How to choose hospital management software in India: 12 questions to ask before you sign

Choosing hospital software is one of those decisions that is easy to make badly and expensive to undo. The demo always looks good. The problems show up in month three, when your front desk is behind, a bill will not print, or you try to leave and find out how hard it is to take your data with you.

This is the checklist we would use if we were buying, not selling. Twelve questions, in the order we would ask them. Ask them in writing where you can, and be wary of any answer that starts with "don't worry about that".

About your data

1. Who owns the data we put in? The answer should be one word: you. Read the terms, not the sales page. Look for any clause that lets the vendor use your data for their own purposes, including "improving the product" or "analytics".

2. Can we get everything out, in a usable form, whenever we ask? Ask what formats you get, how long a full export takes, and whether it costs extra. A vendor who cannot show you an export during the demo will not enjoy producing one when you are leaving.

3. What happens if the vendor closes down? Small software companies do close. Ask whether the terms promise notice, what you get, and when. We put ours in writing: 60 days' notice, payments stop that day, and all your data is handed over before we close. Whatever a vendor's answer is, it should be written down somewhere you can find it.

4. Is anything done to our data with AI or analytics? Ask directly, and ask for the answer in writing. "We take privacy seriously" is not an answer. The questions that matter are narrow: is anything sent to an AI service, is any of it used to train a model, is any of it sold or shared. You can read how we answered that in why we built hospital software with no AI touching your data.

5. Where are files kept, and who can delete them? Scanned reports and documents are the part of a hospital's data that is hardest to rebuild. Ask where they live, who holds the account, and whether the vendor can delete them. Storage in an account you own and pay for, with the vendor unable to delete anything, is the strongest answer. Here is how that works for us.

About your people

6. Who can see what inside the hospital? Hospital computers are shared, and staff change. Ask to see how roles work: can reception open billing settings, can a billing clerk open a doctor's documents, can you see who did what and when. Ask what protects the owner's account: two-step verification, trusted devices, sign-in approval from a phone. Our version of this is on the security page.

7. How long until the front desk is productive? Ask for a number, and ask who does the training. The best answer is "the first morning", and the way to test it is to hand the demo account to your least technical receptionist. If she cannot register a patient and book a visit without help, the software has not earned the word "simple".

About the daily work

8. Can we run our own real morning on it? A canned demo proves nothing. Bring your real workflow: a walk-in, a booked patient who is late, a bill with a discount, a part payment, a patient who comes back next week. Ask to do all of it, with your own staff clicking. If the vendor will not let your people drive, ask why.

9. How do several branches work? Even if you have one branch today, ask. You want one login, with each branch's data kept separate, branch-wise access, and a way for the owner to see one branch or all of them. Billing details can differ by branch: GST registration, for example, is per state. More on that in running several branches from one system.

10. Can patients ask for appointments online, and who stays in control? If you want an online booking page, ask whether it books instantly or sends a request your staff confirm. Instant booking means a stranger can fill your doctor's day with a typo. We wrote up why we chose requests.

About the deal

11. What does it cost over five years, all in? Monthly fees look small. Add the things that are billed separately: extra users, extra branches, storage, setup, training, support, upgrades and the integrations you were promised. Ask whether the price is per bed, per doctor, per user or per hospital. Then multiply by sixty months and compare, not the first month. Our prices are public, and they are per hospital, not per doctor or per bed.

12. Which of the things you promised are live today, and which are planned? Integrations are where marketing runs ahead of software. For anything that matters to you (government health ID integration, payment gateways, WhatsApp, accounting export) ask for a live example at a hospital like yours, not a document that says an API exists. Treat "coming soon" as "not available" and price your decision on what you can use on day one.

A short way to use this

Print the twelve questions and take them to every demo. Mark each answer as in writing, said aloud or vague. Anything that matters to you and is not in writing is a risk you are choosing to take.

Then, before you sign, run a small paid pilot with one real desk. If the vendor will not allow it, you have learned something.

If you would like to put these questions to us, call us. We would rather you ask the awkward ones first.

Looking at free software? Read what “free” should and should not mean, and how our free programme works.