Power Apps is showing up more and more in conversations about healthcare operations, especially as teams deal with the pressure to make things run smoother. Decision makers are searching for better ways to build and manage apps without depending too much on traditional development resources.
Microsoft Power Apps fits this need. But before rolling it out across an organisation or department, you have to address licensing. It might seem simple at first, but once you get into the details, it’s easy to get off track—especially in healthcare, where funding and data rules are always top of mind.
Licensing has a direct impact on scalability, access, security, and automation potential. If you’re handling regulated data like lab records, patient logs, or approvals, these things matter. Making the wrong choice doesn’t just affect your budget; it limits what your apps can do and who can use them.
This matters even more for healthcare teams in Montreal that are building tools for clinic intake, treatment tracking, or internal approvals. Understanding the kinds of Power Apps licences available is key to making the right call early on.
What Are the Different Licensing Options for Power Apps?
Microsoft gives you two main options for licensing Power Apps: per app and per user. Each fits different setups, and choosing the wrong one means you could hit usage walls or waste money.
Here’s a breakdown of what each license includes:
– Per App Plan: This plan is meant for situations where a user only needs access to one or two specific apps. It works well for focused use cases. For example, if a clinic in Montreal builds a vaccine inventory app that staff use once or twice a week, this plan keeps costs down. You pay by user, per app.
– Per User Plan: This one is better if your team is going to be using several different apps. Say your staff handles patient check-ins, HR management, and internal audits, and each has its own interface. The per user plan lets them use all those apps under one license and may work out better cost-wise if more than two apps are needed.
– Add-ons and Extras: Beyond the main license types, Microsoft offers various add-ons. These include AI Builder credits and additional Dataverse storage. These extras come into play when your apps include document scanning, chatbot assistants, or when you’re storing large amounts of data. While you might not need them from day one, they often come into play as apps mature and usage rises.
One common misunderstanding is thinking Microsoft 365 automatically covers Power Apps. This isn’t the case. Just because a staff member has Microsoft 365 doesn’t mean they can open a canvas or model-driven app. Access depends on the app license. If users get blocked from opening forms or submitting data, a licensing mismatch is often behind it.
How To Choose The Right Power Apps License For Your Business?
Choosing a Power Apps license hinges on how your business operates, how many people will interact with the apps, and what those apps are meant to do. In Montreal’s healthcare space, keeping things lean while being scalable really matters.
When deciding, ask these questions:
– Who’s using the app? If it’s a small team, like a ten-person reception group across two clinics, and they only need access to one or two apps, the per app plan could keep things affordable. But if these same users also need to work with apps for shift scheduling, room bookings, or leave tracking, the per user plan avoids limits and keeps the work flowing.
– How many apps are involved? If you’re launching only one or two apps, the per app plan might be all you need. But if you’re rolling out multiple apps—say, a patient details form, a triage dashboard, and a treatment documentation app—a per user plan helps ensure all staff have access without managing multiple licences.
– How often will these tools be used? Light use may stay within the limits of a basic licence. Workflows that include patient registration, document uploads, or task routing are more likely to approach usage caps over time.
We’ve seen this in practice. One health clinic in Montreal thought they’d save money by choosing the per app plan for each of their three apps. But since most staff used all three daily, the team ended up spending more time sorting out access and ran into limitations quickly. They eventually shifted to the per user plan, which simplified things and reduced overall admin work.
Thinking ahead also plays a big role. Don’t pick licences based only on what’s in place now. If you plan to expand how your team uses automation or digital tracking, your licence should support that growth without starting from scratch.
What Common Mistakes Do Teams Make with Power Apps Licensing?
Missteps in licensing often show up after rollout, when issues finally surface through failed permissions or slowed productivity. Common problems come from either buying too much or not enough.
Here’s where things tend to go wrong:
– Assigning licences without checking who really needs them
– Assuming Microsoft 365 access includes Power Apps
– Settling into one plan too fast without thinking about the future
– Forgetting limits like thresholds on API calls
– Lacking a practice of reviewing usage patterns
Imagine a healthcare centre giving full Power Apps access to 50 staff without reviewing what each one does. Maybe only 20 people actively use the apps. That’s 30 unused licences draining the budget quarter after quarter. On the flip side, imagine staff needing to check patient updates or lab notes and constantly getting blocked because the access wasn’t granted up front. Either way, productivity suffers.
Tracking actual usage is the only way to stay on top of this. Not every staff member needs every tool, and that granularity matters a lot in an industry like healthcare, where budgets are highly managed.
Can Managed IT Services Help You Choose the Right Power Apps Licensing?
A managed IT services company in Montreal can help make sense of all this. They not only know the products but understand how industries like healthcare function day to day. Rather than throwing users into one licensing structure, they review how each person uses the tools and what makes the most sense for that usage.
It gets more streamlined when the IT team handling backend systems is the same one planning or managing licensing. This cuts down handoffs, keeps experts on-hand, and makes help easier to access when licence adjustments are needed. Since healthcare apps often evolve with changing regulations or procedures, the ability to adapt quickly is an added bonus.
Managed IT providers can monitor usage in real time, too. That way, if your staff is regularly hitting a maximum or a new app rollout is coming, they’ll see it early and have time to recommend a plan shift. If your apps go from being used by one department to three, this insight can avoid roadblocks.
Make Licensing Work for the Way Your Team Works
Licensing isn’t a checkbox on an app deployment list. It’s something that should flex and shift with your team’s evolving needs and digital maturity. Especially in healthcare, where every second and record matters, making sure people have the right access to the right tools can shape how work gets done day to day.
Think about how your clinics, departments, or support units plan to use digital tools next year and beyond. Are you digitising just a couple of paper forms, or building a network of patient-facing and admin apps?
Licensing touches more than the price you pay. It impacts who can access what, where data gets stored, how permissions are handled, and how the system links with tools like Microsoft Dataverse, SharePoint, or Power Automate.
The best way to keep things smooth is to review your licences twice a year. Catch issues before they become frustrations. Watch for usage creep or underused plans. And make adjustments before adding more tools or onboarding new sites. Licensing should work with your progress, not block it.
Choosing the right Power Apps licensing can shape how well your team works now and in the future. If you’re not sure which direction to take, talking to a managed IT services company can give you clarity and confidence. At Alcero, we’re here to help you build smart, scalable IT strategies that match your goals and keep your operations moving with fewer roadblocks.