Healthcare Mobile App Development: Step-by-Step Guide
The need for exceptional and seamless patient care delivery today is only possible by incorporating technology into the healthcare industry. The following post focuses on healthcare mobile app development, what the concept is all about, how it is beneficial in the long term, and what are the best practices or trends to consider to craft ingenious healthcare apps.
The need for digitalization is pretty insane, healthcare-based applications are gaining popularity now and then for both patients as well as healthcare professionals across the globe. After all, several pivotal tasks are well taken care of such as booking appointments, accessing proper health records, remote healthcare monitoring, telehealth services, and a lot more. No wonder, you will come across a wide range of healthcare development companies that work at the forefront ensuring satisfaction for their customers in regards to robustness, scalability, intuitiveness, flexibility, security and so more. Developing a full-fledged healthcare application in the current technological boom has simply become the need of the hour. So what is healthcare app development?
The Concept of Healthcare App Development
Evolution is the key to moving forward and who knows this reality better than us? We have been through several revolutions from calculators to computers to smartphones, gaming apps, mobile apps, and a lot more. Over a few years, numerous mobile apps have been rolled out that benefit doctors and patients like never before. Now what kind of apps exactly were developed? Well, from weight loss to wellness apps such as yoga or Zumba, nutrition, exercise trackers, insurance verification, and a lot more. Not to mention such app development offers a wide range of benefits and advantages such as remote health delivery, reduction in medical errors, cost-effective measures, improved communication, and a lot more.
There was a time when mobile apps were supposed to be useful and that’s all it took to succeed but today the situation has completely changed. Mobile apps these days have to be so much more, such as robust, scalable, innovative, user-friendly, secured and whatnot! It doesn’t matter whether you have the technical aptitude to navigate through all the required application’s features and functionalities but seeking assistance from a reputable healthcare app development company can be of great help.
Benefits of Conducting Healthcare App Development
1. Enhanced patient engagement
Surviving in today’s competitive patient-centric environment can be a bit more difficult than it used to be before. Quality care seems to have gained a huge concern these days and that’s the reason why we require more and more mhealth apps. Patient-focused care, personalized experiences & knowledge sharing between providers and patients are some of its core benefits. Also, they can monitor medical records easily.
2. Minimizing risks
The next benefit to take into account is minimized risk. You see, due to manual methods, the scope for mistakes and errors was pretty high and time-consuming, fortunately, this no longer seems to be the case. Mhealth apps successfully nullify all such challenges which might be dangerous for the patient.
These apps not only store accurate reports but assist doctors in offering the right medicine and conducting accurate diagnoses. Also, quick medical decisions are taken.
3. Immediate access to care
Earlier, healthcare organizations as well as medical professionals could not have seamless accessibility to all the important patient information and today with everything becoming more and more digital, easy access to information is possible and precise care can be offered. Also, mhealth apps make it extremely easy and secure for patients to not just access information but also share important messages, schedule appointments from time to time, contact instantly to healthcare providers especially when in need, and so on. Video calls, chats, offline visits, etc are possible.
4. Enhance data management
In the healthcare industry, information is pretty much paramount. So it becomes very important for organizations to keep data and all the patient-related information in sync and well organized. Fortunately, with the assistance of electronic health records and other irresistible healthcare apps, it is possible to automatically record all the information and come up with a comprehensive patient profile in a short time.
5. Improved prescription alerts
The next benefit is with the help of healthcare apps, there has been a severe improvement when it comes to offering relevant prescriptions. Yes, these apps assist in setting proper reminders that alert patients to medication, upcoming appointments with specialists, renewed prescriptions, and more. So the patients no longer have to worry about their meds.
6. Hassle-free communication
Another benefit to consider is hassle-free communication. You see, these kinds of healthcare apps tend to establish a strong bond between the healthcare professional as well as the patient. They can contact their professional anytime in case of a minor issue. All the communication conducted is thoroughly secure.
7. Great medical environment
Lastly, healthcare apps, especially a wide range of different types of healthcare apps such as IoT-connected ones, and wearable devices can act as lifesavers. Certain aspects such as blood pressure & heart rate monitors, glucometers, and more offer real-time monitoring that can be conducted 24/7 assisting doctors in conducting quick diagnoses, especially in case of an emergency.
What makes a Healthcare Application Ideal?
- Secured Access and authentication
- Absolute user profile management
- Advanced search and filter options
- Ratings
- Appointment Schedule
- Secure online chats
- Secured Payment Options
- Telemedicine Channel
- Integration of EMR and EHR
How to Develop a Healthcare App? Step-By-Step Guide to Follow
Developing a healthcare app is not an easy venture. It takes a lot of time, effort, and money. In addition, one wrong move and your entire plan can be sabotaged in no time. Fret not, here I would like you to go through the step-by-step guide that can assist you in your very first healthcare app development project.
Step #1 Requirement Analysis
The first and foremost step is to gather all the relevant requirements. Now this needs to be done by conducting a thorough assessment of the needed information and data. Here the focus needs to be kept right on the target audiences, what are the issues they are facing currently, how can your developed healthcare app act as a solution, what core functionality you want in the app, which rules and regulations you need to follow, how to match up with the current healthcare systems, it would be great if you think of seamless integration as well. This stage is all about gathering what is present, what is the problem, and what is needed as a solution. Once you are sure about what needs to be done, you can proceed further with the next stage.
Step #2 Decide on the Type of App
Now another important step to take into consideration and implement especially when you are conducting a healthcare app development project is deciding on the type of app. I would simply suggest studying the medical industry deeply before taking any other decision. Further, I would like to suggest relevant types of healthcare apps which should be taken into consideration.
- Urgent Care Apps — As the name implies, this particular category of apps comes in handy when it comes to emergencies. Patients with the help of such apps can seamlessly locate nearby urgent care units, costs, travel duration, and even how much time is required as well. Here you will find a cost calculator, GPS for nearby emergency rooms, and contact details as well.
- Lifestyle maintenance apps — These kinds of apps are used to educate patients, inform them regarding regular checkups, suggesting what activities must be considered to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Some extraordinary features of such apps are push notifications, suggest relevant diets, regular check-up reminders, and so more.
- General hospital apps — Now as the name suggests, this one is a great tool for hospitals and healthcare organizations. Yes, the app can work wonders as an advertising space to endorse its core functionalities and treatments. Key features include- used to conduct promotion of the hospitals, patients can find reliable doctors, and nurses and choose, patients can find what services the healthcare organization offers, easy and quick appointment booking, access to lab reports, virtual check-ups and so more.
- Medication tracking apps — These kinds of apps can be linked with other wearable devices and used to monitor basic health daily such as heart rate, blood pressure, glucometer, and so on.
- Diagnosis Assistant apps — Here it is possible to seamlessly access lab test reports such as X-rays, sample tests, electronic charts, patient history, test and diagnosis costs and so more.
- Reminder Apps — These apps are meant to remind patients and help in keep tabs on their health.
- Fitness Apps — Monitoring health and fitness is what these apps aim for.
Step #3 Design Architecture
Now it’s time to create a design architecture featuring proper database structure, user interface, and API integration.
Step #4 Choosing the right Technology Stack
Choosing the proper tech stack for the app’s needs is extremely important. Keep all the relevant features and functionalities and then choose the tech stack.
Step #5 Implementing proper security measures
Privacy and security are of prime importance, so make sure you include strong data encryption, secure authentication, and regular security audits. Conduct all necessary practices to meet industry standards and regulations.
Step #6 Integrating APIs
The developed app must be well integrated with different APIs such as electronic health records, telemedicine, payment processing, and data analytics.
Step #7 Developing Proper frontend and backend
Apply frameworks such as Node.js, Django, Vue, React, React Native, and Flutter, which are exquisite and easy to navigate.
Step #8 Testing and QA
Accomplish testing to track as well as fix all the potential bugs.
Step #9 Deployment and monitoring
Rolling out the app right away!
Step #10 Continuous Improvement
Collecting regular user feedback and keeping the healthcare app improved from time to time.
And we are done for now! Good luck with your endeavor.
