azure, we provided our developers with the resources they needed and reduced development time by 20 percent without any major infrastructure investments,” says Reisig. “Now that we can get started earlier, product iteration cycles are faster, and we can match customer needs as quickly as possible.”

• Large market potential. Reisig sees a large market potential for a package of medical practice services based on Windows Azure, and the company expects up to 400 subscribers for DocPlaner by 2013, with projected revenue of almost US$260,000. “We hope to offer a complete service that manages every aspect of medical practice administration, from appointments to human resources,” Reisig says. “With Windows Azure, independent software developers are in an optimal position to secure a share of the growth potential in the cloud services market."

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