Thanks to the development of innovative technologies, the healthcare sector has become as accessible as possible, in particular for the low-income population. Medical applications have allowed medical care to be more efficient and effective. However, developing healthcare software requires a professional approach.
Critical Benefits of Healthcare Apps
Medical applications have become integral to modern life, making solving many problems for patients and medical professionals easier. Let’s list these advantages for patients:
- prompt access to health care providers and assistance;
- increase efficiency at observance of the mode appointed by the attending physician;
- availability of high-quality communication links: medical records, online consultations, regulation of medication intake;
- encourages adherence to a healthy lifestyle;
- reduction of financial costs due to online appointments and consultations.
There are also many benefits for doctors:
- better relationship with patients;
- reduction in the number of incorrect diagnoses;
- optimization of payment management for medical services;
- a more efficient notification system (prescribing drugs, special diets);
- convenient and reliable management of patient data.
Healthcare applications have recently expanded their consumer audience significantly thanks to these benefits.
If you would like to improve this world a little by developing and implementing your own healthcare application, you should not neglect the services of third-party developers. At QArea https://qarea.com/industries/healthcare they have vast experience in creating such healthcare applications and know all the intricacies and regulatory laws for allowing such applications to be released to the market.
Varieties of applications for the healthcare sector
Medical applications differ significantly from each other. Some software requires medical certification, while others must be compliant. Let’s take a look at the fundamental types of healthcare applications.
Apps for patients
Medical applications designed for patients make up the vast majority, including remote consultations, therapeutic interventions, telemedicine, medications, and more. Thanks to telemedicine applications, the relationship between patients and medical staff is ensured, increasing the degree of health monitoring. It is most relevant for the population far from medical facilities and people with disabilities.
Apps for healthcare providers
Health care providers (clinics, hospitals) need quality diagnostic systems to reduce misdiagnosis. Using technologies such as machine learning, it is possible to help medical personnel make the right decisions based on the information received and determine the pattern. Hospitals also need apps to manage their healthcare workers. It ensures efficient organization of their work.
Apps for doctors
These medical applications are aimed at training seminars, medical calculators, monitoring, and more. For example, educational applications allow you to improve your professional level and learn about various studies. Also provided are pill identifiers, a drug dosing calculator, and a considerable disease database providing helpful information.
Directions for medical applications for development
Building a healthcare application is a complex task. Next, we will look at the options for applications that you can put into development:
- Monitoring of patients. Provide tracking of various indicators of health in patients;
- Mental health. Provide prompt access to psychologists and psychiatrists who will provide the necessary recommendations;
- Making an appointment with specialists. Optimize the work schedule and allow you to make an appointment with the necessary doctor quickly;
- Writing out prescriptions. Provide the possibility of automatically prescribing with subsequent referral to the patient;
- Controlling the intake of medications. Allows you to promptly remind yourself of the need to take a medicine prescribed by a doctor or perform a procedure.
By familiarizing yourself with the directions of healthcare applications, it will be easier for you to choose to create one.
The process of creating a medical application
Creating a healthcare application is a laborious and lengthy process. Next, we will go through this process step by step.
Determination of the necessary niche
Depending on your financial capabilities and preferences, you must decide which direction you prefer for development. It will also require careful monitoring of competitors, whose weaknesses must be filled.
Development technology
In this case, you will need to focus on either native development or cross-platform development. The first involves developing a medical application for one of the operating systems: Android or iOS (expensive, long, but high performance). The second option is creating products that run on two operating systems (cheaper but worse versions).
HIPAA Compliance
HIPAA is a medical law designed to protect patient data privacy. If you are building a medical application per the HIPAA, please note that it must also consider the requirements of PHI (Public Health Information).
Other privacy requirements
Depending on the consumer audience and the product’s geographical location, it will be necessary to consider all the country’s legislative acts (countries). Therefore, it is recommended to study in detail all the requirements of a particular region.
Range of electronic devices for application operation
Think about which electronic devices your products should fully function (tablet, smartphone, laptop, personal computer, or wearable devices).
Testing apps
Medical applications must be tested because they are a repository of user-confidential information. Excluding testing, there is a high risk of getting a negative reputation with consumers.
It is also essential to check the MVP (Minimum Viable Product), which provides an opportunity to identify bottlenecks in the main sections. If you decide to build mobile app, consider the fundamental needs of clients, doctors, and clinics and take care of data security.
Ensuring compatibility with outdated medical systems
Many medical institutions use outdated programs that are difficult to integrate with innovative technologies. Therefore, this aspect should also be taken into account.
Availability
The designed products must also be user-friendly for users with disabilities. It is necessary to consider all of these aspects to develop high-quality and sought-after products for the healthcare sector.