Healthcare software,
built to pass assurance.
Custom healthcare software for UK providers and healthtech teams — clinical systems, patient platforms and FHIR integration, with DTAC and DCB0129 evidence built in.
Custom healthcare software
development services.
Magora is a London healthcare software development company. We design and build custom clinical systems, patient platforms, telehealth and remote-monitoring tools, and the FHIR, HL7 and GP Connect integrations that connect them to the records already in place — with the DTAC, DCB0129 and UK GDPR evidence an NHS or private buyer will ask for produced alongside the code.
Clinical and care-management systems
Caseload, referrals, triage, notes, handover and scheduling for clinics, providers and care teams — built around a working day with the number of taps counted, and an audit trail on every record.
Patient portals and engagement
Appointments, results, care plans, questionnaires and secure messaging, designed for people who are unwell rather than people testing software. Accessible by default.
Telehealth and remote monitoring
Video consultation, wearables and home devices feeding a clinical dashboard, with alerting rules a clinician can tune rather than a black box.
FHIR, HL7 and GP Connect integration
Reading and writing records in the systems already in place — EMIS, SystmOne, a trust PAS — through HL7 FHIR R4, HL7 v2 and GP Connect, with SNOMED CT and dm+d coding.
Health data, reporting and AI
Outcome tracking, service dashboards, data exports for research, and AI where it earns it — summarisation, triage support, analysis — always with a human in the loop.
Medical device and SaMD support
Intended purpose written down in week one, the UK MDR question answered with your advisor, and the software-lifecycle evidence a regulated product needs produced as the features land.
Healthcare organisations
we work with.
The same discipline, different pressures: a startup needs to survive procurement, a provider needs adoption, a life-science team needs data it can trust.
Clinics and healthcare providers
Private clinics, diagnostic services and provider groups replacing spreadsheets and disconnected tools with one auditable system.
Healthtech and digital health startups
Founders who need an MVP that will survive an NHS buyer's first questions — DTAC, clinical safety, data residency — without a rewrite later.
Pharma and life-science teams
Field and commercial tools for pharmaceutical companies — as in Pharm Card, built for the sales branch of an international pharma group. More on our pharma app development work.
Medical technology companies
Data platforms around a clinical product, like the web application we built with Focalyx to track prostate cancer focal-treatment outcomes across partner clinics.
Care, wellbeing and mental health
Home care, wellbeing and mental-health services where privacy, safeguarding and accessibility come before features.
Healthcare administration
Cost modelling, operational reporting and back-office tools — the category of InnovoCare, a calculator of the true cost of care pathways.
Clinical safety is not
a phase at the end.
Three questions decide whether healthcare software reaches patients. All of them are cheaper to settle in week one than in month six.
Is it a medical device?
Software that supports a diagnostic or treatment decision can fall under UK MDR and need UKCA marking. The boundary turns on intended purpose and wording, so we raise it in the first fortnight — a product that crosses the line quietly is a product that stops at procurement. Four worked examples are in the table below.
DTAC, DCB0129 and DSPT
The evidence a buyer asks for shapes the architecture: audit logging, role separation, data residency, failure behaviour. We write the DTAC technical responses and keep the DCB0129 hazard log live through the build, so the answers are true on the day you submit them.
UK GDPR and patient data
Patient data stays yours and in the UK or EU by default. We act as processor under your controllership, with a DPIA, data-flow documentation and least-privilege access agreed before a single record moves.
Is my product
a medical device?
Four common products and where MHRA guidance usually places them. The answer turns on intended purpose and on what the product claims to do, not on the technology behind it.
| Product | What it does | Status | Why, in MHRA’s terms | What would change it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mood tracker | Logs mood, sleep and habits and shows the user their trends | Usually not a device | MHRA says monitoring general fitness, health and wellbeing “is not usually considered to be a medical purpose”. | It claims to diagnose, screen for or treat a condition, or advises on treatment. MHRA has separate guidance on digital mental health technology. |
| Patient portal | Books appointments, shows records and results, secure messaging | Usually not a device | Software that books appointments, requests prescriptions or hosts a virtual consultation is unlikely to be a device if its function is only administrative, and a record that replaces a paper file is not one. | It interprets results, calculates a risk score or dose, or tells the patient what to do clinically. |
| Symptom checker | Patient enters symptoms; the software suggests conditions or next steps | Likely a device | MHRA’s symptom-checker appendix lists software that outputs matching conditions, indicates likelihood or recommends treatment as examples that may be devices. Class I, or Class IIa if it allows direct diagnosis. | Only signposting (“see your GP”), or reference information in a fixed order such as alphabetical, is unlikely to be a device. |
| Skin-lesion analysis app | Assesses photos of skin and flags lesions for follow-up | Likely a device | MHRA lists apps that “diagnose/assess/monitor the skin by use of images” as examples that may be devices. Class I is self-declared; a higher class needs a UK Approved Body. | A general-purpose app that only records images, with no analysis, is unlikely to be a device. |
This is not regulatory advice. It is a general illustration; the answer for your product depends on its intended purpose and on how it is described to users. Magora is not your regulatory advisor, so confirm with a specialist or the MHRA, and check the current guidance, which is updated from time to time: MHRA, medical devices: software applications (apps). For more examples, see our SaMD guide.
From clinical workflow
to live software.
The same process we run on every engagement, with the healthcare questions asked early rather than discovered late.
Clinical workflow research
1 – 2 weeksWe sit with the people who will use it — clinician, patient, administrator, carer — and map the day as it is, not as the org chart describes it.
Regulatory and safety scoping
1 weekIntended purpose written down, the medical-device question answered with your advisor, DTAC and DCB0129 obligations identified, data flows and residency agreed.
Free working prototype
5 – 10 daysA running prototype of the core journey before any paid engagement — the fastest way to find out whether we understood you.
Integration spike
1 – 3 weeksThe hardest integration proven end to end against a real endpoint or sandbox — FHIR, HL7 v2, GP Connect, a trust PAS — before the build is priced.
Build in two-week slices
8 – 24 weeksWeekly demos, a working build at the end of every sprint, and the safety documentation written as features land rather than reconstructed at the end.
Assurance, handover and support
OngoingDTAC responses and technical evidence handed to your team, full IP transfer on payment, then SLAs, patches and feature work for as long as it is useful.
Healthcare software
development cost.
2026 prices in GBP. Every engagement starts with a free working prototype and an NDA on day one, and ownership of source, designs and IP transfers to you on payment. Integration depth and assurance scope are what move a healthcare estimate — discovery is where both are priced properly.
Free working prototype
A running prototype of your core clinical or patient journey, built from your brief in 5–10 working days. Yours to keep, no commitment.
Product Discovery
Two weeks with a senior Product Owner and Solution Architect: workflow research, intended purpose, integration map, architecture, estimate and roadmap.
Startup MVP
A production-grade MVP for a funded healthtech startup — one core pathway, built to be assessed, typically 6–8 weeks.
Full production build
A full custom web, mobile or platform build by a senior in-house team, with the assurance pack written alongside the code.
Bespoke enterprise platform
Multi-role, audit-logged, integration-heavy platforms for providers and life-science organisations.
Support and evolution
SLAs, security patching, framework upgrades and iterative feature work after launch — for as long as it is useful.
A health MVP
from £10,000.
A funded founder usually needs two things at once: something real enough for a pilot, and answers an NHS or clinic buyer will accept. This is what each part covers.
What the MVP buys
One core patient or clinician pathway, built to production standard by an in-house team, typically in 6–8 weeks. Most Startup MVPs land between £10,000 and £25,000, and the code and IP are yours on payment. If the product turns out to be a medical device (SaMD), the budget is higher, typically £80,000 and up. More on MVP development.
What compliance work adds
The intended-purpose statement and medical-device check, DTAC technical responses, a DCB0129 hazard log kept live through the build, and a DPIA with data-flow documentation. Its size depends on your product and your first buyer, so Discovery sets it out in writing. We do not quote a flat percentage.
What sits with you and others
A named Clinical Safety Officer, your regulatory advisor, and any UK Approved Body or independent testing a medical device needs are priced by those parties, not by us. Regulatory submissions stay with you.
Not sure which side of the line your product sits? Start with the free working prototype and a two-week Product Discovery from £3,000.
The healthcare
engineering stack.
Interoperable, auditable and boring where boring is a virtue.
- HL7 FHIR R4
- HL7 v2
- GP Connect
- SNOMED CT · dm+d
- REST & webhooks
- Node.js · NestJS
- Python · FastAPI
- PHP · Laravel
- .NET
- TypeScript · React
- Next.js · Vue
- Swift · Kotlin
- React Native · Flutter
- Accessible by default
- PostgreSQL
- Encrypted at rest
- UK / EU data residency
- Audit logging
- Role-based access
- Apple HealthKit
- Google Health Connect
- BLE wearables
- Home monitoring kit
- DTAC responses
- DCB0129 hazard log
- DSPT alignment
- UK GDPR · DPIA
- Human-in-the-loop AI
What clients
say.
Verified reviews from our Clutch profile — 75+ verified client reviews.
“Their flexibility and ability to move through processes quickly were impressive.”
“We were very happy with the overall experience.”
“They didn't simply take our requirements and run with them; they truly made an effort to understand everything.”
Healthcare and life-science
software we've shipped.
Four healthcare and pharma projects: clinical outcome tracking, AI-drafted treatment plans, field sales for a pharma group and a cost calculator for medical centres. Each card gives the problem, what we built and how it is used.
Focalyx
- Problem
- Focalyx needed to gather patient data, medical history, AI analysis results and treatment outcomes across clinics to establish how effective prostate cancer focal treatment is.
- Built
- A web application where carers, doctors and clinic staff upload patient information and AI analysis results, track treatment outcomes and export data with SQL queries, shaped by a discovery phase with user interviews.
- Outcome
- Focalyx and its partner clinics manage patient information and treatment outcomes in one place.
BodySync
- Problem
- Clinicians spent long hours drafting personalised treatment plans by hand and looking up exercises.
- Built
- A web app that takes structured input (diagnosis, assessment findings, treatment preferences, goals) and drafts a phase-appropriate plan with OpenAI, restricted to pre-defined peer-reviewed clinical sources. Built for HIPAA and GDPR, with one-click send or PDF export.
- Outcome
- The MVP is in use in UK clinics, and further development is planned.
Pharm Card (EGIS)
- Problem
- Each medical rep filled in hundreds of Excel files on pharmacy visits, and management had no live view of sales and contract performance.
- Built
- A native iOS app for iPad and a web application for senior staff, with a database of pharmaceutical products, GPS pharmacy lookup and an offline mode that syncs automatically.
- Outcome
- In daily use by the client's staff, and we continue to add features as the company's needs change.
InnovoCare
- Problem
- Hospital administrators had no tool to calculate the true cost of complex healthcare services across the whole pathway.
- Built
- A web calculator that structures costs stage by stage, built first as a working prototype and then as a full app with projects and groups, shareable exported reports and admin monitoring.
- Outcome
- Top managers can work out ROI for any work period, and the prototype drew interest from investors.
Also: Anova, Empath AI, Doctor OTC, Medical Tourism App. All projects →
Healthcare software
questions, answered.
It depends on scope and, in healthcare, on two things that make the same product cost more than in other sectors: how much integration it needs and how much assurance evidence a buyer will ask for. Our 2026 pricing (GBP): a free working prototype first, Product Discovery from £3,000, a Startup MVP from £10,000, a full production build at £25,000–£60,000, and multi-role, integration-heavy enterprise platforms from £80,000. Support retainers run from £1,000 a month.
A discovery ends with a written scope, architecture and estimate that you own and can take elsewhere. For a quick range, try the app cost calculator or our UK software development pricing guide.
A working prototype of the core journey lands in 5–10 working days. A production build typically runs 8–24 weeks from kickoff, and healthcare sits at the longer end whenever a real integration is involved. That is why we prove the hardest integration in a spike before we quote the build, rather than discovering it in month three.
Possibly, and it is the first question worth settling. Under UK MDR, software intended to support a diagnostic or treatment decision can be a medical device (Software as a Medical Device, SaMD) that needs UKCA marking; administrative, wellbeing and information products usually are not. The line turns on intended purpose and on how results are worded to the user.
Magora is not your regulatory advisor. What we do is raise it in the first fortnight, write the intended-purpose statement with you, and build to whichever answer your advisor gives. Our guide to software as a medical device (SaMD) has more examples, and the table earlier on this page shows four common cases.
Yes, as the supplier side of it. We produce the technical responses a DTAC (Digital Technology Assessment Criteria) assessment asks for, maintain the DCB0129 hazard log through the build, and align hosting and access controls with the Data Security and Protection Toolkit. The system is structured so that the answers about audit logging, data residency and role separation are true rather than aspirational.
DCB0129 also requires a named Clinical Safety Officer — a clinical role that sits with you or with a specialist we work alongside. The deploying organisation then carries its own obligations under DCB0160.
Not by law. DTAC (the Digital Technology Assessment Criteria) is NHS England’s framework for assessing digital health technology used in the NHS and adult social care. NHS guidance describes it as best practice that is not legally required, but NHS buyers review it during procurement, so in practice it decides whether a product is bought.
A private clinic that does not work with the NHS is not obliged to complete one. Many still use its five areas — clinical safety, data protection, technical security, interoperability, and usability and accessibility — as a due-diligence checklist, and a clinic that treats NHS-funded patients may be asked for it. UK GDPR, and the medical-device rules if they apply, bind you either way. Check the current version of DTAC on the NHS England website before you rely on it.
We do not quote a flat percentage, because it depends on things that differ for every product: whether it turns out to be a medical device, how much assurance evidence your first buyer asks for, and how many systems it must integrate with. For the build itself, a Startup MVP starts from £10,000 and most land between £10,000 and £25,000 (see MVP development).
The compliance work on top is a matter of scope rather than a fixed fee: an intended-purpose statement and medical-device check, DTAC technical responses, a DCB0129 hazard log kept live through the build, and a DPIA with data-flow documentation. Product Discovery (from £3,000) ends with a written scope, architecture and estimate, so you see it before you commit. Costs charged by others, such as a Clinical Safety Officer or a UK Approved Body for a medical device, are separate.
If you serve patients in the UK, UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 are the law that applies, and HIPAA is not required. HIPAA is a US law for US covered entities, such as health plans and healthcare providers, and for the business associates that handle protected health information on their behalf.
You need HIPAA safeguards as well if you will sell to US providers or insurers, who typically ask for them and for a business associate agreement. We can design for both from the start, as in BodySync, which was built for HIPAA and GDPR. Moving personal data between the UK and the US is a restricted transfer under UK GDPR: the ICO lists adequacy regulations, including the UK Extension for the US, and safeguards such as the IDTA and the Addendum. Magora is not your legal advisor, so take advice on both regimes.
The technical routes are well travelled and we build to them: HL7 FHIR R4, HL7 v2, GP Connect, and SNOMED CT and dm+d for clinical coding. What decides the timeline is usually access rather than engineering — partner agreements, sandbox access and assurance sign-off from the system supplier or the trust. We scope that honestly at the start, including the parts that are not in our gift.
For integration-heavy work outside healthcare, see our API integration services.
You own both. Source code, designs and IP transfer to you on payment, and the repository is yours from the first commit. Patient data stays yours throughout and in the UK or EU by default; we work as processor under your controllership, with a DPIA and data-flow documentation under UK GDPR. We sign an NDA on day one.
A healthcare app is usually one patient- or clinician-facing product on a phone or tablet. Healthcare software is the wider system around it: the clinical back office, the integrations with records systems, the reporting and the audit trail that let a provider actually adopt it. Most of our healthcare projects are both. If you are building a patient or clinician app first, see healthcare app development.
Where it earns its place — triage support, document summarisation, coding assistance, analysis of uploaded data — and always with a human in the loop. AI that influences a clinical decision is exactly the case that can turn a product into a medical device, so we settle that question before the model is chosen, not after. See our AI and ML development work, including Empath AI.
Guides for
healthcare buyers.
Longer reading on the regulatory and technical questions behind the answers above.
Software as a medical device: examples and trends
What counts as SaMD, with examples and the trends shaping medical software.
Read the guide → Guide · IoMTInternet of Medical Things: remote healthcare systems
How connected devices and remote monitoring fit into healthcare systems.
Read the guide → Guide · CostHow much does healthcare software cost in the UK?
What moves the price of healthcare software, by type of product.
Read the guide → Guide · NHS complianceDTAC, DCB0129 and DSPT for software suppliers
What UK suppliers need before selling software to the NHS.
Read the guide →
Nick is Consulting Director at Magora and runs first calls and Discovery with new clients. He reviews the advice and recommendations on this page.
Healthcare software
on the brief?
30-minute call with a senior architect who has shipped healthcare products. We'll go through the integration, the medical-device question and the evidence an NHS buyer will ask you for — and tell you what we would actually build.