According to a recent survey, 56% of US doctors said they have discussed an app or digital program with a patient related to their diagnosis or treatment in the past year.
While the benefits mobile apps offer to improve patient outcomes and promote interoperability are manifold, developing an app for the healthcare industry also involves great attention to detail in areas like privacy and security. data security, which makes healthcare mobile app development a bit different than conventional app development.
If you are looking to delve deeper into healthcare mobile app development, here we have mentioned everything you need to know. Let’s proceed to understand what a healthcare app is.
Let’s Start!
What Exactly is a Healthcare App?
The mHealth niche is very broad and includes a variety of applications, from the professional to the most basic. The purpose of mobile healthcare apps also differs. Healthcare apps simplify our lives: they track our health data, guarantee remote assistance, provide 24/7 access to doctors, share tips to improve our health, and more.
In general, the purpose depends on the category of application you choose. Categories are important to consider when searching for healthcare app developers, as you need to provide them with input data. Let's take a quick look at the types of healthcare apps.
Types of Healthcare Mobile Apps
There are various types of mobile healthcare applications. For instance, they can be divided by their features and functionalities. Some of them aim to elevate health monitoring, others help streamline operational efficiency, and some elevate medical research and drive medicine to a whole new level.
However, all apps can be classified into two categories from the perspective of the user: for healthcare organizations and patients or non-professional users.
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Healthcare Mobile Apps For Providers
By leveraging healthcare mobile app development, hospitals, and other healthcare providers can significantly enhance their administrative processes and deliver better treatment outcomes.
The use cases majorly include care coordination, practice management, equipment management, staff tracking, medical insurance verification, and appointment scheduling. The list can go on.
As per a healthcare app development services provider, healthcare apps designed for medical practices incorporate various integrations and combine technologies like Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Blockchain, or even Machine Learning.
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Healthcare Mobile Apps For Patients
Patients are increasingly turning to mobile apps as healthcare awareness and consumerization of healthcare shift preferences. Individuals need to follow fitness activities or their diets as well as have better command over the core health measurements.
Mobile apps and devices, which are a part of our everyday lives, help patients keep track of their health, find and prevent some diseases, schedule remote consultations with doctors, and get medication help.
The Key Features of A Healthcare Mobile App
The features that will be included in your healthcare mobile app will depend on the type of app you choose to develop. However, here is a list of features that can contribute to the overall user experience of the healthcare app you develop.
1. Login and User Registration
User login and registration are the first steps users take after downloading the healthcare app, so this feature should make the process as seamless as possible. The fewer steps required, the better the user experience will be.
Social registrations can also be facilitated so that the user does not have to fill in their data in long and laborious steps. However, the data collection policy with third-party integrations should be clarified to avoid any concerns regarding data collection.
2. Find the Profile
The healthcare mobile app you develop should make it easy for users to select their preferred doctors. A smart filter that allows users to search and filter doctors based on years of experience, area of expertise, reviews, ratings, location, educational qualifications, and more. It is a much-needed added value.
3. Push Notifications and Reminders
The healthcare mobile app can send reminders for upcoming appointments, medication reminders, and required prescription refills. Push notifications are a feature that really works well for mobile devices. Doctors can submit prescriptions through the ePrescription feature and patients would receive automatic medication reminders, ensuring better patient compliance and better outcomes.
4. In-app Messaging
In addition to real-time audio and video inquiries, the in-app messaging feature is a great value-add for situations that don't require an audio/video inquiry. Clinicians can respond to messages from patients in their own time, further improving resource utilization.
According to the top mobile app development company, you can integrate advanced technology, such as AI and machine learning, to take advantage of AI chatbots. It can help patients solve their routine queries, while more urgent and complicated cases can be referred to doctors.
5. Appointment Scheduling Features
The healthcare mobile app you develop can be used to streamline appointment scheduling for your healthcare organization. In addition to choosing your preferred doctor, the appointment booking feature should allow you to select your preferred appointment time and date. Once the appointment is booked, it can be confirmed through the admin panel and a message can be sent to the patients for the same.
6. Software Integrations
Integration with other medical software, such as EHR software, can bring an aspect of interoperability to your healthcare workflows. Additionally, cloud data integration can make the app accessible to patients while on the go.
Patients can view past history, medical reports, and other healthcare data through secure, authorized access in the app. Storing data in the cloud also ensures that cross-device accessibility remains possible. In case users change phones, the data is not lost.
7. HIPAA Secure Database
If you choose to integrate wearable health and fitness devices and remote patient monitoring devices with your healthcare application, a HIPAA secure database can securely collect all patient data, which can then be accessed from the application panel.
Since healthcare data is sensitive by nature and must adhere to the guidelines outlined in the HIPAA privacy and security rules, secure data integration is a must-have for healthcare application development.
Bonus Visit: Latest Healthcare Technology Trends
How to Develop a Healthcare Mobile App?
Following are the steps for healthcare mobile app development. Let’s take a quick glimpse.
Step 1: Choose a Platform
Step 2: User-Friendly Design
Step 3: Healthcare Mobile App Development
Step 4: Healthcare App Testing
Step 5: Deployment
How Much Does a Healthcare App Development Cost?
Everyone who plans for healthcare app development faces this persistent concern. However, this is a difficult question for mobile app development companies because there is no simple answer. Too many factors affect the cost.
You may know that the total price of app development depends on the functionality implemented, the complexity of the UI/UX design, the feature set, the integrations, and even the number of app users you'd like to reach after the launch of your product.
The cost is also influenced by OS platform selection. Additionally, developing a healthcare app for Android usually takes longer, which often means it's more expensive.
In general, healthcare app development involves a team consisting of a business analyst, project manager, QA specialist, UI/UX designer, and developer. Depending on the engagement model, development team qualification, and location, the average hourly rate varies. Consequently, you can expect the budget to vary for a healthcare application that doesn't involve anything too fancy.
Concluding Thoughts
The development of mobile applications for health care has a prosperous future. We can expect that, in due course, mHealth solutions will be part of every medical ecosystem delivering service, quality, and customer satisfaction to the highest standards.
If you are looking for a custom healthcare solution, you should get in touch with a healthcare and fitness app development company. They will guide you through the process of developing a competitive mHealth app.
