Healthcare Application Development- Ultimate Business Guide for 2024

The healthcare app market is blazing and is estimated to hit $660 billion by 2025. Fascinating figures, right?

If you want to earn your well-deserved share from this domain, read this post and spin huge revenue from healthcare application development!

The digital revolution is unceasingly transforming our lives. The innovation in mobile applications is touching every industry and healthcare is not behind.

From accessing the prescription to pre-booking appointments, users can tap all the medical essentials with a healthcare mobile application at their fingertips.

40% of consumers stated they will continue using the digital healthcare solutions. Not only just for medical treatments, but these applications can also help users to maintain their well-being and general health.

Due to the swelling demand for healthcare apps, this domain is considered one of the most fruitful ones to make colossal wealth. However, this endeavor is challenging. From ideation to analysis and solution, every stage requires meticulous attention.

Let us dive into a detailed insight into healthcare applications along with their step-by-step development process.

What is Healthcare Application Development?

Healthcare application development is the process of building a mobile app that helps users manage all medical-related things on their smartphones. This includes hospital visits, insurance claims, fitness goals, other medical conditions, and much more.

This app also comprises medicines records, lab results reviews, appointment and prescription management, and more. Telehealth apps are not only beneficial for patients but also for healthcare professionals to manage their operations in an improved way.

Let’s quickly get down to the importance of healthcare application development.

Importance of Healthcare Application Development

Do you know why healthcare application development is gaining huge popularity? Here are some primary reasons for the escalating demand for medical apps.

• Ease of accessing healthcare.
• Abundant online users.
• Improved health monitoring.
• Better tracking of medical records.
• Great convenience.

If you cater to this ever-growing demand for ultimate mobile healthcare apps, you can earn the following benefits.

Increased customer loyalty

If you offer valuable experience through a healthcare app, your developed application will get a million hits. Nowadays, people only choose those healthcare apps that give them convenience and full access to their medical records.

Such as booking appointments, viewing test results, etc. If you cater to this need, you can earn their loyalty and make your brand ‘the biggest’.

Improved engagement

Offering valuable experience in telehealth apps helps you bridge the gap between your users and you. This also increases the user engagement with the application. If you offer what your target audience is looking for, then a one-time user will become a regular user of your healthcare app.

Attracting customers

If your healthcare app delivers what your target users are looking for, you will experience more and more people downloading and using your application. Remember that promoting your healthcare mobile application is vital to get more installs.

A useful healthcare app that notifies users about medical appointments, special offers, the latest news, etc. attracts many new customers.

Augmented brand name

Meeting the demand for useful and user-friendly medical apps can help you become the biggest brand in the market. The more people connect with your app, the better it is for your brand and revenue.

Enhanced credibility

If you offer great functioning healthcare applications to the users, more people will interact with you. A good amount of users project you as a reliable source wherein they can submit all their personal medical records without worry. This is not only good for your brand but also helps in increasing your business credibility.

Types of healthcare mobile app development

As already discussed, healthcare apps and software cater to both the patients and the healthcare provider’s needs. Healthcare app development is broadly divided into three categories namely:

• For professionals.
• For patients.
• For medical institutions.

Professional healthcare app development: Healthcare apps for professionals are useful for doctors, medical staff, and physicians. Here is the list of values that professional healthcare application development brings to this section of society.

• Remote diagnosing.
• Seamless remote communication.
• Managing patient appointments.
• Remote monitoring.
• Telemedicine.
• Information about medical articles, drugs, and symptoms.

Patients healthcare app development: Healthcare app for patients caters to people’s medical needs. It helps them in the following ways:

• Self-diagnosing.
• Scheduling appointments.
• Maintaining well-being records like pulse, blood pressure, glucometer, etc.
• Pregnant women’s assistance/women’s health.
• Telemedicine.
• IoT products.
• Maintaining mental health including meditation.
• Health portals and forums.
• Diet tips, water monitoring, calorie management, etc.

Medical institution healthcare app development: Not only do patients and medical professionals get benefited from a healthcare app, but institutions that provide medical care also need such apps for:

• Appointment management and scheduling.
• Managing inventory.
• Smooth medical billing.

Now you know all three major types of healthcare apps, you can pick any and initiate the app development process accordingly.

Trends and Challenges in Healthcare Application Development

The covid-19 outbreak has upsurged the market value of the healthcare industry. By the end of 2023, the global health apps market will amplify from $28.320 to $102.35. With an estimated CAGR of 25%, the digital health market will reach $660 billion by 2025.

Although developing a healthcare app comes with massive perks, there are quite some challenges in this path. Health is very personal to every individual. Moreover, a health app deals with the personal and sensitive information of people.

Without the trust of your target audience, even the intuitive design and high-end functionalities of your app are nothing.

To gain their trust, you need to constantly work on every aspect of your healthcare application. Here are some of the big challenges that tag along with healthcare application development.

Privacy and security of the patient

Many healthcare applications encounter several issues in terms of the privacy of patients’ sensitive data and medical reports. Several users have reported issues with using their data without their knowledge and consent. Therefore, the safety of patients’ sensitive information in healthcare apps is a mandatory attribute.

Bulk data management

Patients would benefit from a healthcare app if it aids them in getting the right treatment at the right time. Managing data in bulk is an integral part of a healthcare application.

If the app fails in maintaining the sensitive information of the patients, they will not trust your services and your credibility will become doubtful.

Keeping abreast with market trends

To survive the health market competition, keeping up with the latest market trends is crucial. Investors often get attracted to such solutions that are aligned with the latest technologies.

The introduction of new tools, mobile devices, people’s lifestyles, and compliances makes it challenging for medical institutions and professionals to manage everything from a single place.

Data encryption

More than 7 million unencrypted information and data records have been compromised in the healthcare industry, leaving all the sensitive data exposed. It is imperative to ensure that all personal data and medical records of patients travel through encrypted channels only.

Your healthcare app should adhere to certain standards and be aligned with up-to-the-minute requirements. If a company falls short on this part, its reputation and credibility go at stake.

Application design principles

The design and feel of a healthcare app should cater to all types of patients’ needs. Consider keeping the design minimalistic and clean. The choice of colors in healthcare applications highly depends on your target audience and its purpose.

Avoid creating a complex design, make it simple which can be easily navigated by ordinary people who possess no technical know-how.

Key Features of Healthcare Applications

Future healthcare apps will provide advanced options to both patients and doctors. Before beginning with the healthcare application development process, here are some important points that need to be considered.

For patients:

• Ease of login and registration.
• On-the-go appointment scheduling.
• Simplified search for specific doctors before booking appointments.
• Push notifications and in-app reminders (avoid being too pushy).
• Ease of getting virtual consultations.
• In-app chat.
• Ease of integration with medical devices.
• Prescription tracking.
• Urgent care and diagnosis.
• Offers health data to promote awareness.

For doctors:

• Ease of integration with EMR (electronic health records).
• E-prescriptions save time and offer convenience.
• Compliance with HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act).
• Appointment scheduling and tracking.
• Medical training.
• Ease of recording the list of patient’s symptoms.

For medical institutions:

• Hassle-free interaction between patients and hospitals.
• Ease of handling emergencies.
• Smooth coordination between different departments.
• Ease of serving people in remote areas.
• Management of medical bills.

Important factors to consider before developing a healthcare app

Healthcare application development is a complex process that needs a meticulous approach at each step. One wrong move can increase your expenses and extend the development time. To get the desired outcomes, consider the following factors before kickstarting the healthcare application development process.

Make sure you comply with all rules

Whenever you start developing a healthcare app, you need to adhere to quite some legal compliances. Out of many legal compliances, the major ones are HIPAA, FDS, HIMSS, etc.

The healthcare industry is very stringent when it comes to complying with legal protocols. Make sure your healthcare app complies with GDPR, CCPA, NIST, PIPEDA, and HiTech.

A clear line of interaction

A seamless and uninterrupted flow of information across various devices is another must-have feature in a healthcare app. Without this feature, there will be a lack of interoperability and glitches in information flow.

Make sure that the connectivity that you are offering in your healthcare app is flawless and caters to your target user’s needs.

Give emphasis to a single purpose

As already discussed in the previous sections, there are majorly three application categories that are part of the healthcare industry namely professionals, patients, and medical institutions. Avoid giving numerous solutions to multiple categories.

To make your healthcare app successful, stick to one app category and be the best at it. If you will drive your focus on one area, you would provide the finest solution to your target audience and offer good value to the stakeholders.

A good set of features

The success or failure of a healthcare application majorly depends on the offered features in it. Every application varies from the other in terms of features, functionalities, interface, and much more. To make your app development efforts count, make sure it has the following features:

• Health monitoring.
• Appointment scheduling.
• Seamless integration with wearables.
• Social sharing (fitness app).
• Safe in-app payments.
• Robust security of personal data.

UI/UX matters

A bad user interface and user experience can push your healthcare app into a doom-hole. You need to make sure that your users are not having a bad time dealing with the app. To ensure the success of your healthcare app, you need to keep things simple so that people from every walk of life, especially non-techies can operate it easily.

Your app should run faster in situations when there is an urgency to consult the doctor. A healthcare app should cater to such prompting circumstances.

APIs and integrations

From offering ease of connecting the application with a database or server to integrating many users via social media, API (Application Program Interface) is an essential functionality used in the entire app development process. As the market is flooded with options in APIs and integrations, make sure you pick the right one after thorough research.

Appropriate app testing

Testing is a crucial stage in the healthcare app development process. If you happen to launch your app without proper testing, you might suffer costly consequences.

As already said, healthcare app development has stringent legal policies, if you launch an untested app, you might face expensive lawsuits. This won’t be good for your business reputation and finances.

Deliver the right information

Your healthcare app should be capable of providing solutions to the problem of your target audience. Ensure that the information that you are providing through your app is complete and correct. Incomplete or incorrect data in the healthcare app can bring negative consequences for your business in terms of legality and business image.

Uptight security

As your app will contain users’ medical records and other personal details, you need to maintain its security. You need to keep it safe, especially from hackers. If you adhere to legal compliances like HIMSS and HIPAA the level of safety is raised but you need to strengthen it even more to offer 100% security from data thefts and breaches.

Now you know all the major considerations while developing a healthcare application. Let’s quickly understand the cost and the time that needs to be invested in this process.

Cost and Timeline to Develop a Healthcare Application

The cost and timeline of developing a healthcare application depend on a number of factors. The major aspects are the app’s complexities, requirements, technological functionaries, number of screens, etc.

For instance, the cost of developing a complex telemedicine app will be higher than a simple fitness solution.

The best way to calculate the final healthcare application development cost is the working hours. The hourly rate for development ranges between $40-$45, for design $70-$80, and the choice of app development services.

For instance, the average cost of developing a fitness app with 5-10 frames would be $75800. The price break up is as follows:

• Spending 210 hours in UX/UI design= 210 hours x $80
• 38 to 39 days in iOS development with key features= 930 hours x $45
• Server and app testing= 400 hours x $45

These figures are not exact. The actual healthcare app development cost depends on the amount of time spent on the process. Here, the size of the team, development platform (Android/iOS), complexity (set of features), UI/UX, integrations, etc. plays a vital role in deciding the timeline.

Healthcare integrations, app modules working on artificial intelligence, IoT, & machine learning, and technical requisites of privacy laws consume a lot of time in the app development process.

Steps to Develop a Successful Healthcare Application

Application development companies and healthcare app developers can make huge revenue via mobile medical app development. However, not all applications are useful.

Remember, not all healthcare app users possess the technical know-how to sail across complex functionalities. Therefore, to make the application successful and popular, it should be developed well with all the essential ingredients. Here are the steps to develop a successful healthcare application:

Determine the application type

You cannot start the healthcare app development process without knowing the type of app you want to build. Your choice will depend on your vision, monetization plan, and business perspective. In this step, you will decide what and whose problem you will solve through your medical app.

Do market analysis

Once you decide on the kind of application you will create, the next step will be a thorough competitor analysis and market research. This phase comprises a lot of subtasks like identifying your competition, analyzing your app, and churning out the strong and weak points.

Understanding your target audience and their plans should also be part of your research. Jot down the details and make a list of additional features to be included in the app.

Come up with the finest UX/UI design

As already discussed, the look and feel of your healthcare app play a significant role in its success. The average time for understanding whether the app is worth it or not is 3 seconds. Consider making your app simple, easily navigable, perfect design, appealing, and practical to capture your target user’s attention.

Determine monetization plan

Depending on the type of healthcare application you want to build, you will now decide the strategy to generate money from it. Whether you want to go for in-app payments or premium subscriptions. You need to craft a plan that will help you generate revenue through your app.

Develop MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

Now you will create a skeleton of the first version of your app. You will develop an MVP with the basic features you want in your healthcare application. This is a crucial step as it helps you in testing the performance of the app in real time.

Test and feedback

Once the MVP is deployed, it helps you in gathering real-time feedback on your healthcare app. The first UAT (user acceptance testing) unveils all the vulnerable points of your app. At this stage, you will run tests on your app and based on the feedback, you will make changes accordingly.

Analyzation and improvement

The healthcare app development process is a constant method as you will keep adding novel features and making improvements. Based on the findings after the testing phase, you need to plan for improving on the loopholes or shortcomings of the app. Make corrections to the next version of the app accordingly to offer the finest experience to your users.

Technologies Used in Healthcare Application Development

Many smart clinics, hospitals, physicians, and doctors are embracing healthcare apps with open arms as it helps in building value and strengthens trust. Talking about consumers, 71% of patients prefer using the mobile health app to contact their doctors and manage their medical records.

It is very interesting to look at some of the technological trends in healthcare industries that impact healthcare software development.

Artificial intelligence

AI or artificial intelligence is among the most prevalent technologies in the healthcare market today which impact app development. By 2027, it is expected that AI in the health market will reach $67.4 billion with a CAGR of 46.2%. The potential of AI in healthcare can be seen in the following cases:

• Robot-assisted surgeries.
• Research and development.
• Fast interpretation of medical images.
• Data science processing.
• Health predictions and suggested preventive measures.

Internet of Things (IoT)

When discussing technologies utilized in healthcare, IoT cannot be sidestepped. This technology creates an ecosystem between the application and connected devices for collecting, transferring, and analyzing data. IoT can enhance the patient experience. It helps doctors to analyze the patient’s health data, and thereafter provide a personalized treatment plan.

Well-connected devices aid medical professionals in monitoring the digital data coming from wearables and ingestible sensors easily. This way they deliver more accurate treatment to their patients.

Blockchain

The implementation of blockchain is another biggest technology used in the healthcare industry. Blockchain is an absolute disseminated ledger that facilitates the transmission of patients’ medical records in a completely protected manner. The biggest advantage of using blockchain technology is the elevation in data security.

Another prime benefit of using blockchain is efficient pharmaceutical supply management. Thanks to immutable disseminated records, blockchain technology ensures the authenticity of pharma via data sharing and offers the ease of accessing the entire product journey.

Telemedicine

Telemedicine is another dominant technology used in the healthcare market and utilized in medical app development. With an annual growth rate of 17.5%, the global telemedicine market has grown to $45 billion in 2022. This technology gained a lot of attention after the covid-19 outbreak in 2020. Many medical professionals had to provide medical assistance to patients remotely.

Telemedicine is all about helping caregivers to offer distant medical diagnostics, consulting, and treatment. This includes conducting video consultations and monitoring the patient data with the help of wearables, etc.

Augmented and virtual reality

The implementation of virtual reality and augmented reality (VR/AR) is one of the popular technologies in the healthcare market. From assisting in different surgeries and facilitating medical training to improving healthcare apps, VR/AR has brought many positive effects to this sector.

HoloLens is a popular example of this technology. It is a Microsoft mixed reality headset that helps surgeons to operate without using their hands. They can simply use voice commands and gestures and concentrate more on the medical procedure. These headsets also facilitate collaboration and training between medical practitioners sitting in different locations.

Healthcare Application Development Case Studies

Case 1: Use of Telemedicine and Telehealth

Issue: Difficulty in offering remote help to patients.

Solution: Telemedicine and telehealth services are highly demanded features in the mobile medical app. These apps gained a lot of popularity during the covid-19 outbreak. It enabled many health officials to communicate with their patients online and offer medical help faster.

Case 2: Health Information Exchange

Issue: Inability to measure the patient’s parameters.

Solution: Vital parameters like blood pressure, body temperature, heart rate, etc. is essential to track in order to diagnose the patient correctly. The health information exchange allows physicians to measure these signs quickly using mobile authentication.

Case 3: Electronic Health Record

Issue: Wastage of time in manual entries and making potential errors.

Solution: The electronic health record helps to easily track, update, manage, collect, and transfer the medical information of the patient. Managing everything from a single platform eliminates potential manual errors, saves time, and eases exchanging patients’ data across various health institutions.

Case 4: E-prescribing

Issue: Difficulty in storing and maintaining prescriptions

Solution: E-prescribing provides an electronic health ecosystem wherein creating, sending, and storing prescriptions is effortless. Doctors can save a lot of time and access the information whenever needed. For patients, the odds of making errors and the need of storing manual prescriptions are eliminated.

Case 5: Medical Billing

Issue: Difficulty in accessing patient records and checking the bill.

Solution: Medical billing system gives an ease of navigating across various apps without the need of logging in. Using this solution, doctors can easily access patients’ health records and check bills at the same time.

Marketing Strategies for Healthcare Applications

Due to the increased use of mobile phones, global app downloads rose by 60%, especially at the beginning of covid-19. In the first quarter of 2021, the number of healthcare applications in the Google Play Store was over 53,054, and more than 53,979 in the Apple App Store.

Today both patients and health officials expect a digitally advanced and innovative medical experience. Looking at the competition in the health market, you cannot fall short in healthcare app marketing efforts to attract the attention of your target users.

Here are some effective marketing strategies that work for healthcare application promotion.

Utilize medical experts’ network

Personal branding works wonders in healthcare app marketing. You can involve a renowned medical practitioner to promote your app. This will help you earn the trust of your customers and attract the attention of your target audience. Getting the healthcare app promoted via renowned physicians will increase its value as well.

Flag up the positive reviews

Every person takes a glance at reviews before buying, using, or even downloading a healthcare app. If you want to gain the trust of your target audience, you need to include this marketing strategy in your promotion efforts.

Ask your current users to provide reviews on their app experience, flag the positive testimonials at the bottom of your homepage and earn the trust of your potential users.

Work on the app’s performance

A fast-performing healthcare app is always preferred over sluggish applications. This greatly helps in your app marketing efforts. We are again highlighting the importance of user experience here.

The harder time you give users to operate or even run the app, the more you will push them away. Make sure your healthcare app provides a stellar performance as this is counted among the most potent marketing ideas.

Push notifications

Push notifications have immense outreach capabilities. However, you should know the correct way to utilize it. Push notifications are similar to email marketing. But when you are sending notifications on users’ mobile, it has to offer unique value to them. This marketing idea is one of the best ways to promote a new healthcare app to inactive users. Therefore, treat it as an integral part of your app marketing strategy.

Proper mobile responsive website

You may want your healthcare app to be strictly for mobile but having a fully-functioning website would help you in the promotion efforts. Whenever you plan to build a website, make sure that your users easily find what they are looking for.

You can also utilize analytical tools on your site to improve the navigation for your users and increase their engagement. Set up a mobile website version and offer users the ease of knowing about the services you are offering in your healthcare app.

PPC campaigns pay off

PPC (pay-per-click) is one of the best healthcare app marketing techniques that helps reach a wide audience. This marketing tool helps you build a robust search engine presence. You can use geographic-based targeting on your PPC ads to reach more potential users.

Don’t disregard SMM

Creating a powerful SMM (social media marketing) for your healthcare application across networking channels can increase its visibility. Many studies have shown 41% of people choose healthcare solutions based on their reputation on social media platforms.

You can utilize this tool without spending a single penny and promote your application on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and more. Try solving the recurrent problem of healthcare app users and address it via your application to gain more downloads.

Intuitive introduction video

Many users prefer video tutorials over reading long texts on using a specific product or app. Don’t let them go anywhere else, provide an introduction video within your app or put it on your website. Intriguing intro videos help you in attracting more leads over a text guide.

Future of Healthcare Application Development

According to a HIMSS Analytics survey, 93% of health officials value and use medical apps that provide emergency health services. In the first quarter of 2021, 84% of physicians were using virtual care for their patients.

The future of healthcare application development seems to intensify in the coming time. Here are some of the potential patterns that you will experience in the future.

• 88% of doctors use mobile technologies in patient care.
• 31% of medical institutions have embraced patient-specific applications and 30% more are in the process of developing a healthcare app.
• 61% of people use healthcare apps in the United States.
• Better coordination between health officials and patients will help in lowering the cost of medical.
• Healthcare apps will improve the efficiency of medical settings and general workflow.

How can JoomDev help you with healthcare app development services?

Affordable healthcare is a dream as the cost of medical and treatments is skyrocketing. However, our team at JoomDev has the expertise to create an affordable yet top healthcare solution for your target audience.

We are the most trustworthy IT experts who know what is coming ahead and deliver projects within the timeline. We are experienced in identifying and resolving several healthcare challenges with our proficiency and provide premium solutions through the high-end healthcare app.

We take pride in offering top-notch Android and iOS healthcare app development services. Contact us and get all your queries answered.

Let’s start a fruitful collaboration and build a premium healthcare app together!

FAQs on Healthcare App Development

Take Away

The effect of technological enhancement can be witnessed in different parts of industries, including healthcare. Nowadays, users can eliminate the need of standing in long queues in the hospital or even consult with a medical practitioner. Healthcare applications are altogether a new approach to utilizing medical facilities. This ultimate guide has shown that healthcare apps are a boon to the medical industry, patients, and health officials. 

People are getting more inclined towards managing their health. With the growing demand for user-friendly, efficient, and secure healthcare apps, it is the right time to invest in healthcare application development and make huge revenue in exchange for your solutions.