Before you evaluate any software, know your five constraints
Most doctors evaluate clinic software backwards. They start with feature lists, get overwhelmed, sign up for the one with the flashiest demo, and cancel three months later. There's a better way: figure out your constraints first.
Every clinic operates under five constraints that determine what software will actually work for them:
- 1 Doctor's willingness to change workflow. If your doctor won't type prescriptions, software requiring digital Rx is dead on arrival. Photo-based Rx flow becomes non-negotiable.
- 2 Receptionist's technical comfort. Your receptionist runs the software 8 hours a day. If she's not comfortable with tablets, choose software with a receptionist-first design.
- 3 Patient demographics. If your patients are mostly 55+, complex booking apps won't work. WhatsApp-first flows will.
- 4 Internet reliability at your clinic. Hill stations, small towns, industrial areas — connectivity varies. PWA (offline-capable) matters if yours is patchy.
- 5 Budget for the next 12 months. Not just software cost — include training time, migration hours, and the cost of a bad choice.
The 10 questions to ask any clinic software vendor
Once you know your constraints, evaluate every vendor against these ten questions. Their answers reveal more than any demo:
- 1 What happens if my doctor refuses to type prescriptions? Best answer: "We have a photo Rx flow — doctors keep writing on paper."
- 2 Where is patient data stored? Best answer: A specific Indian region (Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad). Vague answers = red flag.
- 3 What happens to my data if I stop paying? Best answer: 30-day grace period, then export available for another 60 days.
- 4 Can I export all my data as CSV? Best answer: Yes, one-click. Any answer with "we'll help you migrate" is a lock-in warning.
- 5 How do you handle DPDP Act compliance? Best answer: Specific mention of consent flows, audit logs, data residency, and encryption.
- 6 What's your uptime last quarter? Best answer: A specific percentage (99.5% or higher). "Very reliable" isn't an answer.
- 7 How does WhatsApp integration work? Best answer: Official WhatsApp Business API via approved BSP (Interakt, AiSensy, etc.).
- 8 What's your setup time for a new clinic? Best answer: Under 4 hours on-site. Anything over 2 days means over-engineering.
- 9 Can I talk to two current customers? If they can't or won't provide references, walk away.
- 10 What's the total cost including WhatsApp templates, add-ons, and hidden fees? Best answer: One monthly number, no surprises.
DhiDoc vs typical clinic software
Not a marketing comparison — an honest one. Here's how DhiDoc's design decisions compare to what most Indian clinic software does today:
Red flags that mean walk away immediately
Some vendor behaviors reveal problems that no amount of feature richness compensates for:
- ✓ They can't tell you where your data is stored. If they can't answer this in one sentence, they don't understand their own compliance.
- ✓ The demo requires them to log in with special test data. Means the product doesn't actually work with real clinic data yet.
- ✓ Setup involves "customization" of ₹50,000+. Real clinic software is 90% ready out-of-the-box. Big custom fees = they're building it as they go.
- ✓ They won't provide references from clinics like yours. Every vendor claims to serve "clinics of all sizes." Ask specifically for a solo GP reference, or a 3-doctor pediatric clinic, or whatever matches you.
- ✓ Contract is longer than 12 months. Software changes fast. Long lock-ins protect the vendor, not you.
- ✓ Pricing depends on "patient volume." Sounds fair but incentivizes them to be less efficient. Flat monthly pricing is better.
The right way to run a 30-day trial
Never sign a yearly contract without a trial. Here's how to run one that reveals real problems:
- 1 Set up two doctors, three receptionists, and one week of typical patient volume in the software.
- 2 Day 1-7: focus on receptionist training. Watch for tasks that take more than 2 minutes.
- 3 Day 8-14: introduce the doctor. Note what they refuse to do.
- 4 Day 15-21: run a normal clinic week entirely on the new software. No paper backup.
- 5 Day 22-30: process a real-world edge case — a lost patient record, a WhatsApp delivery failure, a complex refund. See how the vendor responds.
- 6 End of trial: honestly ask your receptionist "do you like using this?" Her answer decides everything.
The final one-question test
If you evaluate 5 vendors and can't decide, ask each one this single question:
"If I hate your software after 60 days, what do I have to do to leave and take all my data with me?" The vendor whose answer sounds easiest, cheapest, and most patient-respecting is almost always the right choice — because their product must be great if they can afford to let unhappy customers leave that easily.