The Future of Pharmaceutical Information Technology

IT is changing everything. Even seemingly distant verticals embrace it. Businesses in the financial, manufacturing, retail, transportation and logistics industries have undergone digital transformations. Digitalization hasn’t gone unnoticed by the healthcare sector either. Thus, global spending on digital transformation technologies will increase to $2.8 trillion in 2025.

As a part of the healthcare field, the pharmaceutical sector is also innovating its processes. COVID-19 has significantly impacted the industry’s rapid adoption of technology. According to a Statista survey, about 74% of respondents from the healthcare sector say the pandemic has forced their organizations to accelerate digitalization.

COVID-19 has sped up the digital transformation of this sector by more than five years, the study by Verdict shows. 35% of respondents from the pharmaceutical industry confirm that. So, it is not surprising that the need for healthcare developers grows, and more and more pharmaceutical IT trends emerge.

Today, Softermii invites you to learn about the role of information technology in the pharmaceutical industry and explore the major pharma health-tech trends affecting this sector. We’ll show you how implementing these tendencies will help your business grow based on our two products: MediConnect and Locum App. We only used best practices to develop efficient, secure, regulatory-compliant software.

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Why Is the Future of Information Technology in the Pharmaceutical Sector?

Innovations propel the modern world. To keep up, pharmaceutical companies should be ready to embrace the most recent technological breakthroughs to create quality medicines and satisfy patients.

Thus, the IT in pharmaceutical sector is primarily about improving drug production’s efficiency and distribution among the population. What else can innovation in the pharmaceutical industry do?

Deliver Better Patient Experience

A Deloitte survey shows that 92% of healthcare sector respondents believe SME digital transformation will positively impact patients’ experiences. It will be possible through the use of a customer-oriented approach in the implementation of technological solutions.

Technology innovation in the pharmaceutical industry can improve the relationship between pharmaceutical businesses and their customers. For example, the ability of a patient to order medication through a website or mobile app will significantly increase loyalty to a pharma company.

Spread More Information Online

Today’s patients must access data on medications online. Thus, pharmacy customers can study drug performance and common side effects independently. It makes them more prepared when discussing treatment with their doctor and knows what to expect from taking a specific medicine in advance.

Remain Competitive

The use of pharmaceutical IT allows companies to remain competitive. It applies to both internal and external competition.

For example, information technology in the pharmaceutical industry allows businesses to compete with large companies like Apple. How so? This tech giant has access to a wealth of patient health data via smart gadgets such as the Apple Watch. If pharmaceutical companies implement IT, they will also get this opportunity. That is why the future of information technology in the pharma industry has high hopes.

Solve the Counterfeiting Issue

IT in the pharmaceutical sector can also help combat counterfeiting. Any patient can use digital technology to verify the authenticity of medications, for example, by scanning the barcode on the packaging.

Enhance Drug Development

Digital technology in the pharma industry can increase the efficiency, quality, and speed of drug development. For example, artificial intelligence can process large amounts of data and detect relationships and patterns.

Global spending on digital transformation technologies will increase to $2.8 trillion in 2025.

Top 8 Pharmaceutical Industry Technology Trends

Let’s look at the major pharmaceutical IT trends to find out what awaits this industry in the future.

1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly prominent in the healthcare sector. The global health care AI market is expected to reach $31.3 billion by 2025. It will show a rapid annual increase of more than 40%.

AI and ML benefit the pharmaceutical industry by offering decent data analysis and forecasting potential. Artificial intelligence can process large amounts of information much faster and more accurately than pharma lab workers. As a result, drug creators can improve the efficiency and quality of drug manufacturing.

2. Digital Therapeutics

Digital therapeutics provide treatment to patients using evidence-based software and digital devices. It reduces or eliminates drug use. And yet, it is one of the latest pharma health tech trends. We will explain to you why.

Pharmaceutical companies can partner with technology businesses to supply the necessary medicines for disease prevention. That is, digital therapy can support the use of conventional drugs.

3. Cloud Technology

Cloud technology is a steady trend for businesses in various industries. In the pharmaceutical field, this innovation allows for more efficient work. It provides the opportunity for data analysis, increased information security, and scaling ability, which allows you to store a huge amount of patient data.

4. Big Data

The use of big data is also one of the pharmaceutical information technology trends. Businesses in the pharmaceutical sector can profit greatly from analyzing these data sets. Let’s go into further depth about these benefits.

Big data analytics can help create more effective drugs and make scientific discoveries in pharmacology. It is an opportunity to develop personalized medicines by studying genomic data. It is also a chance to cut expenses by analyzing metrics like the average cost of ingredients, the overall medication spending, etc.

5. Digital Training

Digital training provides the acquaintance of pharmaceutical workers with the latest available innovations. These include, for example, an electronic signature or software for maintaining electronic documentation on the administration of medicines.

Introducing employees to technology is incredibly significant these days. This way, you can set up and speed up some processes in your pharmaceutical business.

A Deloitte survey shows that 92% of healthcare sector respondents believe digital transformation will positively impact patients’ experiences.

6. Precision Medicine

Precision medicine is a new step in healthcare. It offers an innovative approach to diagnosing, treating, and preventing diseases by studying the genes and patient lifestyle.

By 2024, the value of the precision medicine market will reach more than $96 billion. This growth is largely due to the popularity of bioinformatics, which allows you to analyze data and make prescriptions and treatments as personalized as possible.

7. Blockchain Technology

New blockchain technology can help the pharmaceutical industry in many ways. First, thanks to this innovation, it is possible to set up efficient production and distribution of medicines. Second, it helps with the data analysis and, as a result, will lead to better results in drug development.

Blockchain technology also offers a high level of security and transparency. With it, pharmaceutical companies can fight against counterfeit and poor-quality drugs.

Read Also: Healthcare Price Transparency Tool Development

8. Advanced Analytics

Advanced analytics is one of the main pharmaceutical industry trends trends that can change the approach to drug manufacturing. Companies use AI, ML, big data, and cloud technologies to implement it.

Processing and analyzing large data sets can help pharmacists draw more accurate conclusions about the effectiveness of drugs and side effects.

High Demand for Skilled Healthcare Developers

Given the digital transformation in the pharmaceutical industry, the need for skilled healthcare developers is growing. Demand for pharmaceutical software has also increased due to the rising number of pharmaceutical companies on the market.

Pharmaceutical IT allows businesses to automate administrative processes while increasing their profits. Software in this industry can have many options for implementation: medicine distribution, drug production, supply chain management, quality control of medications, and so on.

The need for healthcare developers will be stable in the coming years, given the significant growth of the pharmaceutical market. Just imagine: in 2021, the global pharmaceutical market was estimated at $1.42 trillion! And just ten years ago, it was $390 billion.

By 2024, the value of the precision medicine market will reach more than $96 billion.

Softermii’s Experience with Digital Transformation in the Pharmaceutical Sector

Our team has developed several first-class digital solutions for the healthcare and pharmaceutical businesses. Our expertise extends to telemedicine and mHealth as well.

We can develop software for pharmacies, pharmacists, and their patients. For our part, we guarantee full regulatory compliance following such security protocols as HIPAA, GDPR, HL7, SOC2, and local privacy laws.

We suggest you get acquainted with two products we have developed for our clients in the pharmaceutical sector.

Locum App

Locum App is a mobile and web application for recruitment in the UK’s pharmaceutical market.

Our main goals in developing this platform were:

• Solving the problem of recruiting pharmaceutical staff and making it easier for pharmacists to find an employer
• Creating a convenient platform for interaction between employers and pharmaceutical workers

To achieve our goals, we have added the following features to the platform:

• Separate admin panels for pharmacists and pharmacies
• Ability to post vacancies and react to them
• Personal calendar for appointments scheduling
• In-app messenger and notifications

As a result, we have created a convenient platform that allows pharmacies to easily and quickly recruit the needed staff. Locum App became the market leader and the first online community of pharmacies and pharmacists in the UK.

MediConnect

MediConnect is a mobile application that serves as a tool to connect doctors with companies that deliver medical products.

We developed this application considering two groups of users:

• Doctors. Here we have presented a convenient search for medical products and services.
• Healthcare product companies. For them, we have added video and audio communication features to make interacting with doctors and selling products and services easier.

Our main goals in developing this app were:

• Increasing the effectiveness of interaction between doctors and healthcare product companies
• Opening new sales channels for product companies
• Creating a user-friendly interface

To achieve these goals, we have implemented our video and audio communication technology, VidRTC, which allows for seamless and high-quality P2P communication. We have implemented Azure speech recognition to enhance the ease of user interaction further and eliminate language barriers. Our developers have also integrated PayPal for in-app payments.

As a result, MediConnect attracted 360 healthcare companies and 9,267 physicians in the first six months after launch. Now every doctor uses our app at least four times a month.

Final Thoughts

Digital transformation for pharmaceutical businesses is an inevitable step. The reason for this is the large number of opportunities that technology will give to this sector.

Pharmaceutical IT trends that you should pay attention to include blockchain technology, AI and ML, cloud technologies, big data, precision medicine, and advanced analytics. By applying such innovations to your digital products, you will be able to drive the pharmaceutical industry.

If you want to create pharmaceutical software according to the latest pharma trends, you need skilled developers. With Softermii, finding such qualified workers is not a concern. We provide dedicated professionals with extensive experience in the healthcare field. Contact us, and let’s create first-class pharmaceutical software!

Innovation in the pharmaceutical industry can help you improve the patient experience, remain competitive, and enhance the quality of new drug development.