Healthcare applications must process a huge number of transactions and a massive amount of patient data each day. To ensure that all this data is handled appropriately over time, it is integral that test cases for the healthcare application apply data sets of varying complexity.
To save time and resources, consider implementing test automation where possible. But what is test automation? And what benefits of automation in healthcare can your team expect?
What is Test Automation?
Test automation is the process of running tests automatically by leveraging automation tools to control the execution of the tests in order to compare actual test results with predicted or expected results. Test automation allows healthcare software QA teams to manage test data and utilize results so that software quality can continuously improve.
Test automation can provide better breadth and depth of test coverage—that is, for the right test cases for a healthcare application. Test automation is best suited for repetitive tasks, including user interface testing and data flow between systems.
The popularity of test automation in healthcare software testing has rapidly increased not as a fad but because of the necessity. Healthcare technology advances rapidly and it’s expected for healthcare applications to keep up with these rapid changes. Because time and resources are always limited, no matter the size of the team, test automation allows QA healthcare teams to cover more ground. Test automation can focus on repetitive test cases for the healthcare application while QA testers can prioritize their time on regression and exploratory testing.
9 Key Benefits of Test Automation in Healthcare Applications
Imagine if all your test cases for your healthcare application were designed to provide maximum testing efficiency for your QA healthcare team. By incorporating test automation into your development and QA cycles, your team is more likely to catch errors sooner in the development cycle and execute faster product releases.
Below are nine key benefits of test automation for healthcare applications:
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Data-driven Tests
Healthcare applications deal with data composed of individual patient details, such as names, phone numbers and DOB. Manual testing requires healthcare software QA teams to undergo the time-consuming process of inputting each piece of data, which can often result in smaller data sets or errors within test execution.
By applying data-driven automation frameworks within your software testing practices, the creation of test data is expedited, larger data sets can be created and these data sets can be applied to multiple test executions.
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Authorization and Authentication Validation
A primary concern for all teams performing software testing in the healthcare domain is the security of patient data. Test automation provides the opportunity for healthcare software QA teams to test different cases focusing on valid and invalid test data in order to ensure that the application's user authentication features are functional.
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Repetitive Test Execution
Business users of your healthcare application perform the same actions repeatedly within the system hour upon hour, day after day. Your everyday users rely on the dependability of the application to carry out their job duties on behalf of their patients. However, test cases that focus on repetitive behavior can result in mistakes when performed manually.
Test automation allows an engineer to run test cases as many times as is required in order to check the accuracy of the application's various processes. Learn more about how automated testing services can boost productivity for your team.
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Verification of Audit Trails
Audit trails log any unwarranted activity, such as unauthorized login attempts or record requests, that occurs within the application. Audit trails contain large amounts of data, making it close to impossible to properly test when executed manually.
In this instance, software testing in the healthcare domain requires automated test scripts so that engineers can test for proper recording as well as search for specific instances of suspicious activity.
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Reports Verification
Applications provide insightful performance metrics worth tracking as well as generate reports in a variety of different formats, including HTML, PDF, CSV and text. And by choosing the right automated functional testing tools, these reports can be automatically tested and verified across these formats so that your team can quickly identify and resolve the issues.
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Multi-Platform Verification
The goal is to confirm that the software application performs as expected across all device types and available browsers, but this answer is never conclusive when testing manually.
Automated testing can provide the conclusive results all development teams want in order to launch to market with confidence. Test automation in healthcare software can be used to test the application on different platforms and in different browsers, revealing any platform- or OS-dependent bugs.
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Faster Regression Cycles
Manual testing time grows parallel to the number of added features in an application. Automated test cases allow engineers to verify existing features alongside the newly written code at a much faster pace. Thus, any errors between the features are uncovered much earlier. See the six benefits of test automation that apply to any domain.
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Resource Availability
It’s true that not all test cases can be automated. Fortunately, the test automation that can take place frees up resources within your outsourced QA team so that your selected engineers can instead oversee parts of the application that still require manual intervention, exploration and strategy. Test automation also frees up your in-house engineers to test important business changes to the application.
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Direct Cost Savings
Time is money. The less time spent on manual adjustments and verification of the application, the less your total testing cost will be. Because test automation can perform tests faster and earlier within the development cycle, fixes can be applied sooner and deliver your product faster to market.
In today’s technology dependent world, the healthcare industry cannot function without proper healthcare applications. That’s why it’s so important for these applications to be secure, efficient, and capable of handling large quantities of data. Additionally, they must remain compliant with HIPAA and other applicable regulations. These qualities can only be verified by exhaustively testing your application with test automation.
Is your QA healthcare team new to test automation? Upgrade your testing practices by partnering with a professional QA services provider like QASource. Our team of experts offers expertise in software testing in healthcare domain and can guide your team towards best test automation practices so that you can enjoy all the benefits of automation in healthcare. We also help you cover all industry standards to ensure all healthcare regulations are met. Get in touch with a QASource expert today.
