The pandemic of COVID-19 has forced the whole world population to be closed at their homes. The countries’ lockdowns suspended the global economy for a while. Now the situation becomes a little clearer: the panic is under control. However, the changes that took place in 2020 are irreversible.
The last year brought brand new problems to solve. It pushes societies, companies, and governments to overcome the challenges. It may seem paradoxical, but in fact, it is very logical that the crisis has driven us to new healthcare on-demand application development. Both US and European governments launched projects to support digital health care for their citizens. Such a circumstantial will assist the rise of the digital healthcare market. Besides, the usage of health and fitness apps grows 87 percent faster than the app industry as a whole.
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According to Global Market Insights, the digital health industry will exceed $640 billion by 2026. Its value was $86.4 billion in 2018. The growing number of COVID-19 cases all over the world has increased the approval of the on-demand healthcare business model. The digital health industry will continue to grow. By 2026 the healthcare apps segment will increase by 38.9%. Telehealthcare will increase by 26.2% only for the next five years. Besides, ⅘ of customers have positive feedback about telehealth. So, It is the right time to think about developing on-demand healthcare services.
Both doctors and patients benefit when companies build on-demand doctor apps. In fact, we were waiting too long for considerable innovations in the medical industry. Telemedicine is not only about saving time or booking a doctor while having health issues abroad. Healthcare web app development can help medical experts to deal with emergency cases. For example, it can grant a doctor access to patients’ medical tests, x-rays, MRI, and other personal data. It is necessary to make a quick decision, connected to the question of life and death.
On the other hand, using the features of on-demand healthcare apps can help patients access personal medical data, and monitor their health condition, search for available doctors online, make appointments and calls. Due to investors building on-demand healthcare apps, the exchange of information between doctors and patients is just a matter of seconds. It allows medical workers to offer even better care to mobile medicine app users.
Last year a lot of doctor-on-demand applications were created. So, first, you need to know your audience and create a healthcare application that will meet users’ expectations and drive doctors and patients to choose your option among many available on the market. Secondly, search what features of mobile medicine offer the largest and most rated players on the online health business. There are a lot of features for today.
Patients in small towns have lower access to medical institutions than citizens of big cities. Access to the doctors is worse, too. People need to move a long distance to get to appointments. Moreover, it could be harder to search for the right doctors. Make a doctor search app, and you solve the problem of a lot of potential users. With such an option, they could access a database of medical specialists and find available healthcare workers online.
However, this does not only apply to people who need to travel far. The patient may not be satisfied with the nearest hospital. Or his illness prevents him from moving far. Finally, the target audience of such an application also includes parents who care about the child, but the situation is not critical enough to take him to the hospital, for example, in bad weather.
In addition, the situation in the world shows that the trend to provide all possible services online will only grow. For example, why do people have to violate the conditions of social distance, if they can use a doctor booking app made by you? Users will appreciate it.
Missed appointments cost the U.S. healthcare system $150 billion every year. But reminders can reduce this amount by 36 percent. Due to this, investors and companies that create a doctor booking app, save money for the medical system, and assist patients to remember their planned appointments with medical doctors.
Also, in some cases, patients do not need to visit the doctor if they can call him or chat. For the doctors, it will improve outcomes, while medical workers can provide mobile apps users with medical advice and services and avoid unnecessary appointments with patients.
To build a doctor scheduling app also means to provide both sides of customers – patients and doctors – with access to all available medical data. Users can search for any information online. It will reduce paperwork and save time for mobile healthcare application users.
Probably, the remarkable way to cut down costs for medical care is to build a doctor booking app. With its feature, the whole process of caring for the health of a patient will be cut-priced. Telehealth makes medical services cheaper as it reduces costs for hospital admissions. As a result, services become accessible to more people. Such a situation lets doctors have an increased flow of patients.
All users of on-demand healthcare applications also benefit from the opportunity to access such features as search for doctors, make appointments, chat with medical specialists or get reminders to take medicine in any place, whether it is home, work, or vacation. Moreover, after the COVID-19 began, the industry of doctor’s on-demand apps prospered exponentially. The global telehealth market was valued at $4.5 billion in 2018. It anticipated being worth $32.71 billion by 2027, which means it will grow more than 7X times.
There are plenty of different mobile healthcare apps available on the market. In general, the following features make a doctor scheduling app comparable.
Patients and doctors can make scheduling, a syncing account with a calendar, get email support, SMS reminders, email appointment reminders, and mobile access. They both also have connections to documents scanning and sharing tools and real-time analytics. Patients can see the dashboard for staff member hours and costs, read ratings and reviews, use the possibility to select their health insurance provider, make integration with a billing system. They also can receive doctor consultation, connect a video consultation, access a simple way to get a diagnosis and treatment, or even meet lactation consultants. In some cases, you can find a management tool for medical office secretaries. But applications do not necessarily offer all these features, so users should find the best option for themselves.
Now, when we had a quick look at the main benefits and features of mobile app development for healthcare, it is the right time to review the steps needed to create a doctor on-demand app for Android/iOS.
It is possible someone might end up developing an application no one prefers. So, it is better to determine the healthcare mobile apps market and online users’ preferences to avoid such a pessimistic scenario. That is why the first phase of development is to study who your target user base is.
A quick tip: find what matters to hospitals, doctors, private physician practices, and, on the other side, what matters to their audiences: patients and users of their services. Together these two sides compose the mutual truth, which marketer Liz High refers to as mutual resonance.
When you consider who will be your core users, it is time to find professional doctors and build a network of your future on-demand healthcare mobile app. It is essential to establish a developed database before you create new healthcare applications as it is an urgent part of healthcare on-demand application development. At the same time, choose the very best set of features to build an on-demand healthcare app. Remember about the balance between simplicity, on the one hand, and the possibility to offer holistic services, on the other hand.
In January 2020, there were a couple of billion applications available on the Apple App Store, Google Play Market, and Windows Apps Microsoft Store. That is why it is necessary to conduct market research before creating a doctor on-demand app for iOS/Android. Therefore, you need to get an idea before starting research. It will be easier to surf in the ocean of information if you consider which type of application you would like to have. When you find your niche, you can learn more about your competitors and decide what you can do better.
Today it is not enough to make a doctor on-demand app for iOS or create a doctor on-demand app for Android. It is better to consider cross-platform and browser versions of the mobile healthcare app.
When you choose a company that will create a new healthcare application for you, start to fire ideas off with each other. After that, set goals and discuss insights that will help to deliver high-quality healthcare services for doctors and patients.
After that, our team is likely to define the user journey, make sketches of the experience, create a working prototype. Once the design is finished, a client is provided with technical requirements and UX documentation, and a general roadmap. At this stage, you can budget your product for a short and long period.
The core phase of mobile app development for healthcare is actually the development phase. Depending on the complexity, this period can take at least a month. The more features and dynamic content will be implemented, the longest period will take coding. Before realizing the application, the development team conducts testing, bug fixing, and final design adjustments. When the developers’ team finish work, you can launch your doctor-on-demand app on the market.
Important note: App Store reviews healthcare applications very carefully, so it can take a long time to receive approval. It may be rejected if your app, for example, behaves in a way that risks physical harm, Apple wrote. In particular, medical apps could not provide inaccurate data or information. Apps should remind users to check with a doctor in addition to using the app and before making medical decisions. More recommendations are available at developer.apple.com.
While the development team creates a doctor booking app, you can prepare the medical app for the market. Start a pre-launch campaign and choose social media accounts to promote your future application and get early sign-ups. Create promotional content, including promo video, to show it on your launch day. Pitch the story of your app to your industry journalists and bloggers. Also, monitor feedback and make improvements to your product to make your mobile healthcare service better.
According to Alex Ahlund, former CEO of AppVee and AndroidApps, the average cost of mobile application development is $6,453. Of course, the price can skyrocket to as much as $150,000, depending on the app.
At the same time, healthcare applications cost more than that. For example, Markus Pohl, co-founder and research director of the mHealth App Developer Economics Program, explained that the average cost of mobile health app development is $425.000. “For apps that are better, or probably will get used more, development costs are most probably much higher than that. And these are just the costs until the app is launched. Usually, if you run a business that you have built around an app, you have follow-up costs. So if your business grows or your business model changes, you have to make changes on the app as well.” Moreover, the cost of healthcare applications will only increase in the following years.
On the other side, 11 percent of health care app owners earn more than $1 million annually. That is why mobile health development has become a highly profitable investment business.
We at KindGeek have a remarkable experience of how to create new healthcare applications. In our portfolio, you can find relevant cases that cover the needs of hospitals, pharmacies, outpatient/rehab facilities, private physician practices, and homecare businesses. But we would like to share one of them.
Perhaps, the most challenging part of developing a healthcare app is to organize an intuitive and pleasant interface for users and specialists. For this purpose, the team used Material Design visual language to create a modern, attractive, and easy-to-use interface. As a result, users of the application can easily find the most appropriate content, which corresponds to their needs. Patients can create personal cabinets for personalized interaction with the service.
If you are looking for more information, you may be interested in our articles, and you can always contact us at KindGeek.
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