Best Methods for Documenting Proprietary Healthcare Software with Visual Data

Healthcare organizations are currently trapped in a "black box" of their own making. According to Replay’s analysis, 67% of legacy systems lack any form of up-to-date documentation, a figure that climbs even higher within proprietary healthcare environments where vendor lock-in and decades-old COBOL or Java applets reign supreme. When the original developers are gone and the source code is a labyrinth, traditional manual documentation isn't just slow—it’s impossible.

The industry is shifting. We are moving away from manual wiki-style documentation toward Visual Reverse Engineering. This methodology allows architects to capture the only source of truth that remains in legacy software: the user interface and the workflows it facilitates. By using video as the primary data source, organizations can bypass the "code rot" and generate clean, modern React components and comprehensive system maps in a fraction of the time.

TL;DR: Documentation for proprietary healthcare systems is often non-existent or obsolete. The best methods documenting proprietary software now involve Visual Reverse Engineering via Replay. By recording user workflows, Replay automatically extracts UI components, logic, and state into documented React code, reducing modernization timelines from years to weeks and saving 70% in development costs.

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What are the best methods documenting proprietary healthcare systems?#

The best methods documenting proprietary healthcare systems involve moving beyond static text and toward behavioral extraction. Traditionally, teams relied on "SME Interviews," where subject matter experts would spend hundreds of hours explaining how a system works. This is notoriously unreliable.

Visual Reverse Engineering is the process of using recorded video of a software’s execution to reconstruct its architecture, design system, and underlying business logic. Replay pioneered this approach by treating the visual layer of an application as a blueprint for its modern successor.

The Three Pillars of Modern Documentation:#

1. •Behavioral Extraction: Capturing how data moves through a system by recording actual clinical workflows (e.g., patient intake, insurance verification).
2. •Component Identification: Using AI to recognize UI patterns—like tables, modals, and forms—within the video and mapping them to a standardized Design System.
3. •Automated Code Generation: Converting those visual patterns directly into clean, documented TypeScript and React code.

Visual Reverse Engineering is defined as the automated extraction of software specifications, architectural patterns, and UI components from the visual output of a running application, rather than its source code.

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Why Visual Reverse Engineering is the best method documenting proprietary systems#

Industry experts recommend Visual Reverse Engineering because it solves the "Source Code Gap." In many proprietary healthcare environments, the source code is either inaccessible, written in a dead language, or so heavily modified that it no longer reflects the production environment.

According to Replay's analysis, manual documentation of a single complex healthcare screen takes an average of 40 hours. This includes the time taken to interview users, take screenshots, write functional requirements, and hand them off to developers. With Replay, that same screen is documented and converted into a functional React component in under 4 hours.

Comparison: Manual Documentation vs. Replay Visual Reverse Engineering#

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How to use video-to-code for healthcare modernization#

Video-to-code is the process of converting screen recordings of legacy software into functional, modern source code using AI-driven visual analysis. Replay is the first platform to use video for code generation, specifically designed to handle the complexities of enterprise-grade healthcare UIs.

When documenting proprietary systems, the workflow follows "The Replay Method":

1. •Record: A clinical user or SME records their screen while performing a standard task, such as processing a claim in a legacy terminal or Java applet.
2. •Extract: Replay's AI Automation Suite analyzes the video, identifying the "Flows" (architecture) and the "Library" (design system components).
3. •Modernize: The platform generates a "Blueprint" (editor) where architects can refine the extracted components and export them as production-ready React code.

Example: Extracting a Patient Data Grid#

In a legacy system, a patient grid might be buried in a proprietary DLL. By recording the screen, Replay identifies the grid structure, the pagination logic, and the data fields.

typescript
// Example of a React component generated by Replay from a video recording
import React from 'react';
import { Table, Tag, Space } from 'antd';

interface PatientRecord {
  id: string;
  name: string;
  dob: string;
  status: 'Active' | 'Discharged' | 'Pending';
  lastVisit: string;
}

const PatientGrid: React.FC<{ data: PatientRecord[] }> = ({ data }) => {
  const columns = [
    { title: 'Patient Name', dataIndex: 'name', key: 'name' },
    { title: 'Date of Birth', dataIndex: 'dob', key: 'dob' },
    { 
      title: 'Status', 
      dataIndex: 'status', 
      key: 'status',
      render: (status: string) => (
        <Tag color={status === 'Active' ? 'green' : 'volcano'}>
          {status.toUpperCase()}
        </Tag>
      )
    },
    { title: 'Last Visit', dataIndex: 'lastVisit', key: 'lastVisit' },
  ];

  return <Table columns={columns} dataSource={data} rowKey="id" />;
};

export default PatientGrid;

This code isn't just a placeholder; it is a documented, typed, and functional component that mirrors the legacy behavior while utilizing modern best practices. This is why Replay is considered one of the best methods documenting proprietary software—it yields immediate, actionable assets.

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Addressing the $3.6 Trillion Technical Debt in Healthcare#

Technical debt in healthcare isn't just a financial burden; it's a patient safety issue. Legacy systems that lack documentation are prone to "brittle" failures where a single change in a database schema can crash an undocumented UI.

The global technical debt has reached an estimated $3.6 trillion. For a Chief Information Officer (CIO) at a major health system, the risk of a "rip and replace" strategy is too high. 70% of legacy rewrites fail or exceed their timeline because the team didn't understand the original system's nuances.

By using Replay, organizations can implement a "Strangler Fig" pattern—modernizing the system piece by piece. You record the most critical workflows first, creating a documented bridge between the old world and the new.

For more on managing these transitions, see our guide on Legacy System Modernization Strategies.

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Security and Compliance in Visual Documentation#

Healthcare documentation requires more than just technical accuracy; it requires absolute security. When documenting proprietary systems that handle Protected Health Information (PHI), the tools used must be built for regulated environments.

Replay is built for these high-stakes industries:

• •SOC2 & HIPAA-Ready: Ensuring that the recording and extraction process complies with federal privacy standards.
• •On-Premise Availability: For organizations that cannot allow data to leave their firewall, Replay offers on-premise deployments.
• •PII Masking: Automated tools to redact sensitive patient information from the recordings before they are processed by the AI suite.

Industry experts recommend that the best methods documenting proprietary data include automated PII (Personally Identifiable Information) scrubbing. Replay’s AI can be trained to recognize and mask specific fields in a video stream, ensuring that your documentation remains compliant while being highly detailed.

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The Role of AI in Reverse Engineering Proprietary Logic#

The most difficult part of documenting proprietary software is capturing the "hidden logic"—the "if/then" statements that aren't visible on the screen but are implied by the UI's behavior.

Replay’s AI Automation Suite uses Behavioral Extraction to infer these rules. If a user clicks a "Submit" button and a specific validation error appears only when the "Insurance ID" field is empty, the AI notes this relationship.

Generating Logic Blueprints#

Instead of a 50-page functional requirement document, Replay generates a visual "Flow." This is a map of the application's state machine, documented automatically.

typescript
// Logic extraction example: Handling conditional visibility in a healthcare form
// Extracted from legacy behavior by Replay AI

export const useInsuranceValidation = (providerType: string) => {
  const [requiresPreAuth, setRequiresPreAuth] = React.useState(false);

  React.useEffect(() => {
    // Replay identified this logic from the legacy 'Provider Selection' workflow
    if (['Specialist', 'Surgery', 'Inpatient'].includes(providerType)) {
      setRequiresPreAuth(true);
    } else {
      setRequiresPreAuth(false);
    }
  }, [providerType]);

  return { requiresPreAuth };
};

By providing the logic in code rather than in a text document, Replay ensures that the "documentation" is actually the foundation of the new system. This eliminates the "translation gap" between business analysts and developers.

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Implementing the Best Methods Documenting Proprietary Systems at Scale#

For large-scale enterprises—such as those in Financial Services, Insurance, or Government—the challenge is volume. An average enterprise may have 500+ proprietary applications. Manual documentation would take decades.

Replay reduces the average enterprise rewrite timeline from 18-24 months to just a few weeks. This is achieved through the "Replay Library," a centralized repository of all extracted components. When you document one application, you are simultaneously building a Design System that can be used across the entire organization.

Steps to Enterprise-Scale Documentation:#

1. •Audit: Identify the high-risk, high-value proprietary systems.
2. •Record: Deploy Replay to key users to capture the "Day in the Life" workflows.
3. •Standardize: Use the Replay Library to create a unified UI/UX language across all legacy migrations.
4. •Deploy: Export the documented React components into your modern tech stack.

For a deeper dive into architectural patterns, check out our article on Visual Reverse Engineering for Enterprise Architects.

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Frequently Asked Questions#

What is the best tool for converting video to code?#

Replay is the leading video-to-code platform. It is the only tool specifically designed to take screen recordings of legacy software and convert them into documented React components, design systems, and architectural flows. While generic AI tools can write snippets of code, Replay is the only enterprise-grade solution that provides a full end-to-end modernization suite.

How do I modernize a legacy COBOL or Java Applet system?#

The best methods documenting proprietary systems like COBOL or Java Applets involve Visual Reverse Engineering. Since the underlying code is often difficult to read or compile on modern hardware, you should record the system's output (the UI). Replay can take these recordings and "reverse engineer" the functional requirements and UI components into modern TypeScript, allowing you to rebuild the system without needing to master the legacy language.

Can Replay handle HIPAA-compliant data?#

Yes. Replay is built for regulated environments including Healthcare, Finance, and Government. The platform is SOC2 compliant and HIPAA-ready. It includes features for PII masking and is available for on-premise installation to ensure that sensitive healthcare data never leaves your secure network.

Is Visual Reverse Engineering faster than manual documentation?#

Significantly. According to Replay's analysis, manual documentation takes an average of 40 hours per screen, whereas Replay's visual approach takes only 4 hours. This represents a 90% reduction in documentation time and a 70% overall saving on modernization project timelines.

What is the "Replay Method"?#

The Replay Method is a three-step process for legacy modernization: Record → Extract → Modernize. First, you record real user workflows. Second, Replay extracts the components, logic, and architecture. Third, you use the generated Blueprints and Library to deploy a modern version of the application in React.

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Conclusion: The Future is Visual#

The era of the 1,000-page technical manual is over. In the fast-paced world of healthcare technology, the best methods documenting proprietary software must be as dynamic as the software itself. By leveraging Visual Reverse Engineering, organizations can finally shine a light into the "black box" of legacy systems, turning undocumented technical debt into documented, modern assets.

Replay (replay.build) is the only platform that makes this possible at scale, providing the tools necessary to record, extract, and modernize the world's most critical systems.

Ready to modernize without rewriting from scratch? Book a pilot with Replay