What is it?
Healthcare mobile app development is the cornerstone for modern day health solutions. Healthcare applications are designed to combine healthcare products and services with the newest technology and features. In this article you will get the full picture of the healthcare mobile application development process and all the important factors linked thereto.
The contents will firstly provide more insight on the history and evolution of healthcare technology and the definitions and important aspects that form part of the healthcare app enhancement progression throughout the globe.
Topics such as the process for healthcare app development and the path to creating the perfect health and medical app for your specific healthcare requirements is detailed and should provide the necessary overview and data to motivate development and integration of healthcare apps for healthcare organizations.
Introduction
Healthcare has been around if anyone can remember, sure, it might not have been the professional and successful healthcare services that we are lucky enough to be part of today, but it existed and was sought after by most of society. Fast forward hundreds of years later where healthcare and technology meet for the first time. This was mainly in the form of health machinery, technological medical equipment, and modern medical facilities.
Today, we are in the highest technological rise since the beginning of healthcare technology and our focus has become to improve, streamline, and simplify the way in which healthcare and medical products and services are provided to individuals across the globe. The modern revolution that we are currently in emphasizes the importance of using and implementing mobile healthcare apps to provide these required healthcare services that we have today.
Medical app developers have improved the way in which healthcare apps are developed to ensure that these apps meet the requirements of the newest healthcare necessities for this technological advanced century.
Healthcare mobile app development is an essential part of creating a healthcare platform for patients and healthcare professionals. Medical practices, professionals, and patients are exposed to countless benefits that health and medical apps provide which includes everything from enhanced medical services delivery through mobile apps, to remote medical consultations and appointments.
These benefits all form part of the major technological revolution in the healthcare industry that the 21st century is currently seeing. There are various components and processes linked to the development and implementation of these healthcare applications which are structurally laid out and discussed in the next section of this article.
What is Healthcare App Development?
Healthcare app development can be explained straightforwardly as the design of online platforms where individuals and businesses can make use of healthcare services and purchase health products at the touch of a button.
More importantly, healthcare app development can also be explained in-depth with a focus on the impact and purpose it has on our daily lives.
Healthcare mobile app developers have the necessary skill and software to integrate the healthcare industry with the technological industry to form an all-round healthcare provision platform in the form of a health app and a medical app.
Health app development has a dedicated process which should be followed by developers from start to finish with the highest quality, care, and precision to ensure that the outcome is a successfully operating healthcare app.
These apps are provided through mobile devices and should be accessible by anyone with such a device and with the required capabilities. It is extremely important that the medical app and health app is developed in such a way that most mobile devices across the globe will be able to access the app when required.
It is extremely clear that healthcare app development is no simple task to take on and consists of various crucial elements which all come together to form the right healthcare mobile app for your healthcare organization.
We will proceed to provide you with an in-depth assessment and enlightenment on healthcare through the details on the importance of healthcare app development in the technologically advanced century that we live in today.
Read also: Considering Fintech App Development: Where to Begin?
Importance of Healthcare App Development
Healthcare apps are crucial in the 21st century, especially because technology is currently at its peak in popularity and use.
There are certain factors that can make healthcare service delivery difficult or create obstacles in some cases and that is where healthcare apps are required to fill the gaps and ensure proficient health and medical service and product delivery to all patients.
These obstacles and factors include:
- Geographical Limitations
Mobile healthcare app development services provide everyone with the opportunity to access and provide medical and health services through medical and health apps. It removes the border restrictions that we previously had because everything needed to be physical.
Most medical cases require healthcare services immediately and someone’s life depends on it, but because of border restrictions and travel time it provides an obstacle and could cost a patient their life.
This scenario happens almost daily across the globe whereby a medical specialist is required for a specific medical need or operation and the individual might not be able to arrive on the other side of the world in time for the surgery, this is exactly where medical technology and medical apps come in to remove any geographical limitations that the healthcare sector might face.
- Recent Pandemic
The recent pandemic that we faced in the last few years clearly pointed out the great importance of healthcare mobile app development around the globe, especially in distressed times.
COVID-19 brought forth a lot of new healthcare app opportunities in the healthcare app development industry. The pandemic caused most of the individuals across the world to go into isolation for long periods of time to avoid the spread of diseases which increased the use of mobile apps even further than usual.
Health and medical apps assisted healthcare providers across the world to diagnose, treat, and monitor patients who possibly contracted the virus without having to make physical contact with them to prevent the spread of the virus and possibly contribute to saving lives.
These apps also assisted many patients with the medical services and products that they required to assist with their healthcare requirements which they might not have been able to access without apps because of the restrictions in movement.
Healthcare apps were and are crucial during these disastrous global situations.
- Inclusive Access
There are a lot of people throughout the world who might not have the funds or capabilities to access healthcare services without the help of healthcare apps.
Healthcare mobile app development provides opportunities for individuals to make use of health and medical apps even if they were not previously able to access healthcare services due to finances, disabilities, or location obstacles.
These apps also create a platform for individuals to participate in the medical industry and form part of a community where health questions can be asked through health forums and where a lot of individuals can collaborate to share stories and advice as a form of medical networking.
This can also help to make individuals feel connected to each other and to help them see that some of the health questions that they have might not be as unconventional as they think and that there are others with the same questions.
- Time Limit Issues
In the busy modern life that we live in it can be difficult for individuals to meet all their commitments because of their daily responsibilities.
It is quite common these days for both partners in a relationship to focus on their careers because of the average increase in living costs.
It can be difficult to make time for important healthcare services because of these time restrictions, this is where healthcare apps play another big part in the daily lives of individuals across the globe.
These health and medical apps provide on-demand access to crucial professional healthcare products and services to save valuable time.
- Cost Implications of Modern Healthcare Services
It is no secret that healthcare services can be quite costly for both healthcare startups, medical institutions, and medical patients. The costs to make use of healthcare services are also continuously rising in this modern age because of various economic factors.
Healthcare mobile app development simplifies and enhances access and the use of healthcare products and services.
These mobile medical apps also assist healthcare and medical providers to offer health services at a lower rate because of the remote capabilities and the increased availability of slots because physical interaction is decreased.
- Mobile Devices
In this modern century there are very few individuals that don’t have mobile devices and because of this it makes for the perfect platform to integrate health and medical services via mobile apps.
Mobile devices like smartphones and tablets are used daily by individuals across the world, and most services required by these individuals will be searched for and used on mobile devices like smartphones.
It is crucial that medical app developers create apps compatible with different operating systems to ensure healthcare apps are cross-platform friendly and usable by most individuals throughout the globe.
Having healthcare as a mobile app will contribute to the use by individuals of the health or medical app that you want to develop.
Types and Uses
- Health Apps
Health apps are used by individuals that need healthcare products and services, and individuals that are health conscious.
These telehealth apps are used on mobile devices and computers and once developed should be available for users to download via app stores. Health apps provide numerous benefits and each app contributes to a different healthcare requirement that individuals might have.
Examples of health apps include:
- Fitness and Wellness apps
Fitness is of great importance and there is increased focus on fitness and wellness in this 21st century. It has been proven repeatedly that living a fitness conscious lifestyle can promote healthy and satisfactory living standards.
These mobile fitness apps are used by fitness enthusiasts and promote simplified tracking of health schedules and wellness goals.
Fitness and wellness apps enhance healthy lifestyles through ease of access to information and resources which contributes to the individual’s healthcare needs.
These apps include exercising, food and calorie tracking, and weightless apps which all enhance the way in which general individuals boost their healthy habits daily.
Fitness can be hard to maintain in a busy lifestyle, but with fitness and wellness apps, fitness is simplified, and enthusiasts can access on-demand fitness apps when they want to, without the restriction of traveling and increased costs.
- Mental Health Apps
Mental health is extremely important and with the increased stress that we face because of the modern fast-paced lives that we live it can be easy to forget about the importance of keeping your mental health in check.
If your mental health is stable and consistent, your lifestyle can improve drastically.
These mobile healthcare applications help individuals with processes and routines to follow for increased mental health benefits and outcomes.
Mental health apps contain features such as breathing exercises, daily affirmations and positive motivation reminders, meditation, and all other mobile apps which contribute to a relaxed and positive mindset.
- Medical Apps
Professionals develop medical apps to enhance the medical industry. Medical providers use these apps to simplify, streamline, and improve the way in which medical services are offered to patients.
Medical staff use these apps in different settings and for different scenarios and with the use of accurate medical information provided by medical apps, the provision of healthcare services contribute immensely to the wellbeing of patients across the globe.
Examples of medical apps include:
- Telemedicine Apps
Medication is a crucial factor in a lot of individuals across the worlds’ daily lives. There are instances where the lack of medication can compromise the survival of patients.
It is therefore extremely important for patients with chronic medication requirements to take their meds timeously and continuously.
Medication intake can also be temporary based on certain temporary illnesses or pains such as headache and these telemedicine apps make for simplified ordering of medication as required and as prescribed.
These telemedicine apps should have import capabilities whereby a patient can upload a script for medication other than over-the-counter medicine. This will enhance the monitoring and streamlining of telemedicine services through professional developed mobile apps.
- Remote Patient Monitoring Apps
Patient monitoring is another crucial factor in the healthcare sector, and without it, a patient’s health can be neglected.
These apps collect patient health data in real time for medical providers to diagnose and monitor the patients’ vitals.
These apps for patients contribute to the simplified measuring and monitoring of important health information such as a patient’s blood pressure, heart rate, and other important healthcare data.
Remote patient monitoring apps can also be used as symptom checkers by patients to do a self-diagnosis where needed to get the right treatment for their condition, and to get clarity as to when to see a medical professional.
- Chronic Disease Apps
Patients and Doctors use these apps to manage important chronic diseases such as blood pressure and obesity.
This is done remotely which saves traveling costs and time and enhances the processes for monitoring important requirements for patients with chronic diseases. Chronic disease apps also assist to assess patient electronic health faster.
Medical professionals can use information from these apps to enhance, amend or remove medication where required to ensure patients are cared for even if they do not see the healthcare professional in person.
- Patient Engagement Apps
Doctor and patient relationships are crucial for accurate and honest health diagnostics.
Remote patient engagement apps are the perfect platform for medical professionals to assess the patients’ condition, provide treatment advice and other medical services such as digital therapy through virtual methods such as video calls, and online consultations.
- Hospital and Patient Apps
Hospitals receive millions of patients each year and keeping record of each patient can become a big issue if medical providers do not use the right software to save medical personal data.
These hospital patient apps need to have patient data security capabilities because of the medical information and records that are imported into these hospital and patient apps to protect the patient’s personal information such as health issues, from unauthorized access and loss.
It is of great importance that a hospital or clinic obtains, maintains, and stores patient electronic health and medical records to provide simplified access to a patient’s medical history by authorized professionals to assess the patient’s health.
Read also: Native vs Cross-Platform Mobile App Development
How To Develop a Distinct Healthcare App?
Every developer will follow their own unique process to develop the most efficient mobile healthcare app for their clients.
This is an overview on the key factors that should be kept in mind when following the healthcare app development process.
There are 10 steps to follow to develop a unique and successful healthcare mobile app:
1. Healthcare App Requirements
The first step in the development process for healthcare mobile applications is establishing the requirements you have and the projected outcome you need from the final developed healthcare app.
This is extremely important to establish because the entire development process depends on the requirements that the app needs to have.
The next steps in the development process will be based on this step as a guideline to achieve the final healthcare app product. Setting requirements also provides for measuring your healthcare app vision against the actual finalized product.
2. Market Research
Market research is another extremely important step in the app development process and if this step is left out it can negatively impact the entire project.
This research is done through establishing which type of user will mostly be using the healthcare mobile app and also, what type of features these individuals will expect to see when using the health or medical app.
This will differ for different types of apps, for medical apps the target market will mostly be medical professionals and providers, and for health apps it will be patients and general individuals.
3. What Must the App Help to Accomplish?
This question will assist with the further development and planning of the mobile healthcare app.
The capabilities that the application will need to have to fulfill its purpose will be addressed and detailed in this step of the app development process.
4. Establish Which Third-Party Apps to Integrate
The focus point in this step of the healthcare mobile app development process will be to make a choice of third-party party application for integration with the app to create the best possible outcome.
It is crucial that the right 3rd party app is chosen to provide the app with the capability to meet the specific requirements for which it is designed.
5. Establish Timeframes
It is especially important to establish a timeframe and due date for the app development process.
This step will help to keep track of the progress and manage expectations to avoid delays and mismanagement of time.
The developer provides you with this guideline to enhance project clarity and transparency on the course to your envisioned healthcare mobile app.
6. Design and Develop
Without the actual development of the healthcare application, there will be no application, and that is why this step in the development process is so important.
In this step developers should aim to use all the steps listed above as tools for designing and developing the app. Coding and integration will also form part of the development process.
7. App Testing
In this step developers go through all the necessary steps and test various outcomes and features with the healthcare application to find gaps in the development process.
MVP development can also be used in the testing phase to roll out the application to a certain group of customers which will further point out any bugs in the application.
The additional benefit of testing is that it also provides the owner of the app with the opportunity to get a comprehensive overview on how the final product will perform before implementation.
8. Debugging Process
This happens after testing because assessing the healthcare application will provide in-depth information on the errors or possible future errors in the app which need to be addressed and fixed.
The debugging and app testing steps can be repeated multiple times to get the desired outcome for your healthcare mobile app.
9. Healthcare Mobile App Implementation
The actual launch of the application happens in this step of the app development process, and this will also be the final stage in the process as the desired final product should be the one ultimately launched.
This is the step where marketing will be key to get the app noticed for increased exposure.
10. Continued Support
Simplified access to ongoing support systems should be available during and after the healthcare mobile app development process is finalized.
This should provide a platform for customers to reach out to developers at any stage when assistance is required.
Developers should provide app development solutions in this step to create the optimal app development process and outcome.
Crucial Features to Include
- When it comes to app development, it is extremely important to ensure that the healthcare app has the feature to be compatible with most operating platforms such as iOS and android platforms which are accessible through google play and other app stores for ease of access by all individuals.
- Automatic mobile notifications are also another crucial feature to include in the health and medical app development process. These notifications can be in the form of reminders to take medication or to take a mindful minute for breathing exercises.
Mobile notifications can also assist patients with appointment reminders to avoid missed or late arrival for important healthcare checkups. Medication reminders can also be a feature developed for healthcare apps to ensure patients take the necessary medication on schedule and can also remind patients to order prescription medicine on a certain day of the month.
- Payment features are extremely important in the development of a healthcare mobile app because it forms the basis on which these apps are monetized. Integrating payment features enable patients to make online payments through the app with ease.
Payment capabilities will ensure that hardworking professionals are rewarded for their services that they provide and will also ensure that health products such as medication is paid for online through the app before delivery to the client for surety.
Pricing the app for app purchase is also another important feature to ensure income as the app gets downloaded by users. This contributes to the growth of the medical practice and can provide the necessary income required by medical providers.
- Ensure the app is user friendly to provide for simple delivery of healthcare services as well as simplified use of these healthcare mobile apps by patients.
Develop the app in such a manner to simplify online registration by providers and patients to promote the continued use of the app. This will also assist patients who are ill or older patients to gain faster access to crucial medical services for the enhanced wellness of the patient.
Also ensure that booking and payment features in the app is simple enough so that most of the target market will be able to use the app effortlessly.
- Online mobile help and support in-app features are also another crucial component to include in developing a healthcare application.
Help and support features can easily be designed and implemented in the form of chat bots and instant messaging capabilities.
Users will then be able to receive real time and on-demand assistance when needed and required.
This will also provide further efficient use of resources because automation can be used for most generic questions and professionals need only then to step in where there are more complicated medical questions or concerns.
- Healthcare mobile apps should be capable of extreme privacy and safekeeping of patient’s medical information.
This can be in the form of authentication app features, access codes, or third-party security capabilities to ensure there is no unauthorized access to someone’s private medical information.
This is especially important when it comes to the healthcare sector because medications are scheduled, and it should not be easy for children or unsolicited individuals to access personal medical data stored on these apps.
Safety can also be incorporated into the application in the form of backup capabilities to provide the user with the opportunity to create backups of medical information in case of loss of access to the mobile device or healthcare app.
- Virtual appointments are another key factor which should be included in certain medical applications.
This virtual feature provides for video consultation capabilities by enabling recording and access to camera through the app.
This feature is used especially when it comes to certain medical apps such as patient engagement apps where it is necessary for the Doctor to virtually see the patient even if physical interaction is not possible.
This capability should be included in the development stage of the app to ensure efficient and smooth running of the virtual feature when the app is implemented and used.
Why Use a Professional Mobile App Development Company?
Why?
Healthcare mobile app development can be extremely complex because of the specifications and compliance factors that most of these medical apps need to adhere to. Health and medical apps must be developed according to certain regulatory standards set out by healthcare regulators, and knowledge is required by the developer to ensure compliance with these standards.
Healthcare applications can contain various layers of integration and development and it can be a difficult task for someone to take on if you do not have healthcare app development experience. This is where professional app developers come in to take this process from your hands.
Healthcare app development companies have the necessary experience to develop efficient and quality health and medical applications because they work with various projects with similar requirements.
There are numerous prebuilt app creation platforms that one can work from to design a standard health app, however, these apps are not specifically made for your product or service and can be quite generic. Developers in the healthcare app sector can also provide customization for your medical or health app which personalizes the app towards your medical practice or healthcare brand.
Medical apps work with complex medical data and monitoring systems and it is therefore extremely important that a professional medical app developer manages the healthcare app development process to ensure that there are no flaws in the design and to ensure that the app can provide accurate measuring and feedback data.
In the healthcare industry lives are top priority and with user error from the app development side, wrongful diagnosis can be made, this is precisely the reason that choosing to make use of a professional healthcare mobile app developer will be the best and safest practice to follow
Healthcare app developers can also assist to save your company valuable time and resources because of the services that they provide.
If you choose to make use of a professional app developer, you and your employees’ time can be spent to focus on medical service provision instead of focusing on developing an app for the services that you provide, as this will be done for you.
The quality and development process directly depend on the knowledge and skills of the app developer chosen to complete the project. If you are looking to develop a healthcare app for your practice or health products, be sure to make use of a professional app development company to ensure that your app is developed in the best possible way to enhance medical service delivery.
Who?
HotShots Labs is a boutique healthcare mobile app development agency with profound concentration on business and client requirements. Our team of expert healthcare app developers at HotShots Labs can assist you by planning, building, and launching our top-notch high-quality health and medical tech products.
Our company knows the app development process from the beginning to the end and we apply the most modern architecture and tools for healthcare application development and techniques to boost user satisfaction when using our professionally developed health and medical mobile software and apps.
HotShots Labs make use of Flutter and Flutter’s widget services as a platform and tool for a solid foundation on which we build even further by designing and implementing your healthcare application with our customization and development processes.
Our core mission is building long-term partnerships with our clients by providing highly personalized and customized app development services for our clients.
Experience
HotShots Labs have over 7 years of experience in mobile healthcare app development solutions, and we continually add to our experience through each app development project that we complete.
Our team of app developers at HotShots Labs has extensive knowledge in mobile health and medical app development and we strive to make your vision our own when developing your healthcare app.
As an app development company, we have completed more than 30 successful projects and we are not planning to stop. Our creativity and skills benefit our clients in many ways, and we strive to provide our clients with full satisfaction on the high-quality products that we provide.
For each project we take on at HotShots Labs we put our clients’ needs and goals first and this is something we will continue to do. Our customer satisfaction rate is extremely high, and we pride ourselves on this accomplishment.
We assisted numerous companies to develop and successfully implement mobile apps for which we already have more than 5 million app users and counting.
The quality of the healthcare application that we use to develop our apps will boost exposure to the healthcare services and products provided through our high-quality app development solutions.
On top of all our professional healthcare app development services at HotShots Labs we also strive to always keep up with the newest modern trends and app requirements throughout the development process to ensure that we can provide our clients with the app performance they require in this ever-changing app development environment.
Read also: How to Outsource Mobile App Development?
FAQ
Do you ensure compliance with healthcare regulations?
Yes, we ensure that all healthcare and fitness apps developed by our company complies with the standards set out in the healthcare regulations and requirements.
Do you provide customized healthcare apps?
Yes, we strive to provide our clients with the highest quality customized healthcare apps.
Can I hire your team to develop a healthcare app for my business?
Yes, our expert team of developers are here to help with your healthcare app requirements through our quality healthcare app development solutions.
How long does it take to finalize a healthcare app development project?
The time range for health app development can fluctuate and is linked to the requirements that you have for your healthcare app. The average turnaround time is about 3 months.
I have my own medical practice; can you build an app for me?
Certainly! We can develop health apps with features ranging from appointment bookings to medical communication and data storage software, contact us to find out how we can help you.
