Build vs Buy Healthcare Software: The Founders Guide - Impakter
Summary
This guide advises healthtech founders on when to build custom software versus buying off-the-shelf solutions, emphasizing how compliance, interoperability, and clinical workflow specificity change the usual SaaS rules. It recommends buying commodity infrastructure, communications, established EHR integrations, and back-office systems, while building core clinical IP, highly specific provider workflows, deep patient engagement features, and proprietary analytics. The article warns against the hybrid trap—heavy customization of purchased platforms—that creates brittle, costly systems and proposes a five-question framework plus five-year total cost-of-ownership calculations to inform decisions. The author, a co-founder of a healthcare development firm, positions their AI-native delivery platform as a way to reduce custom development overhead while urging founders to treat technology choices as business decisions tied to runway and competitive advantage.