As ONC and CMS interoperability standards come into force, healthcare providers shift to APIs. Now, application programming interfaces are considered the most reliable and efficient way to integrate disparate healthcare solutions. They allow organizations to layer ready-made functionality into existing software in several days. The custom development of alternative applications would take ages.

Paid and free PDF generator APIs are among the essential healthcare integrations for your healthcare portal. They automatically store files after you render paperless statements and medical documents. Although you can design health records management PDF features from scratch, such a decision rarely pays off.

This article explains when healthcare providers should prefer PDF document rendering API over custom software development. Read on to learn the business benefits and uses of different approaches.

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Why Do You Need Document Generation and Health Records Management (PDF)?

Healthcare organizations have always had to comply with a range of strict regulations like HIPAA. With the transition to value-based care and growing EHR adoption rates, the number of regulatory requirements increased even more. The need to improve the interoperability of healthcare systems resulted in the adoption of ONC and CMS standards.

The current regulatory landscape has shaped the document management rules in healthcare portals. Organizations have sought reliable ways to render paperless statements and automatically keep their copies. Since PDFs are a secure document format, they have become the industry health records management standard.

HTML to PDF conversion enables healthcare organizations to render paperless statements and documents using private data stored in web systems. For example, a clinician requests PDF test results in a healthcare portal. The web portal accesses the patient’s records and runs HTML CSS to PDF conversion to create PDFs the clinician can view. The copies of the generated documents are automatically stored in the system. Healthcare teams or regulatory bodies can always retrieve them.

This way, health records management (PDF) helps with compliance, enhances the quality of care, and improves customer service. It also significantly facilitates the collaboration between healthcare teams.

Custom Development vs. Paid or Free PDF Generator API

Organizations that need automated healthcare records management (PDF) in their portals can develop the necessary functionality or use a paid/free PDF generator API. To ensure software interoperability and follow ONC/CMS standards, most of them prefer APIs. It allows them to easily create PDF documents from HTML without tiresome software development and configuration. Find out more about both ways to automatically render paperless statements below.

Custom Health Records Management (PDF) Development

The custom software development approach requires an in-house engineering team or outsourcing. Healthcare companies and software vendors need to create the health records management feature (PDF) from scratch. They either do it simultaneously with developing a healthcare platform or add HTML to PDF conversion functionality to the ready solution. Apart from designing the capabilities to generate PDF documents from HTML, they also need to ensure secure data storage and software maintenance. It requires additional human and financial resources.

Custom healthcare records management development (PDF) also takes more time than integrating a free PDF generator API. You will need to find software engineers with the relevant experience and study tons of PDF documentation. The PDF document format is not the easiest to use in terms of development since there are many specifications to consider.

HTML to PDF Generator API

REST APIs have appeared as an alternative to complex integrations and custom software development. They allow adding the necessary functionality on top of existing software in several days. After integration, an API becomes a mediator between two solutions allowing them to exchange commands and data through requests.

Paid or free PDF generator APIs in healthcare portals connect the portal with a rendering tool. As a result, it obtains the automated HTML to PDF rendering functionality. When users render paperless statements, test results, or other PDF reports, the portal triggers the API to generate PDFs. Everything happens automatically. After that, the created PDF files are securely stored in the cloud. It’s also an effective solution for record-keeping required by healthcare regulations.

In the case of HTML to PDF API integration, you pay a subscription fee. For example, Inkit Render costs from $100 per month, depending on the volume of HTML to PDF conversion. It also offers a free plan for under 100 pages per year. It’s the quickest and easiest way to get high-quality document rendering for healthcare. Common open-source or free PDF generator APIs don’t offer the level of security necessary in the healthcare industry. Medical portals process PHI, which requires strong protection against data breaches free software cannot guarantee.

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Using Custom Solutions vs. APIs to Render Paperless Statements in Healthcare

As a rule, paid and free PDF generator APIs are more commonly used than custom software development. They are cost-effective and help to achieve regulatory compliance. Still, sometimes custom solutions are more feasible. Here’s when it’s better to choose each option:

• Custom HTML to PDF rendering. This approach is suitable for software companies and startups who need unusual rendering functionality. For example, they want to supply healthcare platforms with a template editor, make PDF documents interactive, or implement other advanced features. As free PDF generator APIs have standard PDF template capabilities, they won’t cover such special needs. Custom solutions are also effective for companies with a large team of experienced software developers working on the healthcare platform. If such an organization has a large budget, decision-makers can decide to invest in custom development of document generation functionality.
  

• HTML to PDF generator API. APIs allow your software to automatically render paperless statements, even when you don’t have a large tech team or budget. The integration requires some tech skills, but it’s much easier and quicker to complete than custom software development. Besides, paid/free PDF generator APIs provide multiple subscription plans to choose from. You can pick the most basic one at the start and then gradually switch to the enterprise plan if needed. It gives flexibility and enables you to align document generation volume and your business needs.
  

Therefore, healthcare software providers choose PDF generator APIs to speed up the implementation of document rendering. It also allows optimizing expenses and scaling document rendering as your business grows. Besides, paid and free PDF generator APIs eliminate the need to maintain and update rendering software. It saves you from additional expenses.

Summing up, custom software development allows building a better-tailored HTML to PDF rendering functionality. APIs are universal and affordable. They have the core capabilities necessary for healthcare portals to render paperless billing statements and other documents.

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Render API for Automated Health Records Management (PDF)

Render is an HTML to PDF generator API available in Inkit’s reach enablement platform. It allows layering automated document conversion and retrieval into existing software, including healthcare platforms. Render is HIPAA compliant and smoothly connects with platforms written in core programming languages, which ensures interoperability. The support of tailored user roles enables you to assign different access permissions to different teams. It allows configuring document management and protecting PHI data.

‍Check out Render pricing and test the free PDF generator API version now.