How to develop a healthacare app? is one of the trending topics in healthcare industry. The healthcare industry always likes to ride on technology to provide better solutions to the patient. The demand for mobile apps increases exponentially in past years, so the Healthcare industry is also investing in healthcare mobile app development to improve the quality of service and launched several healthcare apps like pill reminders, vitals measuring, smoking prevention, mental health, pregnancy care, senior care, and other health-related apps. Since it is a dream of every person to be healthy and fit, users quickly adopt a great health app.
The healthcare app fulfills the requirement of users to stay healthy with daily activities. They help them to intake nutritious and healthy food and schedule their daily workout sessions. They connect the users with the doctors, physicians, and staff for the medical consultation. The problem-solving nature of these apps makes them more popular among users. The health apps are available for smartphones as well as for wearable devices.
A targeted healthcare app can be a success, but it requires a better implementation. Therefore, to help you succeed in the app development process, we are providing the following steps to convert your healthcare app idea into a success.
1. Market Research and Analysis before developing healthcare app
Before developing a healthcare app, first you need to analysis the market. Identify the problem that you want to solve with your app. The healthcare industry is competitive because of its utility in day to day life. To compete with a strong competitor, you should be aware of the latest trends in the market.
You can identify current trends of the market by conducting thorough market research. You should discover your app competitors and conduct a detailed investigation regarding the success strategies. While investigating their apps, you should consider the review and feedback from the users on the app stores. These will help you to check the performance and effectiveness of the app in the industry. Based on your market research, you can easily connect with initial users of your healthcare app. You can conduct a focus study of your healthcare app to identify the needs and expectations of the users. The focus study will provide validation to your healthcare app and feedback on what features/functions a user would like to see in the app. From the market research and analysis, you can prepare a plan to build your app MVP (minimum viable product).
2. Type of Healthcare App You Want To Develop
Before knowing how to develop a healthcare app, you should be aware of the different types. You have to choose your app type before you proceed with the app development. That will help the user to identify the purpose of your healthcare app. Here are some of the existing healthcare app types:
A. Daily Health App
These types of healthcare apps will help users to track their daily activities, such as duration of sleep, nutrition, and other activities. These apps analyze the information set up by the users and provide metrics for the results accordingly. They provide users with healthy and proper diet charts and a list of nutritious food so that they can check the nutrition in their food. If a user has set up an alarm for the daily exercise timing, then the app reminds them of the timing. They also motivate users to stay healthy with daily motivational quotes.
B. Hospital and EHRs( Electronic Health Record)
The hospital and electronic health apps are useful to users in numerous ways, such as tracking health, paying bills, medicine details, and others. You can quickly book an appointment with the doctors, physicians, and staff for the medical consultation. You don’t have to visit the hospital and wait in queues for a long time. The apps have an integrated calendar that enables users to refill prescriptions on time. These apps provide users with alternatives to medicines prescribed by the consultants. The EHRs (Electronic Health Record) apps enable the users to have a video or audio call with the doctors or physicians regarding their medical queries. They have additional features, which help the users to check their BP (Blood pressure) at the time when they feel low.
C. Medical App
These types of healthcare apps will convert the smartphone into a medical device. As medical apps have features, such as symptom description, diagnosis, x-rays, and others. Using a phone app for DNA testing, diagnosis, glucose testing, and others. The medical apps are complex to develop in comparison with other healthcare apps. For medical apps, you need to consult with a medical team before you start the development of a medical app. You will have to also follow the regulations for medical devices by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration). If you want to develop a medical app, then you have to stick with specific rules and regulations as the living people will avail of the benefit of the app
D. Telehealth App
The telehealth app enables the users to track their health and have a consultation from the doctors and physicians remotely. These apps have a feature of audio-video communication that helps the users to live consultations with the doctors and physicians. You can also transfer your health details such as diagnosis, X-rays, and others from your present location.
E. Medical appointment app
Mobile apps for appointment or scheduling for private clinics and hospitals to automate patient appointments. Apps have features like multiple secure payment options, email/SMS notification and built in calendar.
F. Laboratory management app
Mobile app development solutions to manage operational challenges that a laboratory faces. Customized solutions to manage patient appointments, sample collection, view or share lab results and many more.
3. First Design your Healthcare App
Before you proceed to develop a healthcare app, you need to understand the importance of design. An attractive design will provide your health app to gain popularity among the users. They will quickly connect with your healthcare app and retain it. They will be enabled to share the app with their family, friends, and others. While creating designs you should focus on developing UI/UX designs(user interface/user experience) for your healthcare app. To develop an attractive design, you have to start with preparing wireframes for your healthcare app. These wireframes will provide you with the user flow and identify the drawbacks of your healthcare app. Based on this you can implement the steps to overcome the drawback. The colors, fonts, and layout are essential in designing that should also be considered.
Now, when your app designs are ready, you should consult with some professional designers or consult with the app developer. You should shortlist the 2 to 3 designers based on their experience and get a quotation regarding the price and duration. If you have a basic knowledge of designing, then you can design your healthcare app. The users have to fill their medical details to book an appointment for the medical consultation. Therefore, you need to ensure that the designs can deliver more information to users with less interaction.
4. Add Essential Features To Your Healthcare App
Features are a necessary component of a healthcare app. The unique features of your app help the users to differentiate your app with other healthcare apps. These features will help your healthcare app to attract users and enable them to enjoy the different services offered by your healthcare app.
To check the effectiveness of your healthcare app feature you can consult with your family, friends and unknown people and ask for their feedback. Their feedback will help you to make customization to your healthcare app and make them more appealing. While updating the features, you should make sure that the key features of your healthcare app are not compromised. You can update features, such as maps, book appointments, consult doctors, medicine information, and other useful features. If you are upgrading your app with an innovative feature, then you have to analyze the present trend of the market. The trend will help you to understand the wants of the people.
5. Check the HIPAA Compliance
When you decide to develop a healthcare app in the USA, then you should be aware of the rules and regulations established for the healthcare app. As the healthcare app deals with the personal and sensitive information of the users. Thus, for the protection and safeguard of the personal information of the users, a healthcare app has to comply with those regulations.
The healthcare app launched in the USA should be HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliant. HIPAA compliance is a set of rules and regulations to safeguard and protect the medical information of the users. The healthcare app has prescribed standards for healthcare apps, which healthcare has to comply with. The compliance of regulation develops confidence among the users that health-related information is safe with the healthcare app. There are many app development companies with knowledge of HIPAA compliance that can help you in the development of HIPAA compliant healthcare app.
6. Hire an App Developer or Team for healthcare app
When you have finalized your app type, features, and design, then you need a developer/development team for better implementation. The development may seem to be an easy task, but it requires the skills and knowledge of coding languages. If you are a startup, then hiring a Healthcare app development company is a better option.
The development has a team of experienced developers and designers essential for app development. You need them at every stage i.e. from the development to the launch and testing of your healthcare app. The developers work with their full dedication. They help you with app development and also with back-end services. If there is an update in the trend, then they will provide customization to your healthcare app. Before the launch of your app, you can ask them for their feedback on the function and features of your healthcare app. Based on their feedback, you can customize your healthcare app.
Now, when you have decided to hire a team, you should hire them based upon app requirements. You can hire a developer company or freelance developer to proceed with your app development. You need to make sure that they are aware of healthcare compliance and have undertaken the development of healthcare apps.
If you want to hire a freelance developer, then you can search for them online. As there are numerous websites, such as Freelance, Glassdoor, Flexjobs, clutch, and other sites that connect you with the profile of different developers from across the globe. To hire a developer online, you have to create an account on these websites and upload your project requirements.
You can hire in-house or remote developers for healthcare app development. If you want to hire a development company, then you might find multiple development companies around you with a proven track record. You can visit their sites to check their pricing and the effectiveness of their work. Before you hire them, you should ask for the quotation regarding their pricing and experience. Based on your app development budget, you should hire them.
Read More: How to Find an App Developer
7. Launch and Support
When you have developed a fully-featured app, you need a platform to launch your app. The platform will connect your healthcare app with the users and enable them to avail of the benefit of your healthcare app.
To launch your healthcare app on the stores (IOS OR Android), you have to create an account on the desired store. To the user known of your healthcare app, you should adopt marketing methods, such as SEO, Email Marketing, ASO (App Store Marketing), and other methods.
When the user starts connecting with your healthcare app through the stores they will provide you with feedback and reviews on the features and functions. Based on their feedback, you can make further modifications that will help you to improve your app performance. To convert your app a success, you have to enable a support system in your healthcare. As several users might be using such apps for the first time and they will face some problems. The system will help you to resolve their queries. The problem-solving nature enables the user to share your healthcare app with their family, friends and other people.
Conclusion
The healthcare app is becoming more popular because they provide medical consultation on your smartphones and help you to be healthy and fit. They connect the users with the doctors, physicians, and staff for the medical consultation. While you work on developing a healthcare app, you should follow the process of market research and analysis, identify your app type, check the compliance, UI/UX designs, hiring an app developer, launch and support. The process requires time and money and you need to make sure that you have allocated both.
