Like most industries, the healthcare industry has been transformed by mobile app development. There is a proliferation of mobile health apps that do everything from optimizing waiting times in health practices to remote patient monitoring and telemedicine.
Healthcare apps are everywhere. Healthcare providers’ challenge is whether they should actively pursue mHealth app development or use existing mobile healthcare apps and healthcare solutions.
This post will examine the things you should know about healthcare apps. We will explore the most popular types of medical apps and the popular features that should be considered when developing a healthcare app.
The Different Types of Mobile Health Apps
mHealth apps come in many different forms. If you are interested in healthcare app development, there are several different types of popular mobile apps that can be considered a healthcare mobile app.
You might be surprised by some of the different types of mobile apps that are included in this post. To develop a successful mobile health app, you don’t always have to directly provide healthcare services.
As you will see, a healthcare mobile app can simplify the processes of healthcare organizations, medical professionals, insurers, or patients, without delivering healthcare services in the manner typically associated with mHealth apps.
Diagnostic and Clinical Apps
Diagnostic and clinical mHealth apps are likely what you imagine when picturing a medical app. These mHealth apps enable care providers to collect, track, analyze, and share health data.
In addition, these mobile apps allow healthcare providers to view lab results, medical records, and in some cases, perform digital imaging tasks. Another popular function of these mHealth apps is that they enable providers and patients to input symptoms and diagnose the illness.
Clinical and diagnostic mobile applications are popular with healthcare organizations and patients because they make patient data more accessible, which helps improve patient care and health outcomes.
Remote Monitoring Apps
Remote monitoring is a popular request in healthcare mobile app development due to the increasing capabilities of mobile devices and wearable devices. Remote monitoring enables doctors and providers to keep track of patient health outside of the office.
Remote monitoring is very beneficial to the management of chronic conditions. In addition, it can help doctors monitor oxygen levels, heart rate, blood pressure, and other key health metrics without a visit to the office.
This is not only beneficial for patients since they can be monitored from the comfort of their homes, but it is also beneficial to providers and the management of patient flow through their practice on a daily basis.
Telehealth Apps
Telemedicine apps were a growing trend in mHealth app development services, and then the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of these mHealth apps. This type of mHealth mobile app doesn’t have to necessarily be exclusively a healthcare app.
Healthcare professionals can use well-developed communication apps that prioritize security to deliver telehealth services via video or audio calls. More mHealth mobile apps are embracing telemedicine as the service has proven popular with patients and providers.
Productivity Apps
Health providers are often very busy. Productivity apps are a popular type of mHealth app that can help providers improve efficiency and increase productivity.
These mHealth apps help with time-consuming tasks like scheduling, patient charting and paperwork, and note-taking. When doctors have more time, they can focus on delivering better, more focused patient care.
A mHealth app development company doesn’t have to be a technical, medical expert in developing a robust mobile application that promotes productivity.
Reminder Apps
Some people require reminders to ensure they take medication on time or attend an appointment. Typically, mHealth apps will have reminder features built-in. However, if you are looking for a great idea to build a mHealth app around, a reminder app is a great place to start.
Practices can also use reminder apps to confirm appointments with patients and ensure they don’t double book a time slot or doctor. While a reminder application seems simple, this is a valuable service that patients will continue to use repeatedly.
Mental Health Apps
Mental health is an important part of healthcare that is often overlooked, but this trend is changing as more people become aware of its importance. Mental health apps come in a variety of different packages.
Healthy lifestyle apps encourage exercise, healthy eating, meditation, yoga, etc., and some apps connect users with therapists and other mental health professionals over video calls.
Both types of mental health apps are popular, but the requirements of both vary. For example, a meditation app won’t have to deal with HIPAA compliance while an application that connects users with therapists will.
Prescription Apps
Prescription apps can be beneficial for patients and doctors. This mobile health technology can be used to help doctors prescribe the right dosages and medications to ensure that there are no adverse reactions between medications.
In addition, this technology can also be used to simplify the process of refilling prescriptions for patients and remind them when it is time to refill or pick up a prescription that is waiting for them at the pharmacy.
Key Features to Include in a Healthcare App
mHealth app development will vary based on the type of mobile application you want to build. However, to create an engaging user experience that adds value to health organizations and patients, there are some features that healthcare app developers should strongly consider, including the following:
- Health tracking
- Analytics
- Appointment scheduling
- Real-time chat
- Payment gateway
Health Tracking
The most important feature for most mHealth apps will be health tracking capabilities. Most users and health providers use a mHealth app to track health metrics. Measuring data points such as caloric intake, blood pressure, heart rate, sleep, etc., is vital to the value proposition of mHealth.
Whether your healthcare app is patient-facing, provider-facing, or both, health tracking will likely be vital to the performance and value of your application. There are instances when this feature will not be central to the application, but most mHealth apps will require health tracking in some capacity.
Analytics
Analytics and reporting are almost as crucial to mHealth app development as health tracking. Patients and providers want to see the data collected by health tracking in context. Data without context is of little use.
Analytics and reporting features give context to data and add value to your mHealth app. Analytics and reporting can be used for more than health information. Providers can use analytics to track the number of patients they see, the financial health of their practice, etc.
Patients can also use analytics and reporting features to track their healthcare spending insurance claims, and health metrics.
Appointment Scheduling
Appointment scheduling is a must-have feature for health providers with a mHealth app. Not only does appointment scheduling simplify workflows for office staff, but it also creates a better patient experience.
In addition, appointment scheduling features give doctors and other providers a comprehensive view of their upcoming schedules. When utilized effectively, appointment scheduling features can significantly assist hospital apps and reduce waiting room times.
While you can develop an application that works solely around this feature, appointment scheduling can also be a positive feature in almost any mHealth app.
Real-Time Chat
Real-time chat features enable patients to connect with doctors even in remote locations or outside of office hours. Like many innovations in mHealth app development, the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated the value of chat features.
When people were confined to their homes, they still needed to speak with their doctors. Chat and video conferencing features drive telemedicine and are valuable to mHealth applications and providers that want to offer their patients additional resources.
Chat features can be used to get answers to simple questions about treatment, get advice about a symptom or condition, and so much more.
Payment Gateway
Including a payment gateway in your mHealth app is very important. Patients can conveniently pay for treatment and view active and paid bills with a payment gateway. A payment gateway can also help patients access payment history and past billing, which can be helpful for insurance purposes.
Payment gateway features are common in most applications. If you are going to spend time developing a mHealth application. It is a wise decision to include a payment gateway for the sake of user convenience.
Final Thoughts
mHealth app development is gaining a lot of popularity as doctors and patients seek new ways to improve care. If you want to learn more about healthcare app development, contact an experienced MedTech app development partner like Koombea.
