Who Can Help a California Healthcare Company Modernize Legacy Software? 5 Companies to Consider
Slava Khristich
Vlad Nazarov
This guide helps California healthcare companies compare development partners who can update aging applications, integrate existing systems, and plan a practical path to modernization.
Your healthcare application still does its job. Staff know how to use it, customers depend on it, and years of business rules are built into its code. But adding a feature takes longer than it should, an integration needs constant attention, and the people who originally built the system may no longer be available.
That situation does not automatically call for a complete rebuild. Depending on the problem, you might need to update an interface, replace an unsupported component, move an application to a different environment, or connect it to a newer EHR. The challenge is deciding where to begin and finding a team that can work with the systems you already have.
You may be considering healthcare software modernization because:
- Your product is difficult to update. Small changes require extensive testing, or developers hesitate to touch older code.
- Staff rely on workarounds. They copy information between applications, maintain spreadsheets, or repeat tasks the software should support.
- An essential technology is approaching the end of support. The application depends on an older operating system, database, or software component.
- Your systems cannot easily exchange data. A clinical application, EHR, billing system, or patient portal needs a more dependable connection.
- Your customers expect more from the product. They need browser access, better reporting, mobile functionality, or features that fit current workflows.
If you are still deciding whether to update individual components or replace an application, our guide to healthcare software modernization explains the main approaches and preparation steps.
California healthcare organizations have several development partners to consider. Sidebench combines product design with connected care workflows. TATEEDA works on healthcare applications, EHR connections, and existing software that needs to evolve. EffectiveSoft, Laminar Consulting Services, and OSP Labs bring different strengths in product planning, operational systems, and healthcare data exchange.
The right choice depends on what your software needs to do next, how much of the existing system you want to keep, and what your team can take on internally.
Table of Contents
Compare Healthcare Software Modernization Companies in California
| Company | California presence | Consider for | Useful first question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sidebench | Los Angeles | Product design and connected clinical workflows | How will the updated product fit the way patients and staff work? |
| TATEEDA | San Diego | Updating healthcare applications and connecting existing systems | What can we improve first while preserving the functions our users depend on? |
| EffectiveSoft | San Diego and San Francisco | Product discovery, architecture assessment, and application modernization | Which parts of the existing product should we keep, change, or replace? |
| Laminar Consulting Services | Southern California | Operational software and workflow modernization | Where does the current application make everyday work harder? |
| OSP Labs | Los Angeles | Healthcare interoperability, EHR data exchange, and application development | Which interfaces and data flows need attention first? |
The companies below offer different starting points. Some projects benefit from a product and design team; others need developers who can untangle an existing application, move data, or connect systems without replacing them.
Sidebench: Product and Workflow Modernization for Connected Care
Best fit: Healthcare organizations that want to rethink a product or workflow while updating the underlying software.
Worth discussing: If you already know the technical change you need, ask how Sidebench would scope a focused engineering project and which design activities would be included.
Sidebench is a Los Angeles-based product development company that combines strategy, user experience design, software engineering, and systems integration. Its healthcare work spans patient-facing applications, care coordination, scheduling, and connections between clinical and administrative systems.
Sidebench can be a good fit when the problem extends beyond the age of the code. If your application no longer reflects how patients, clinicians, or operations teams work, a project may need user research and workflow design alongside engineering.
For Cortica, a provider of neurological therapies for children, Sidebench built a scheduling platform to address disconnected enrollment, scheduling, and billing processes. The platform uses client and provider information to suggest scheduling options and trigger updates across EHR and billing systems. Sidebench also worked on Cortica’s website.
| California presence | Los Angeles, California |
| Healthcare focus | Care coordination, patient experience, digital health products, and clinical operations |
| Modernization work | Product strategy, application design, systems integration, and workflow redesign |
| Technologies and platforms | APIs, HL7, FHIR, Salesforce Health Cloud, AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud |
| Healthcare project | Scheduling and connected workflows for Cortica |
| First conversation | Map the user journey and identify where the existing application no longer supports the work |
| Homepage | sidebench.com |
TATEEDA: Healthcare Application Modernization for Existing Workflows
Best fit: Healthcare companies that want to update an existing product while preserving important workflows and connections.
Worth discussing: Agree on the first release, the systems it must connect to, and the testing needed before replacing any part of the current application.
TATEEDA is a San Diego-based healthcare software development company that helps organizations update applications, connect systems, and support products after release. Its work covers clinical software, patient portals, medical billing, healthcare staffing, and other applications used by providers and healthtech businesses.
A modernization project can start with a contained problem. Your team might need to replace an aging user interface, improve a slow data export, move a desktop application into a browser, or connect an existing product to an EHR. From there, the work can expand as business priorities become clearer.
TATEEDA’s EHR and EMR development services cover systems such as Epic, Oracle Health/Cerner, athenahealth, and Allscripts/Veradigm. Its engineers also work with APIs, HL7, and FHIR. The right connection depends on the systems involved, available interfaces, and the data a project needs to exchange.
A Clinical Assessment Product Updated for Field Use
One U.S. healthtech company needed to update its clinical assessment product for new documentation requirements. Its users also worked in locations where internet access could be unreliable, making disconnected use an important part of the project.
TATEEDA moved the product to a browser-based approach that could store data locally and synchronize it after connectivity returned. The project combined architectural changes with AI-assisted development and testing, with senior engineers responsible for review and validation.
The updated product launched in six weeks, compared with the original 24-week projection for the planned release. In the same project, an export of approximately 15,000 records fell from 38 minutes to under three minutes. These figures describe that project and its original plan; the scope and timing of another modernization effort will differ. You can read the details in the clinical assessment product modernization story.
| California office | 7220 Trade Street, Suite 103, San Diego, CA 92121 |
| Healthcare focus | Clinical applications, patient portals, medical billing, staffing software, and healthtech products |
| Modernization work | Application redesign, software reengineering, database work, cloud migration, integration, and ongoing support |
| Technologies and platforms | Epic, Oracle Health/Cerner, athenahealth, Allscripts/Veradigm, APIs, HL7, and FHIR |
| Healthcare project | Browser-based clinical assessment product with offline data capture and later synchronization |
| Engineering resources | U.S. coordination with nearshore engineering teams in Latin America and Eastern Europe |
| First conversation | Identify the application, its dependencies, and one improvement that would make a meaningful difference to users |
| Homepage | tateeda.com |
EffectiveSoft: Product Discovery and a Modernization Roadmap
Best fit: Healthcare companies that need to establish a product direction before committing to a major application change.
Worth discussing: Ask what the discovery phase will produce, how much technical validation it includes, and how the company would move from planning into implementation.
EffectiveSoft is a software development company with California offices in San Diego and San Francisco. It offers application modernization, product engineering, architecture assessment, cloud services, and healthcare software development.
Its discovery work may be useful when stakeholders agree that a product needs attention but have different ideas about what should change. A technical assessment can reveal constraints in the existing system, while product and user research help establish which functions are still valuable.
For one U.S. healthcare network, EffectiveSoft assessed an older physician referral application. The original product helped physicians find and contact colleagues, but the organization wanted it to support a wider range of workflows. EffectiveSoft’s discovery engagement produced requirements and a proposed direction that included a redesigned application, a knowledge base, learning system connections, and Salesforce integration.
That engagement resulted in a product plan. The proposed features should be evaluated as planned work, rather than assumed to have been implemented as part of the discovery phase.
| California offices | 4445 Eastgate Mall, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92121; 50 California Street, Suite 1500, San Francisco, CA 94111 |
| Healthcare focus | Clinical applications, care coordination, healthcare data, and patient engagement |
| Modernization work | Architecture assessment, product discovery, application redevelopment, cloud work, and software maintenance |
| Technologies and platforms | .NET, Angular, AWS, Oracle Cloud, and Salesforce among its broader services and project requirements |
| Healthcare project | Discovery and product planning for a physician referral application |
| First conversation | Review the existing product, its users, technical constraints, and competing priorities |
| Homepage | effectivesoft.com |
Laminar Consulting Services: Updating Healthcare Operations and Legacy Applications
Best fit: Healthcare organizations with an aging operational application tied to a specific process or distributed team.
Worth discussing: Ask which modernization services and engineering roles will be available for your project, particularly if you need ongoing product development after the first release.
Laminar Consulting Services is a Southern California technology company that works with organizations in regulated industries. Its services include workflow analysis, custom software development, legacy modernization, and multi-system integration.
Laminar can be relevant when an older application supports a specific operational process and the business needs to preserve that process while changing the software behind it. Its current services also include AI-related workflow work, which may be worth discussing if the organization has a clear use for it.
For Alliance HealthCare Services, Laminar modernized an application used to collect patient data from mobile MRI vehicles. The existing technology was approaching the end of Microsoft support, and the application’s security model needed attention. Laminar reports that it rewrote the application and deployed the updated version to the field within six months.
| California presence | Southern California |
| Healthcare focus | Radiology operations, medical devices, and regulated business workflows |
| Modernization work | Legacy application rewrites, workflow design, custom development, and system integration |
| Technologies and platforms | Microsoft-based legacy environments and custom applications; technology choices depend on the project |
| Healthcare project | Application modernization for Alliance HealthCare Services’ mobile imaging operations |
| First conversation | Identify the operational workflow, the people using it, and the changes the current application needs |
| Homepage | laminarco.com |
OSP Labs: Modernization Across Healthcare Systems and Data Exchange
Best fit: Healthcare companies whose modernization project depends on exchanging or moving information between clinical and administrative systems.
Worth discussing: Ask the team to identify which parts of the engagement involve application development, interface work, data migration, and support after launch.
OSP Labs is a healthcare software development company with a Los Angeles office. Its work includes EHR integration, healthcare data migration, revenue cycle software, and connections between clinical systems.
OSP is worth considering when an application’s age is only part of the problem. The larger challenge may be moving information between systems, changing an interface, or bringing legacy data into a different EHR environment. In those projects, data mapping and testing deserve as much attention as the new application itself.
In one data exchange project, OSP describes using Mirth Connect to extract, transform, and load clinical and administrative data from Epic into Cerner. The example illustrates one-way data movement between EHR systems, rather than a complete application rebuild.
| California office | 10880 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 1101, Los Angeles, CA 90024 |
| Healthcare focus | EHR interoperability, clinical data exchange, practice management, and revenue cycle operations |
| Modernization work | Healthcare data migration, legacy connectivity, EHR integration, and custom application development |
| Technologies and platforms | Epic, Oracle Health/Cerner, Mirth Connect, HL7, FHIR, APIs, and ETL |
| Healthcare project | One-way clinical and administrative data transfer from Epic to Cerner using Mirth Connect |
| First conversation | Map the existing interfaces, source data, destination system, and reconciliation requirements |
| Homepage | osplabs.com |
What Should You Modernize First?
The oldest part of an application is not always the best place to start. A component may run on older technology yet serve its users reliably, while a newer interface creates daily problems because it does not connect well to the rest of the system.
Begin with the business problem, then ask what technical change would address it.
| If the problem is… | A first option to discuss | What to examine |
|---|---|---|
| Staff struggle with an outdated screen | Redesign or replace the interface | User tasks, permissions, and the data behind each screen |
| The application cannot exchange data with another system | Add or revise an integration | API access, data mapping, error handling, and monitoring |
| The software depends on unsupported technology | Assess migration and code changes | Compatibility, security updates, testing, and rollback |
| Every change risks breaking another feature | Review architecture and business rules | Dependencies, test coverage, and undocumented behavior |
| The product no longer serves the business | Plan a broader redesign or replacement | Which functions and records to retain, migrate, archive, or retire |
For example, a healthcare company with a dependable billing application may need a new reporting interface rather than a replacement billing system. Another company may find that its application’s business rules are so difficult to change that replacing individual screens would leave the main problem untouched.
A partner should help you examine both the immediate request and its dependencies before recommending a scope.
How Can You Modernize Healthcare Software Without Disrupting Daily Work?
A phased approach can reduce the amount of change introduced at one time. The details depend on the system, but the planning conversation should cover more than the new code.
Map the Systems and People Involved
List the applications that exchange information with the software, along with the teams that rely on it. Include scheduled reports, data exports, third-party services, and manual steps that may not appear in the technical documentation.
A billing manager’s spreadsheet or a nightly export can be just as important to continuity as a visible application screen. Ask the people doing the work what they would miss if the old system disappeared tomorrow.
Decide What Happens to Historical Data
Not every record needs to move into a new application in the same form. Your team may need some information available in daily workflows, while other records can remain accessible through an archive.
If your plans also include reporting or AI, consider how the updated system will prepare data for those uses. Our comparison of healthcare data engineering companies for AI-ready EHR data looks at partners that work with clinical data pipelines, EHR connections, and data quality.
Agree on how records will be mapped, checked, and reconciled. For EHR-related projects, the Health IT Playbook’s guidance on selecting and implementing an EHR discusses the importance of planning access to historical information during migration.
Test Exceptions, Not Just Successful Transactions
A demonstration may show that a new interface receives a patient record or sends a billing update. Ask what happens when the record is incomplete, an identifier does not match, or the receiving system is unavailable.
Your test plan should also address permissions, reports, data accuracy, and the workflows users need during an interruption. The SAFER Guides for health IT offer a useful starting point for discussing EHR safety, system management, and contingency planning.
Security deserves the same attention as the application’s visible features. Our healthcare software development security checklist covers access controls, audit logs, data protection, and other considerations for software used in HIPAA-regulated environments.
Agree on Cutover and Support
Before replacing a component, decide who approves the release, how users will receive the change, and what the team will do if the new version fails.
A rollback plan should account for both the application and any data changes made after the release. It is also worth agreeing on monitoring, issue response, documentation, and ownership after the initial project ends.
Modernization does not end at launch. Our guide to healthcare software maintenance and support explains how teams can plan for updates, fixes, infrastructure changes, and ongoing development.
What Should You Ask Before Hiring a Modernization Partner?
Bring a short description of the application and the problem you want to solve. You do not need a complete specification to have a productive first conversation, but the answers below will help you compare proposals.
- What would you review first? Ask whether the assessment covers code, infrastructure, integrations, users, and business rules.
- What can we retain? A useful proposal should explain which components may remain in place and why.
- What should the first phase deliver? Look for a defined workflow or component, along with a way to assess whether it works.
- How will you handle data migration? Ask about mapping, validation, historical records, and reconciliation.
- How will you test connected systems? Discuss EHR access, third-party dependencies, failed transactions, and test environments.
- What happens during and after release? Clarify cutover, rollback, monitoring, support, and documentation.
- Who will work with our team? Identify the people responsible for product decisions, engineering, testing, and communication.
If your current vendor controls access to the source code, database, or interfaces, raise that early. Those details can affect what a development partner can change and how the project is planned.
Planning Your First Modernization Project
A good first phase gives your team something concrete to evaluate. That might be an architecture assessment, a working integration, a redesigned screen, or a limited release for one group of users.
The goal is to learn enough about the existing system and the proposed change to make the next decision with confidence. Once that work is complete, you can decide whether to continue with another component, extend the release, or adjust the plan.
If you are considering a healthcare software modernization project, talk with TATEEDA about your application, the systems it connects to, and the problem you would like to solve first.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Healthcare Software Modernization Always Require a Complete Rebuild?
No. Some applications can be improved by updating an interface, replacing a component, adding an integration, or moving part of the system to a different environment. A broader rebuild may make more sense when the architecture, business rules, or underlying technology prevent the product from meeting current needs.
Can an Older Healthcare Application Be Updated Without Replacing Its Database?
Sometimes. A team may be able to retain the database while updating the application or adding an interface. The decision depends on the database’s support status, performance, security, structure, and ability to work with the proposed changes.
How Can a Healthcare Company Modernize Software Without Interrupting Operations?
Start by identifying the workflows and integrations that must remain available. A phased release, migration testing, monitoring, contingency procedures, and a rollback plan can help manage the transition. The right approach depends on the application and how it is used.
What Affects the Cost of Healthcare Software Modernization?
Cost depends on the condition of the existing software, the amount of code and data involved, the number of integrations, the need for user research, testing requirements, and post-launch support. EHR or third-party access fees may also affect the budget. Ask vendors to separate the assessment, development, migration, and support costs in their proposals.
Can AI Be Added to an Older Healthcare Application?
Potentially. A team may be able to connect an AI feature through an API or a separate service, depending on the application’s architecture and the data available. Before implementation, discuss access permissions, protection of patient information, human review, testing, and what should happen when the feature produces an incomplete or incorrect result.
For a closer look at this option, see our guide to bringing AI into legacy healthcare systems, which covers architecture choices, integration risks, and ways to begin with a limited use case.
