Top Factors You Need to Consider while Developing Healthcare Mobile App

The World Health Organization has defined health holistically with these words- “Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

In this digital world, healthcare mobile apps act as a powerful tool to strengthen this approach. This is one of the major reasons why the popularity of healthcare apps is skyrocketing across the world. 

We live in a pandemic age and evolving technology has shown us a ray of hope in the form of mHealth or healthcare apps. On one hand, these apps can track the vitals of patients in real-time, and on the other hand, apps can boost the concepts like telemedicine effectively.

What’s more, app development companies can readily integrate the advancements of emerging technologies including AI, IoT, and ML into the healthcare app.  

Because of these benefits, the number of mHealth apps has crossed 50k in the Google Play Store in the first half of 2021. It shows a massive 6.51% increase in the number of healthcare apps over the previous quarter.

Let’s go through some interesting facts about healthcare apps. It shows how mobile app technology has transformed the healthcare sector since 2014. 

Interesting Stats on Healthcare Apps

In this article, we will go through the top factors to consider while developing a customized healthcare app. But before moving forward, let’s go through the types of healthcare apps.

Number of mHealth Apps Available in Google Play Store from Q1 2015 to Q1 2021

Major Types of Healthcare Apps

These days a large number of healthcare apps are available for download. We can arrange them in four broad categories-

Reminder Apps

These apps are designed to help patients manage their medications, appointments, and other healthcare schedules. 

Diagnosis Assistance Apps

These apps are made for healthcare professionals. It gives them access to the patient’s health records including MRI, X-ray, and lab test results. These apps can assist physicians to diagnose diseases more precisely based on real-time data and symptoms. 

Healthy Lifestyle Apps

Diet and exercise monitoring, fitness tracking, and pregnancy apps fall under this category. These apps are aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle among app users. 

Remote Monitoring or Telemedicine Apps

Apps related to ECG viewing, remote heart monitoring, oxygen level checks, and telehealth services belong to this category. Advancing technologies like AI and IoT can be integrated into these apps.  

In this pandemic age, Doctor-on-Demand types of apps have also gained ground because it facilitates patients to get rid of calling for appointments and waiting for a long time at the clinic.

Other useful app types are directories of doctors and medicines, appointment management, remote communication with doctors, and reminders for appointments or medications. 

Healthcare app solutions are aimed at assisting people to maintain a healthy lifestyle and ensure proper diagnosis of their diseases. Therefore, healthcare organizations need to keep some important aspects in mind while opting for healthcare or mHealth app development. 

“The goal of real healthcare reform must be high-quality, universal coverage in a cost-effective way.” – Bernie Sanders, US Senator

Top Factors to Consider while Developing Healthcare Applications

In this omnichannel world, no customers like to interact with a company using only one channel. For example, when it comes to the healthcare sector, elderly patients prefer websites and tablets whereas their younger relatives like to interact with physicians using a dedicated mobile app. All you need is a seamlessly performing app with desired features. 

Here are the top factors to consider while building such an app. 

Know Your Audience

It all starts with knowing your audience. For example, if your organization wants to initiate telehealth services, it is necessary to build an app that enables patients and doctors to communicate seamlessly. 

Another important factor to consider is the user interface. It should be in line with the health requirements of the target audience. The display needs to show the patient’s medication plans and other necessary information. 

Focus on Design and Functionality

A layman or even some patients may not understand much about the app’s technicalities. It is, therefore, necessary to keep the look or the appearance of the healthcare app simple yet attractive.

The healthcare app development company puts its effort into building the right UI and UX in line with the target audience. You need to choose color schemes, icons, and fonts carefully so that everyone can understand the app’s features. 

Ensure Compliance

The biggest factor to consider for a healthcare app is it should be HIPAA-compliant and follow all the prevalent regulations. It is necessary for the healthcare software development company you selected should have complete knowledge of HIPAA and other prevalent standards. 

It is necessary to ensure that the healthcare app is safe for patients and physicians alike and transfer the data securely. 

Here, blockchain technology and AI come into the picture. On one hand, these emerging technologies can ensure swift data transfer across the entire healthcare ecosystem, and on the other hand, they can keep confidential data secure. 

Validate the Idea

It is better to start with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) so that you can find it fit for market trends, best practices, and regulations. An MVP can be run among focus groups and initial users to know their feedback and validate the idea. You can find the answers to the questions like- 

• Does the app solve a particular problem of patients or users?
• Would patients really get benefits from this app?

It is better to do rigorous market research before and after MVP development. It can assist you to bring a patient-friendly app in a short time. 

Build Experience

An Accenture report has revealed that though 66 of the 100 biggest hospitals in the USA have mobile health apps, but only 2% of patients are using these apps. Therefore, it is necessary to make a great strategy and find the right mobile app development agency to build an app. Apps with great and smooth user experience have more chances to get success over the period. 

Healthcare organization needs to assign the project to dedicated healthcare app development company while focusing on the features, appearance, and functionality. 

Finally, healthcare apps should be capable of working into the entire healthcare ecosystem. Your healthcare apps should be integrated seamlessly with EHRs and other patient-related data. 

In a Nutshell

Developing a mHealth application with excellent functionality and useful features is quite a task. But, once you come up with a patient-friendly, result-oriented app, it can enhance the value of your organization by improving patient care services.