Pretty much every industry is now shifting to mobile technology, including health care. Medical app development is driving more access to healthcare. With apps like Health on iPhones, people have become habituated to relying on such mobile applications to track their medical indicators.
Healthcare apps put medical staff and patients in touch and allow for smooth and easy communication pathways. As technology empowers healthcare providers to be more precise in their diagnoses and therapies, patients can receive skilled medical aid remotely.
On top of that, apps make it more efficient for healthcare institutions to perform administrative procedures free of unnecessary paperwork.
The quantity of medical apps available today is continuously growing. As of the 2nd quarter of 2022, 54,603 such apps are available to download in Google Play Store, while Apple App Store features 52,406 apps. Would like to join this branch of the market? This article is for you then!
Let’s chitchat about how to create a medical app, what boons it can bear, and the current types.
The variety of Medical App Development
Health Indicators Track App
Medical monitoring applications can serve a variety of purposes. There are apps that are designed to track general medical indicators, such as heart rate, temperature, physical activity level, calories consumed, menstrual cycle, and pregnancy.
The most prominent example of such an app is Apple’s “health” app.
Health apps can also have a narrower focus and can be used to track other indicators. For example, a glucose-tracking app for diabetics, a separate menstrual and pregnancy tracker, or a test-tracking app. The number of purposes such apps can be used stretches far beyond the ones mentioned here.
Monitoring apps can be a great solution to improve the quality of medical treatment. Several user roles can be introduced in such apps: doctor and patient. The patient enters data into such an app, and the doctor, in turn, monitors the patient's health profile and prescribes or corrects treatment, if necessary.
Mental Health Improvement App
Mental health apps are aimed at identifying and solving problems related to people’s emotional states. Such apps can also be different and offer a variety of solutions. Mental health apps can be a bridge that connects professionals and people who are looking for mental health assistance. Perhaps you might want to go for mobile medical app development to create a place that brings together courses aimed to help people deal with their emotional concerns.
Healthcare Institution App
Technology is actively adopted to facilitate in-hospital administrative procedures. Such applications allow you to make an appointment with a doctor online, get a prescription remotely, order an extract from medical documents, get the examination results and simplify other administrative procedures, which can be done without visiting the institution.
Fitness App
Fitness apps can also be categorized as health apps. Most of these apps can track heart rate, calories consumed and spent, etc. Such apps are based on a set of workouts prepared by professionals.
Medical Education App
It’s not the first thing that comes to mind when talking about medical apps. Apps can also become a means for healthcare providers' training and knowledge base.
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The Use Mobile Medical App Development Bring
It's a certain thing that technology provides an enormous number of benefits for all: patients, doctors, and administrative staff. Resting on the app type and its features, the benefits vary from app to app. The list of boons that building a medical app is likely to provide include but are not limited to:
For Patients
- Self-tracking of health indicators
- Medication reminders
- Remote appointments and prescriptions
- Self-diagnostics
- Treatment plan under the fingertips
- Fast communication with doctors
- Quick access to healthcare assistance
For Healthcare Providers
- Remote monitoring of patient’s health condition
- Timetables and schedules
- Training and knowledge bases
- Quick communication with patients
- Smooth access to medical records
For Administrative Staff
- Easy and quick billing
- Paperless management
- Meds supply management
- Healthcare providers’ appointments and availability schedule
Guide to Create a Medical App
Identify the Niche
Every project starts with an idea. The same goes for health app development. If you have an idea for a health app, you naturally come to the question “how to make a medical app”. Determining your medical app development is where the journey starts.
As we said before, health apps can come in a variety of types, have different features, and meet multiple purposes.
Map out the problem your app will solve. Do your audience research so that your app will benefit them to the greatest extent possible.
During the research, try to answer the following questions:
- What will the app simplify for users?
- What problem will it address?
- Can the app bridge the gap currently present in health care?
- Will it stand out from the competition? What makes it stand out from the competitors?
If your app solves a user problem in a particular niche, it will find its users and compete with other apps.
Think Over the Feature Set
Features and functionality are an answer to how to develop a medical app that brings use and addresses the users’ problems.
The feature set is determined by the app type, your target audience’s issues, and the way it’s going to be solved.
For instance, if you’re developing an app for doctors to monitor the patient’s health status, then you’ll probably need to integrate a dashboard fitted with graphics and analytics. This will be of great use for doctors to see the whole picture of medical supervision in action.
For appointment apps, the healthcare providers’ timetables and ability to select appropriate time is a must.
Research Required Regulations
Each country has its own laws and regulations ruling the healthcare systems. Researching and making an app to be compliant with them is vital. If not, it may cost you a high price - up to the app ban. For example, in the U.S., the application must meet the requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
In addition to local regulations and laws, there are other documents that the application must comply with.
iOS and Android also have their own requirements for in-store health apps. These requirements can be found in the documents:
- Android.os.health documentation applied for Android medical app development.
- Apple's human interface guidelines applied for iOS medical app development.
If you plan to enter the international market, the app must also meet international health standards. It may be mandatory in your region to comply with these standards:
- IEC 62304 (an international standard defining life cycle requirements for medical software and software within medical devices)
- ISO27001 (International Standard for Information Security Management)
- HITECH Act
Last but not least, your application must have a privacy policy. Frequently, health apps collect user data that is sensitive data. It is your responsibility to ensure that your users' data is kept secure to the fullest extent possible. Leakage of personal data is not only reputational damage but can entail lawsuits.
Find the Most Fitting Development Team
It's up to the team you choose to bring your idea to life.
There are many developers on the market, but not every team will be able to build a medical app that corresponds to your vision. Pick a team based on their skills, expertise, and experience that proves they know how to build the medical app you need.
Before making a choice in favor of one or another team, study their portfolio, website, and testimonials on various platforms.
Contact the team you prefer to go over the details and learn more about the company. In most cases, a call with the company can be booked on the website.
Development
The development process is possible to split into 2 stages: pre-development and development.
Pre-development
The pre-development phase addresses questions such as:
- On what operating systems will the application be available?
- What devices will the app run on?
- What technologies will be used to create the application?
- What will comprise the development roadmap?
And other questions about the development process.
Development
The development workflow consists of 3 components: medical app design, coding, and testing. All three work in partnership to deliver a quality product. In our company, at the moment of development, the priority is the user, or rather how they will interact with the application. This focus helps us create not only useful applications but also ones that are easy to use.
Launch and Everything that Goes After
Any mobile app released requires maintenance and support. Full-cycle development teams like Celadonsoft include support in mobile health app development services. What constitutes health app support:
- App updates
- Bug fixes
- Development and implementation of new features
- Making any changes due to platform operating system updates
and other activities aimed at maintaining the technical state of the application.
Highly Professional Medical App Development
For your idea to see the world, you need a reliable development team that is able to transform your thought into a mobile application. Celadonsoft is a team of professional developers that can bring your project to life. We combine technology with talent and skills, so you wind up seeing your idea on your mobile screen.
Our broad portfolio features various projects including hospital mobile app development. The app is designed to change the rules of the in-hospital experience and make more efficient for all: providers, patients, and hospital staff.
We’re the developers of full-cycle which means we’re not limited to development and UI/UX design services but take full care of your app. Whether you need professional mobile app development or professional web app development to get custom medical app development, we are good at both and promise to deliver the app that lives up to your expectations.
Contact us to make the first step towards bringing your impact into healthcare digitalization.