According to recent studies, the $650 billion global digital health market is expected to grow significantly by the end of 2030, primarily as a result of the recent pandemic that swept the globe. Investments in healthcare, increased efficiency and accuracy of services, and improved management of payer and provider operations are the main causes of this explosive growth. As a result, today, healthcare software companies need to adopt advanced testing strategies that prioritize real-time risk evaluation over functional testing in order to gain a competitive edge and accelerate time to market.
Recently, the focus of healthcare software testing has shifted to “Cost,” “Speed,” and “Quality” in order to meet speed-to-market objectives and guarantee patient-centered, safe products. Since more and more organizations are updating their healthcare applications with real-time, insights-driven testing, it is imperative to choose the best testing tools for their particular set of requirements. That’s why in this post, we’ll delve deeper into the top automation testing tools for testing healthcare applications in 2024. Let’s get started without further ado.
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What exactly is automation testing?
Automated testing simplifies the process of verifying software functionality and compliance with requirements prior to production release through automated testing methodologies. In fact, automated testing is a great way for a company to conduct focused software tests without the need for human testers and more quickly for large or repetitive test cases. That’s why test automation services are highly popular around the globe today.
Automated testing tools use pre-written scripts to test software. It becomes simpler to monitor changes or problems over time when they compare the outcomes with previous test runs and report the findings. As a result, you can write an automated test script only once and utilize it repeatedly.
Unit, application programming interface (API), and regression testing are just a few of the many scenarios in which an organization can use automated testing. The primary advantage of automated software testing lies in the reduction of manual labor into a collection of scripts. For instance, if unit testing is taking up a significant portion of a quality assurance (QA) team’s resources, they must think about automating it.
Moreover, automated tests are really helpful for software development processes that include continuous testing, continuous integration (CI), and continuous delivery (CD). Also, you can easily run these tests frequently and whenever you wish to. Now, let’s jump into the process involved in the automation testing.
What is the process of automated testing?
The automated testing process typically follows the steps given below:
- Choose a tool for testing. This is contingent upon the nature of the testing being conducted and whether the tool in question is compatible with the platform that the software is being developed.
- Describe the automation’s reach. This shows the level of automation applied in software testing.
- Arrange, create, and develop. This step involves developing test scripts and planning the automation strategy.
- Carry out the test. Automation scripts are used for software testing. Additionally, the testing tool ought to gather information and offer thorough test reports.
- Automated test scripts are modified according to new software builds as required.
The following tests are the most commonly used automation tests by testers worldwide:
- Acceptance tests.
- API tests.
- Integration tests.
- Regression tests.
- Smoke tests.
- System tests.
- Unit tests.
- User interface (UI) testing.
Test automation is implemented by an organization using a framework that includes standards, common practices, and testing tools. Frameworks for linear scripting and modular testing are common, as are frameworks for data-driven and keyword-driven test automation.
Although it doesn’t support reusable scripts, the linear scripting framework is ideal for small applications because it makes it possible to use a test script with little advance planning. Software testers write scripts as discrete, stand-alone tests in modular testing frameworks to cut down on redundancy, but this setup usually takes longer.
Compared to modular options, data-driven frameworks allow software testers to write scripts that cover a large area with fewer tests and function with different data sets. Table formats are utilized by keyword-driven testing frameworks to specify keywords for every function and execution method. This allows software testers who lack extensive programming knowledge to create test scripts using the keywords. Frameworks that are hybrid in nature integrate two or more approaches to reap the advantages of each.
Robotium, Cypress, and Selenium are among the most popular open-source test automation tools used by testers worldwide. Selenium can easily automate and execute tests across multiple web browsers in a number of programming languages. These languages include Python, Java, and C#. Also, Robotium helps testers to write automated system, functional, and user acceptance tests for Android devices.
On the other hand, Cypress comes with an integrated debugger and browser-based access to distributed object models, making it suitable for browser-based end-to-end integration and unit testing.
Benefits of automated testing
Automated testing can improve a QA team’s efficiency. The advantages of automating the testing process include the following:
- Improved reporting capabilities.
- More frequent tests.
- Increased resource efficiency.
- Faster than manual testing, with a faster feedback cycle.
- Increased accuracy.
- Improved bug detection.
- Better ROI compared to the manual testing.
- Increased coverage.
- Reusable test scripts.
Identifying the application’s requirements to select the most fitting test automation tools
The development and testing of the application must take into account a number of important factors, as the healthcare IT market is increasing its R&D expenditures in digital health engineering.
Among these are:
- Overall dependability and steady output
- Integration of software with external systems
- Security and interoperability
- Capabilities to handle data
- Adherence to all applicable regulations, including HL7, DICOM, HIPAA, and others
The testing practice can specify the test automation strategy and tools to be used by taking into account the requirements and the intricate use environment of the healthcare application.
Healthcare applications are frequently tested and maintained using the following test automation tools:
1. SELENIUM
The Selenium framework is a highly popular open-source framework. It’s used to automate web application tests. In addition to supporting all major browsers, it supports popular programming languages like Java, C#, Python, Perl, and Ruby.
Key benefits:
- Create advanced and complex scripts for automation with little input costs.
- Parallel test execution reduces test execution time.
- Supports multiple languages, browsers, and platforms.
- It has a large and active community.
- Its community is popular for offering huge support and frequent updates to improve automation features.
Specific used cases:
- Providers utilize automated testing for web systems that manage patient health information to guarantee data security and privacy.
- Automate payer applications and reimbursement systems that handle big data sets.
- Testing of telehealth and health data interoperability features in patient engagement apps.
2. APPIUM
Appium is an open-source automated testing platform. It simplifies the automation of native, hybrid, and mobile web applications for iOS and Android. Specifically tailored for testing mobile apps. Additionally, this platform streamlines testing processes by integrating automation tools from vendors, making it more efficient and reliable for maintaining system security and functionality.
Key benefits:
- Test automation accelerates mobile application release times while ensuring high quality and compliance with standards.
- Multilingual and multi-system automation capabilities.
- Native application testing does not require SDK or program recompilation.
Specific use cases:
- Automation testing of patient engagement mobile applications, including encrypted conversations, scheduling, and secure patient data access.
- Applications created to enable secure data access and sharing among healthcare providers, clinicians, and patients.
- Mobile applications for viewing diagnostic images are evaluated on a range of complex form factors and operating system versions.
3. TESTCOMPLETE
TestComplete is a well-known paid platform. It is mainly used for automating desktop, web application, and mobile testing. It supports many testing methods. These supported testing approaches include data-driven, keyword-driven, distributed, and regression testing, alongside scripting languages such as Python, VBScript, and JavaScript. The user can create and execute functional user interface tests thanks to its robust recording and replay capabilities. This test automation platform is very easy to integrate with other SmartBear products as well.
Key advantages:
- It enables users to write intricate automated test scripts with little to no scripting knowledge.
- Aboriginal endorsement of behavior-driven development.
- Visual recording and replay functionality that is simple to use.
- User-friendly interface.
Specific used cases:
- Software testers can save time and money by using test automation for functional and graphical user interface (GUI) testing of healthcare applications, which requires less time and money to train.
- Automating Windows computer software applications for healthcare.
- It is commonly used to automate testing for systems that integrate desktop software, web services, and mobile health applications, ensuring smooth performance across all platforms.
4. EGGPLANT
Eggplant Functional, a GUI test automation platform with a black-box approach, has been referred to as a pioneer in RPA (Robotic Process Automation) solutions by several top analysts, including Gartner and Forrester.
Eggplant functional is a test automation tool that can be used on any platform, technology, browser, or operating system for a wide range of applications, including cross-platform testing, performance testing, rich internet application testing, and mobile testing.
Key benefits:
- Script-free models, AI, and analytics for test case generation, optimization, and analysis.
- Testing interoperability and performance across various devices and operating systems at all levels, from the user interface to the API and database, ensuring seamless functionality and integration.
- A non-invasive testing tool that allows for automation without altering the source code, ensuring seamless integration and minimizing disruptions during the testing process.
- Domain experts, full-stack developers, and business analysts will find the low-code/no-code platform easy to use.
Specific use cases:
- Test automation with frequent cycles for various provider applications that deal with sensitive patient data and highly graphic images.
- Automating tests for intricate integrated systems that often operate across multiple platforms and interact with various information systems, websites, and databases.
5. LABVIEW
LabVIEW is a system design platform that enables data collection, test automation, instrument control, and embedded device design. When a functional and intuitive GUI or hardware interaction is required, LabVIEW is used. Also, LabVIEW facilitates remote testing of software applications running on devices. It is also used for the development of robotic tools that test hardware systems.
Key benefits:
- Real-time simulation allows for the testing of embedded code independent of system hardware.
- Design a robotic tool for automated testing of hardware devices.
- It can easily communicate with third-party devices via Ethernet/IP, EtherCAT, Modbus, OPC UA, and PROFIBUS.
- Automation of signal capture, validation, and measurement is easier than in conventional programming environments.
Selected use cases:
- Creating emulators or digital twins for complex hardware testing without the need for actual hardware.
- Automated testing of devices, which includes functional and GUI elements, is particularly advantageous for remote testing.
Wrapping Up
As healthcare IT and medical device businesses create and bring out more patient-centric solutions, the system’s complexities grow, including interoperability, mobile health, data security and privacy, and various regulatory guidelines to consider. Thorough testing for product quality and time-to-market objectives will necessitate a well-defined testing strategy with precisely identified tools tailored to specific testing project requirements. A number of considerations should be made when choosing tools, such as licensing models, important automation requirements, tool features, complexity, learning curve, and possible test efficacy. Also, organizations should think about enhanced quality and cost-benefit analysis. Selecting the appropriate tool can improve reusability, lower total testing time and maintenance costs, and provide a high return on investment.
About Author
Vishnu Narayan is a content writer works at ThinkPalm Technologies. He is a passionate writer, a tech enthusiast, and an avid reader who tries to tour the globe with a heart that longs to see more sunsets than Netflix!
