Like every other industry, healthcare is also going digital at a great speed. In such a scenario, a healthcare app is a dire necessity. If you don’t own such an app, then this is the high time you think about it—whether it’s a telemedicine platform, body stretching app for physical wellness, or an e-records solution.
However, creating a healthcare app involves paying close attention to laws, compliance, and security.
This blog can be your perfect guide to consider when developing, building, and launching a healthcare app.
Whether you’re looking to build an app for telemedicine, e-records, or patient health tools, this guide will provide the information you need.
It includes:
- Healthcare App – Overview
- Top 5 Healthcare Mobile Apps
- Top Uses of Healthcare Apps
- Benefits of Healthcare Apps For Doctors And Patients
- Features to Integrate in a Healthcare App
- Process to Build a Mobile App for Healthcare
So, let’s get started with the fundamentals of Healthcare mobile apps.
Healthcare App – Overview
The mHealth field is wide-ranging, covering many types of apps, from professional to basic ones. These apps serve different purposes, like tracking health data, offering remote assistance, providing constant access to doctors, and giving health improvement tips. The purpose of the app depends on its category.
When searching for healthcare app developers, it’s important to consider these categories and provide them with clear information. Let’s explore the different categories of mHealth apps.
Top 5 Healthcare Mobile Apps
1. KRY
KRY offers round-the-clock video appointments with doctors and psychologists, available in 25 languages. With over 800K patients treated and a 97% 5-star rating, it helps users conveniently manage their physical and mental health anytime, anywhere.
2. CareZone
CareZone simplifies managing medications and doctor’s instructions for yourself and your loved ones. The app organizes and automatically tracks meds, dosages, and schedules, with reminders to keep you on track. Everything is easily accessible in one place.
3. HeadSpace
Headspace, the top medical app, offers hundreds of guided meditations, workouts, and quick SOS sessions for stress. It helps users find happiness, reduce stress, and improve sleep with just a few minutes of mindfulness each day.
4. PatientsLikeMe
PatientsLikeMe is a social network where people with similar conditions connect for support and answers. Users can track their health, share updates, and learn from others’ experiences, all while getting real-time support from a community that understands.
5. Hinge Health
Hinge Health offers personalized exercise therapy with wearable sensors and a tablet, providing live feedback during stretches. The app guides users through sessions at their own pace, helping them manage chronic pain effectively as they progress.
Top Uses of Healthcare Apps
1. Electronic Health Records
EHR solutions keep all of a patient’s medical information in one place. They save time, reduce errors, and make it easy to share data between different healthcare providers.
2. Health Information Exchanges
Health Information Exchanges let doctors quickly and easily track vital signs like body temperature and heart rate using a smartphone. This speeds up data transfer and helps doctors monitor and analyze patient information more efficiently.
3. Built-in Diagnostics
Built-in diagnostics let doctors gather and use data from IoT devices and EHR platforms. This helps them easily see, analyze, and diagnose remote patients’ conditions, track their progress, and decide on treatments.
4. ePrescribing
This lets doctors create, store, and send prescriptions electronically. This reduces mistakes and saves time for both doctors and patients during the prescription process.
5. Reminder app
A reminder app helps people take their medications on time. If you’re not making a full reminder app, it’s a great feature to add to a doctor’s appointment or healthcare app.
Benefits of Healthcare Apps For Doctors And Patients
A. For Doctors
1. Rapid Decision
Faster decision-making lets doctors spend more quality time with each patient and helps them assist more people overall.
2. Better Diagnoses
More accurate diagnoses lead to better treatment plans, timely care, and improved health outcomes.
3. Reduced Stress and Burnout
The software reduces doctors’ routine tasks and boosts efficiency, helping cut down on paperwork and improve their morale.
4. Better Communication Among Doctors
Telemedicine platforms help doctors consult with each other from anywhere, improving their ability to communicate and collaborate.
5. Improved Hospital and Equipment Management
IoT and other technologies help hospitals track and manage equipment in real-time. For example, a mobile app can monitor the location of ventilators within the hospital.
6. Lower Healthcare Costs
Together, these improvements help lower the cost of healthcare services.
B. For Patients
1. Better Quality of Care
Automation allows providers to create personalized health plans tailored to each patient’s needs, leading to higher-quality care.
2. Instant Access to Care
A healthcare app development solutions lets you access services quickly, like renting on Airbnb or ordering sushi. This means faster delivery of care, including medication and remote consultations.
3. Easier Management of Health Data
Patients can easily export and share their medical records with other places. Healthcare apps make this process smooth and secure.
4. Safe and Easy Payments
In-app credit card payments are convenient and can be easily added during medical app development.
5. Increased Patient Engagement
eHealth solutions give patients more control over their treatment, making them active participants in their care.
Features to Integrate in Your Healthcare App
1. Secure Access and Authentication
Use secure authentication methods like OpenID Connect to make sure only authorized users can log into the app. Implement strong data encryption with Transport Layer Security to protect the information being sent between the app and the server.
2. Manage User Profiles
Allow users to create and manage their accounts, where they can enter their personal information, medical history, and preferences. Make sure they can easily and securely update their profiles with the right security in place.
3. Enhanced Search and Filter Features
Include a feature that lets users search for healthcare providers, services, and facilities based on their specific needs, such as location, specialty, availability, time, and ratings. Add filters to help enhance the search results for an exclusive experience.
4. User Ratings and Reviews
Encourage users to rate and review healthcare providers and services. Showcase these ratings and reviews on the main page to help others decide if a particular doctor or service is a good choice.
5. Schedule Appointments
Add a feature that allows users to book appointments with healthcare providers. Provide up-to-date availability and notify about confirmation to both users and providers through your website.
6. Telemedicine Communication
You can add built in video and voice call features to let users interact with service providers through virtual consultations. Ensure these communication channels are secure and follow privacy standards like HIPAA.
7. Private Online Chat
Add a safe chat system that allows users to communicate with medical staff. Ensure chat messages are encrypted, and give users an easy way to access their chat history.
8. Payment Methods
Add secure payment options so clients can pay for healthcare services safely. Offer multiple payment methods, like credit/debit cards, digital wallets, and insurance billing.
9. Reminders and Alerts
Add notifications and reminders to help users keep track of their appointments, take their medication on time, or read health tips. Allow users to customize their notification settings to fit their preferences.
10. EHR Integration
Include Electronic Health Records so users and healthcare providers can safely access and update medical records. Make sure to follow data privacy regulations to keep the information secure.
How to Build a Mobile App for Healthcare?
1. Analyze the Market
Your healthcare app needs to offer some genuine value to the users to succeed. Start by analyzing the market, study your niche, learn about competitors, and understand their strengths and weaknesses. This will help you identify how to stand out and ensure your app is worth the investment.
2. Understand Your Audience
User research is crucial for healthcare app development services, especially when dealing with sensitive issues like bulimia or mental disorders.
Focus on understanding how users manage their problems, rather than delving into personal experiences. For example, ask about methods used for managing eating schedules instead of personal feelings or comments.
3. Select App Type
The type of healthcare app you choose affects its database, features, and goals. You need to discuss and work with your team to find out:
- What type of app you need
- How it will function
- What problems it will address
4. Design the App
Design plays a big role in your app’s success. For a mHealth app, aim for a simple and clear design that guides users easily to their goals. Keep the app user-friendly with minimal interactions and reduce the amount of mental effort needed to use it.
5. Ensure HIPAA Compliance
Building a healthcare app is complex due to the presence of sensitive health information. Compliance with regulations is crucial.
In the USA, your app must follow HIPAA rules to protect patient and provider data. In Europe, GDPR regulations apply to apps handling personal information.
To ensure your app meets HIPAA standards:
- Limit Access: Only authorized users, like treating doctors, should access patient data.
- Data Encryption: Use strong encryption to protect personal health information and back up data on different servers to prevent loss.
- Find Compliant Services: Choose services that are HIPAA-compliant, like Sendbird chat, but be prepared to customize them as needed. There isn’t a complete list of compliant services, so use a checklist when selecting.
Besides technical requirements, administrative tasks like defining user roles and creating policies are also important. Consult official guidelines and consider working with HIPAA audit companies to stay compliant.
6. Develop the MVP
Now that you’ve chosen secure services and decided on a healthcare app, the next step is to develop a Minimum Viable Product. When creating an MVP for a healthcare app, focus on two key principles: build it quickly and make sure it works well.
Before diving into MVP development, prioritize the most important features, ensure they address the core problem, and keep refining them.
An MVP gives you a competitive edge by getting you into the market faster, allowing you to start collecting real user feedback much sooner than if you developed a full product right away.
Conclusion
While we’ve covered a lot about developing medical apps, there are some extra tips we share only with our clients and partners.
If you’re planning to invest in healthcare app development services, be prepared for challenges with user research and data security. Talking to potential customers can be tricky because of sensitive topics.
Focus on asking about methods rather than personal issues to make the research process easier. Also, ensure your app is HIPAA-compliant and meets all necessary rules to avoid penalties.
If you need help finding a team or want professional tips for your project, contact an experienced mobile app development company now!
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