Portals for Wellness and Preventive Care

During the initial phase, business analysts conduct interviews with the key stakeholders to identify the goals to be achieved with the wellness portal. They define user roles (e.g., patients, portal administrators, physicians, or wellness coaches) and their respective needs. This information is used to outline both functional and non-functional requirements essential for the portal's success. For large-scale projects, business analysts may conduct focus groups with patients to gather insights on their expectations and preferences. This helps prioritize features that enhance usability and drive long-term engagement.

Another key step is planning for compliance with healthcare legal frameworks (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR, and 21st Century Cures Act). Business analysts capture standards requirements for data exchange and content scope (FHIR-based APIs aligned to USCDI) and terminology mapping where relevant (SNOMED CT/ICD-10 for conditions, LOINC for lab results, RxNorm for medications). They also define the portal’s security controls, such as encryption and multi-factor authentication, and digital consent management features, such as secure, legally binding electronic consent forms with audit trails and automated expiration tracking.

Solution architects start with translating documented requirements into technical attributes. They define the portal’s logical components (e.g., user management, data processing, and integration layers; AI-powered recommendation engine) and functional components (e.g., health tracking module, appointment scheduling module) and create detailed logical and functional architectural diagrams. The experts define the relationships between all the components in the diagrams and document the specifications for each module.

Solution architects also check for possible integration challenges (e.g., with legacy systems) and plan for ways to overcome them (e.g., implementing middleware). Lastly, they evaluate different technologies based on adherence to non-functional requirements, licensing costs, and potential long-term maintenance expenses and choose the most suitable tech stack.

At ScienceSoft, we proactively look for ways to guarantee software quality and minimize risks while delivering the solution on time and within budget. For instance, for highly regulated industries, such as healthcare, we often use pre-validated AWS and Azure reference architectures, which are based on built-in security, compliance, and scalability best practices.

In parallel with architecture design, UX and UI designers start working on creating a smooth experience for portal users of all technical backgrounds. They create user personas, outline user workflows, and build the portal’s wireframes. When creating interface designs for a wellness portal, designers prioritize clear navigation and engaging visuals so that users can effortlessly interact with the platform and stay motivated to maintain their wellness routines. They may focus on creating attractive gamification elements, such as badges, streaks, or achievement trackers to encourage habit formation or add small animations, e.g., when a user completes a goal (e.g., a checkmark appearing after logging a meal) to enhance interactivity.

Another key consideration is ensuring accessibility for users with disabilities (e.g., visual or cognitive impairments). When creating interfaces, designers adhere to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and different best practices.

In similar projects, ScienceSoft’s development team typically recommend an iterative approach. This way, the user feedback can be collected early and used to decide on feature adjustments in the next iteration. For example, if users encounter difficulties scheduling appointments, the team may consider adding additional functionality to enhance scheduling calendar usability, such as auto-suggested time slots based on past visits or provider availability.

QA engineers often conduct functional, security, and usability testing for the portal simultaneously with portal development. That way, the defects can be fixed as soon as they are detected, and development and QA teams can collaborate more effectively.

Once built and tested, the wellness portal goes live. Developers compile software documentation and review it to ensure it is up-to-date with all the implemented changes (if any). This phase also includes conducting training sessions for admins and the organizations’ IT support team (if there’s any) to help them manage the portal effectively. At ScienceSoft, we also offer a post-launch warranty (typically 1 to 3 months) during which we fix critical or major software defects free of charge.