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Healthcare App Development in 2021 – The Ultimate Guide
The recent increase in the popularity of healthcare apps reflects the growing demand for easy-access healthcare. Just take a look at the graph by Statista – there were over 53,053 medical apps on Google Play in the first quarter of 2021, signaling a 6.51% increase compared to the previous quarter. Healthcare applications make a significant contribution to the success of patient treatment in most hospitals. In addition, they help improve the accessibility of medical services. Healthcare professionals also popularize healthcare apps. In a recent survey, most US physicians admit that in the past years, they have discussed some sort of medical app with their patients. But even though the benefits of healthcare applications are manifold, coming up with a useful medical app is a real challenge. Not only do you have to come up with a valid app idea, but app developers also have to pay attention to data security and privacy when developing medical apps. If you would like to tap into the realm of medical apps and aren’t afraid of a challenge, here is a comprehensive guide that will help you get started. A healthcare app is a mobile program that offers and manages health-related services to make healthcare solutions more accessible. Healthcare apps are often confused with wellness apps. Both fall under the same personal health category, but there is a distinction. According to the FDA, a healthcare app is any mobile software that can help patients diagnose, track, and treat diseases. In its turn, a wellness mobile app can track an individual’s overall health. It can be a fitness app or a diet app. In addition, medical apps can address environmental, social, mental, and spiritual issues that relate to health. Healthcare apps cater to a wide spectrum of needs. Here are just a few examples of currently active applications: If you’re planning on developing a unique medical mobile app, you should first research some of the best healthcare apps available in the market. Preliminary research can help you determine the functionalities and categories of medical apps that are convenient to target users. In most cases, healthcare apps are grouped into two main categories: medical apps for healthcare providers and apps for users. Users, in this case, apply to patients and those using them generally. Let’s take a closer look at both healthcare app categories. Medical apps for healthcare providers are normally developed for particular institutions and go through authentication. Therefore, they should meet specific customized solutions. These types of apps need more detailed technology when building. They are also more expensive than user-based medical apps. Medical apps for healthcare providers serve different purposes and come with unique features. For example, healthcare providers can use medical apps for: There is fierce competition in the app market. After all, who wouldn’t want to take advantage of the growing mHealth market? Reportedly, it will reach a whopping $50 million by 2025. If you want your medical app to stand out from the crowd, reach target users, and receive the most downloads to engage with users, you should be ready to walk the extra mile. These are the steps you should follow to develop the best medical app for users and healthcare providers. These are some of the questions you should ask yourself when setting a goal for your medical app project. Without a goal, it is not easy to tell where you are heading with your project. When setting a goal for building a healthcare app, it should be SMART: When you have a definite goal and vision for your app development project, you can set your mind on what you want the app to solve and include those features that would cater to specific needs. First, conduct a competitive market analysis and collect all the required information, including: By conducting competitor analysis, you can list down all the essential features you should not miss in your new medical app. Then, at the end of your competitor research, you should develop a list of functionalities and features that will make your mobile application the best alternative for most users in the market. Here are some healthcare regulations you should take into consideration when coming up with a medical app. Your goal is to get the healthcare providers to confirm whether the app you are developing can solve a real medical problem. Their opinion will also impact usability and user experience. So, before using all your resources to develop the app, get your development team to collect honest user feedback to validate the idea behind it. Here is more to do when validating your app idea: When developing a healthcare app MVP, take your time and split the healthcare mobile app development into stages. First, minimize the functionalities and features to include in the first stage of developing the app. Then, you can add more features to the app when you launch another version later. Mobile health apps are helpful for billing, keeping sensitive hospital records, dispersing records, diagnosing, and communicating with patients. However, building an agile healthcare app can be quite a challenge. Hopefully, our article will come in handy to help you develop the best mobile app for your target audience. Follow these steps to launch a successful healthcare app development project and take your company to the next level.
The healthcare industry is developing fast. With the increasing demand for quality healthcare, medical industry professionals are now going further to bring healthcare services close to people. What is a Healthcare App?
Examples of medical apps
As you can see, there are quite a few healthcare app options available to patients with different conditions. Some of these apps focus mostly on symptom monitoring, while others also offer consultation from a healthcare professional.Types of Mobile Healthcare App
1. Medical apps for healthcare providers
The general goal of these apps is to help healthcare professionals make the treatment process more seamless and manageable.2. Medical mobile apps for users
These apps keep patients informed about their health and provide valuable information on how to manage different symptoms.Step-by-step Guide to Healthcare Application Development
1. Set a goal
What kind of medical app do you want to develop? What audience are you targeting when you build this medical app?
You have to know what problem exists in the healthcare industry that you want your medical app to solve. Then, when you focus more on the app’s purpose, you can develop an app that most users need and not what you think most people want.2. Study your competitors
The mobile app development industry is flooded with hundreds of apps. You want to shine and make your app one of a kind, right? That means you should study what some of the best app developers are doing to remain at the top.
Then you can start researching all your rival’s apps. Here are some important points to consider:
Aim to convert some of the competitor’s weaknesses into opportunities. Also, when doing competitor analysis, don’t forget to identify the market position and the market shares of top competitors in the industry.3. Comply with healthcare regulations
In most countries, healthcare is one of the most regulated industries. That means, if your healthcare app fails to meet the specified regulations, it is more likely to be removed from the marketplace. Moreover, authorities can shut it down permanently. For instance, the HIPAA Privacy Rule
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act outlines the standards for collecting and protecting personal medical records. It applies to all healthcare, health plans, healthcare providers, and clearinghouses. They conduct their business online or electronically.
HIPAA requires that any healthcare provider offering their services ensures maximum privacy and protection of individual information. It means if you have a medical app that collects personal information from users, you are not allowed to use the data without patient authorization.
In addition, the HIPAA privacy regulation gives patients the right over their personal information shared on mHealth apps.HIPAA Security Rule
The HIPAA security rule establishes the national standards for protecting individuals whose private information is created, collected, received, and maintained by a covered entity. This rule requires appropriate technical, such as data encryption, administrative and physical safeguards to protect patient and user information.HITECH regulation
Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act is a regulation that promotes the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology. In addition, this act has the objective of ensuring the adoption and enforcement of the HIPAA rule.4. Choose the app type
The next step is choosing the healthcare app type that suits your target audience. There are different medical apps you can develop. We have discussed some of these apps in the foregoing section of this article.
If you target healthcare professionals, you should develop a healthcare providers’ app. Alternatively, if you are targeting patients and those looking for general user apps, you should design and build medical applications that focus on their needs.
The type of app will depend on the features and functionalities you want to incorporate. It also depends on the solutions you want the app to offer based on your market research.
It’s also time to decide whether you will build an app for Android or iOS. This decision should be based on your target audience’s preferences and the mobile devices they usually use. It will also help you decide on the app store where you’re going to advertise. 5. Validate your app idea with healthcare professionals
App validation means involving real healthcare workers and asking them to put your app idea to the test and see if there’s actual use to it. If you want to test the hypothesis behind your app idea, you can also survey healthcare professionals.
Promote your app idea by attending meetups, participating in online social forums, and promoting your MVP.6. Choose app monetization options
When you are done validating your mobile app, you must identify the best way to make money using it.
Here are the tips for choosing the best app monetization strategy:
You can use different monetization models, such as account subscription, advertisement, in-app purchase, paid, and many others. You can read more about app monetization in our previous article.7. Build an MVP of your health app
Developing a Minimum Viable Product is a vital stage in creating an app. The MVP is the initial version (a beta version) of your app that has the key features that will be present in the final product.Should you get mobile app development services?
Software development is a task for professionals. And, if you’re running a small business, you might not have the resources to hire an in-house app developer. Therefore, you should reach out to the best medical app developers in the industry.
Outsourcing app development is cost-effective and helps you finish your app project in time. A reputable app development company has an experienced team of app developers and software engineers that will guide you through the development process and help create a personalized and efficient medical app for your users. Final Thoughts
Mobile platforms have played a central role in transforming the digital healthcare landscape. mHealth applications have changed how hospitals, physicians, doctors, and others healthcare providers can deliver real-time care to patients.