Building AFYAOS - Lessons from Healthcare Software Development

After months of intensive development and collaboration with healthcare professionals, I’m excited to share my experience building AFYAOS, a comprehensive Health Information Management System designed for clinics and healthcare facilities in Africa.

The Challenge

Creating software for the healthcare sector comes with unique challenges:

• Strict data security and privacy requirements
• Complex workflows that vary between facilities
• Need for intuitive interfaces for diverse user types
• Critical reliability requirements
• Integration with existing healthcare systems

Key Technical Decisions

Some of the most important technical decisions we made included:

// Example of our secure data access pattern
function fetchPatientData(patientId, userRole) {
  // Verify access permissions based on role
  if (!hasPermission(userRole, 'READ_PATIENT_DATA')) {
    logAccessAttempt(patientId, userRole);
    return { error: 'Access denied' };
  }
  
  // Fetch only fields this role can access
  const allowedFields = getAllowedFields(userRole);
  return database.patients
    .findById(patientId)
    .select(allowedFields)
    .then(encryptSensitiveData);
}

Lessons Learned

1. User research is invaluable - Spending time with healthcare workers revealed workflow needs that weren’t in our initial specs.

2. Security can’t be an afterthought - We built our security model first, then developed features within those constraints.

3. Offline capabilities are essential - In regions with unreliable internet, robust offline functionality with proper syncing became a core feature.

4. Accessibility matters - Designing for users with varying technical expertise required extensive usability testing and interface refinement.

5. Scalability planning pays off - Designing the system to handle growth from small clinics to hospital networks saved us from major refactoring later.

I’ll be sharing more detailed posts about specific aspects of healthcare software development in the coming weeks. If you’re working on similar challenges or have questions about AFYAOS, feel free to contact me.

Check out the AFYAOS project page for more details about this system.