The healthcare industry has been witnessing the increased penetration of IT and tech. And this trend of high technology usage will keep on rising for the coming years. One primary reason for this rise is that there is a lot of scope for innovation in the healthcare industry.
The corona virus outbreak has clearly shown where the loopholes in the healthcare system are, and how digitization and automation are the solutions to many problems in the sector.
Do you also have a healthcare app idea that can sweep the industry altogether?
You are at the right place and the most appropriate time to present your app idea. In this blog, we will discuss what the best features for a healthcare app are and how much it will cost you to make one.
After reading this blog, you will have a clear understanding of all the features a healthcare app needs and how to estimate the cost of an app like that.
Types of healthcare apps
Before we start looking at the vital features of a healthcare app, it is important to know what the different types of healthcare app are present in the app store. Crucial parts of the development lifecycle depend on the type of app you want to create such as category, functions, development approach, budget, etc. The mhealth apps are generally categorized into two types:
- Apps for healthcare providers
- Apps for patients (users)
Depending upon the type, the features of the app will vary.
For more information about what kind of features should be included in your healthcare app, consult our mobile application development team.
Features of a healthcare application
What features are required in the final product decides a lot of important aspects of an app development process. The functions affect the UI/UX design, server-side coding, client-side coding, quality assurance, testing, maintenance and more. All these modules are linked to what the core idea or concept of your healthcare app is and what solution it provides.
Here we’re discussing the most common features of a healthcare application. Based on your unique requirements and type of app these may vary.
· User profile
Like social, gaming or any other mobile applications, healthcare apps also should have the feature of user profiles. Patients and general users will need to create their profile and add personal information such as name, age, ailments, chronic disorders, insurance data etc. this account can also be used to track health conditions and store data with a custom dashboard.
· Tracking
This is a vital feature for any successful patient app. The tracking feature allows patients to monitor crucial health parameters including heart rate, BP, calorie intake, water consumption, sleep, medications and others.
These features will help chronic patients suffering from cancer, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases to monitor their health 24/7 and take necessary medications and precautions.
· Scheduling and reminders
An appointment with the doctor or a routine check-up can be easily booked with this feature. It can also be used for reminders to take medicine on time, count daily sleep hours, water and calorie intake goals, etc.
In an app for the healthcare providers such as doctors and physicians, this feature will allow them to schedule appointments, checkups and also see how patients’ health is progressing.
· Payment
Mobile payment features can be integrated digitally for wallets, credit/debit cards, etc. this is popular in demand feature where users can pay for doctor visits, hospital bills, emergency rooms, health insurance payments etc. there can be the added benefit of viewing the copies of bills for documentation. Online payments with the comfort of just a few clicks are very convenient for users.
· Geolocation
This feature has the potential to save lives in emergencies. Imagine someone had an accident in an unfamiliar place. Using the geolocation feature they’ll be able to track nearby hospitals or healthcare clinics. It can also allow doctors to find patients in critical situations. This feature works with the integration of Google maps or any other 3rd party map services.
· Real-time chat
Real-time chat with their physician can help patients get timely updates and share their progress too. It is the best way to build trust between users and healthcare providers.
· Video chat
Sometimes text messages can’t get across the ailments and symptoms properly to the doctors. In such situations, video conferencing adds another layer of clarity for them and their patients.
Through video conferencing patients that are unable to come to the doctor can have a hospital experience from the comfort of their home.
Video conferencing becomes mandatory for special situations like Covid lockdown or a curfew when there are mass movement restrictions. Anybody can consult doctors just from the app despite what the situations are like outside.
· Data storage
This feature in the application software can store all data from patients file, medical history, x-ray and other reports to hospital staff records which can be accessed anytime.
In healthcare apps for service providers, this feature can help create separate files for each patient including all their past visits and increase the management of data multifold.
· Social media access
Integration of social media platforms in a healthcare app is appealing and good for user engagement but there is the added responsibility of data security.
Some users might not want to share their medical history with third-party apps. So you must not fail to mention data sharing in your privacy policy.
· Ratings and feedback
Patients can give ratings and reviews about their experience with doctors and healthcare institutes. This will help others to make more informed decisions about the speciality and services of a physician and medical establishment.
Also, honest opinions will create more transparency between patients and the healthcare system.
Some alternative functions which can be included in your healthcare app:
- Gallery
- Emergency service contact
- Prescriptions
- Analytics
- File sharing
How much does it cost to develop a healthcare mobile application?
After choosing the features of your new mhealth app, you must be curious to know how much capital it requires to build that app.
Here is a disclaimer for you, there is no hard and fast way to find out the exact cost of the development without the project requirements.
But with our experience, we can estimate that for an MVP (Minimal Viable Product) the cost starts at $50,000 for a single operating system. The final price can go much higher than that. It can go as high as $500,000 for international and national hospital chains and healthcare institutions.
But if you’re just starting in the mobile app market and want to test the waters first, you can get started at $10,000 for an app with simple and minimal features.
You must be thinking about why there is such a big price for mobile app development? The reason being, it depends on several factors such as:
- The pre-development phase where it is necessary to analyze the competitor apps, the market size, implementation process, etc.
- The size of the app
- Number of platforms to build the app for (android, iOS, Windows, Mac, others)
- Use of advanced technologies like machine learning, AI, etc.
- Addition of complex design elements such as animations, customization and others.
- Size and expertise of the development team
Three primary attributes of cost rise in the healthcare app development process are:
- The complexity of the application
- Type of platform
- The expertise of the development team
The complexity of the mobile app
By complexity we mean, the features, the process and the processing you demand from the app. Whether the app you want to create will require basic, moderate or advanced functions. Fixing these aspects of the development process is necessary to provide the solution.
If you are a startup or small scale healthcare institute starting in the health tech sector for the first time, it’s better to have an app with basic features and standard design.
You can hire a mobile application development company to get the app developed at the starting price range of $10,000 to $15,000.
For midsize companies, you can raise the bar a little higher. Include more features and third-party integrations such as payment gateways, chatting, analytics, weekly and monthly reports etc.
The cost of including all such features will be around $20,000 to $30,000 for 300-500 working hours.
If you want to go further, you can add other interesting and advanced functionality like soothing and great user interface, vast options of doctors and physicians to choose from, secure third party integrations, video conferencing, pharmaceutical support, and others.
It can take a team of expert mobile app developers 700 – 900 hours to develop an advanced app for $50,000 – $70,000.
Type of platform
There are two types of development native and cross-platform, choosing the latter is a smarter move for a healthcare tech company.
Although sometimes it is wiser to pick the platform which your target market is already using and focus on that platform only, android or iOS.
For a cross-platform app with simple functions and a design interface, the price estimation is $10,000 to $50,000 based on varying business requirements.
If you are on a tight budget, you can still go for app development for just one platform, android or iOS. It will cost less.
Development team
You can’t deny that a full-fledged well trained and knowledge backed team will have a much higher performance mark than a small-sized team with limited expertise and resources.
Along with the team, you also need a good partner from the best mobile app development companies who work with the latest technologies, innovative methods and world-class training.
What to do next?
The technology has been advancing and with the implementation of the latest innovations like AI and machine learning, we are on the brink of a huge tech surge in the healthcare sector.
If your company or business is planning to launch a healthcare fitness app or management or rating app, now is the time to move.
Hire the leading healthcare app development company to discuss your idea and get started with a great implementation of it.