It's crucial to understand that in the 21st century, creating a simple website or a basic mobile app for customer feedback is not enough for full business digitization. This won't set you apart from competitors anymore. Today, companies need ecosystems of software products, not standalone apps.

In 2017, we worked with the American medical company NextMed, which is located in Arizona. They are addressing the issue of kidney stones and offering a comprehensive solution for it. For them, we created an entire software ecosystem called the TAS Platform, which I'll describe in more detail.

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NextMed is a modern medical company that promotes evidence-based methods in its practice. It collects statistical data, analyzes the results obtained, constantly studies research from authoritative sources, and uses modern information technology.

The company was founded in 1996 by the sons of a urologist. They well understood the difficulties faced by doctors dealing with lithotripsy. At that time, this industry was dominated by large old companies that provided their clients with services based on outdated technologies.

NextMed set a goal to provide the highest quality services using innovative methods. To achieve this, the company began to use honest research based on facts. 20 years later, it prides itself on applying only modern technologies in hardware and software.

In 2017, NextMed was looking for a technology partner to design, develop, and implement a comprehensive platform to support its business. The company engaged Focus21 on a recommendation and set several tasks, which in the course of elaboration, transformed into an entire software ecosystem.

To start with, the company needed a platform for disease registration and recording of kidney stone treatment cases using shockwave and other devices, as well as a statistics-based web simulator for the most effective training of technicians, doctors, and other staff.

Another important goal was to create a platform through which students, doctors, universities, and hospitals could compare the effectiveness of shock wave (ESWL), as well as laser (URS) therapy based on the patient's demographic data and parameters of kidney stone disease.

To implement such a project, it's crucial to use system thinking and a holistic approach to assessing the company's activities. When we start working with a new client, we first deeply immerse ourselves in all their internal business processes. Only after that, we jointly decide which strategy to choose.

During the software development, it was important to take into account user experience, analyze a large volume of data, ensure high availability and scalability, bring the software into compliance with privacy requirements (HIPAA), and also create not only online tools but also offline ones.

Before the actual development began, a comprehensive investigation was carried out, which included interviews with relevant technical specialists and doctors. As a result, a well-thought-out and implemented software ecosystem was conceived and implemented, which was named TAS Platform.

Thanks to the joint efforts of Focus21 and NextMed, it was possible to create not just separate applications, but a real software ecosystem that includes a full range of diverse tools necessary for the most effective treatment of kidney stones. It included six key elements.

Gateway and Portal. The main entry point into the system itself, which provides unified authentication into all applications implemented within the TAS Platform. Plus, a portal, which is a dashboard that changes depending on the user's access rights.

Stone Decision Engine. An intelligent decision-making system that chooses the treatment methodology: shock wave (ESWL) or laser (URS) therapy. It predicts the likelihood of success and complications based on patient information and data on all possible previous procedures.

Simulator. The simulator allows the modeling of the SWL procedure based on data from previous procedures used for a particular patient. It allows the development of a truly effective treatment plan depending on various nuances.

TxPro. A separate desktop application created specifically for technologists. It gives them the ability to record data about patients and their body's reaction to specific procedures when using shock wave (ESWL) or laser (URS) therapy.

Follow Up. After the therapy is completed, the attending physician appoints a follow-up appointment to check the patient's condition. With this application, he passes on to the company information about everything that happened to the patient after treatment (for example, about possible complications during the recovery process).

Reports. Quarterly reports are also an important statistical tool directly for their doctors and partner institutions. With this tool, you can compare current values with the best indicators, and if necessary, download the results in PDF.

When considering the possibility of creating a software product ecosystem, there's no need to focus solely on the size of the company. There are numerous examples when not only large businesses, but also medium or even small ones opt for them. Everything depends solely on the tasks that need to be solved. Thanks to the ecosystem, it was possible to implement general access to information, convenient division of data usage rights after authentication, a scalable structure with an estimate for further expansion, a clear general UX for all products, and optimal implementation cost of the entire project. If a company simply needs to automate one specific process, narrowly focused tools are enough. However, if the goal is to fully digitize the business, organize proper storage of all the volume of information, and use it in different directions, one should consider an ecosystem of applications.