The Ultimate Business Guide to Healthcare Application Development in 2024

Are you planning to design a healthcare application? If yes, it’s worth knowing about what is happening in this industry. The COVID pandemic made changes not only in our lives but in the health industry also.

Based on Statista, there were 88,000 mobile health applications in Apple’s app & Google Play store. As patients and doctors are both seeking smart ways to connect even in the distance, healthcare applications are rising.

Healthcare application development is the process of building a mobile application to manage medical necessities that include fitness goals, hospital visits, insurance claims, and many more.

This app involves lab results, medicine records, prescription management, and more. These applications not only help patients but healthcare professionals, too. Want to know how? Let’s take a journey to the valuableinnovations in healthcare app development in the 2024 guide.

An Overview of the Healthcare App Market

The healthcare app market has been growing at a regular pace since 2020. The healthcare app market insights have skyrocketed since the Covid-19 pandemic started.

The global market of healthcare apps is projected to grow with a CAGR of 45% until 2027.

43,285 Android applications are there in the Google Play Store.

The pandemic has changed everything and made people willing to use software for medical services.

The pandemic boosted the interest in using healthcare apps and monitoring health. It gives people access to consult with doctors online, register themselves to receive medical services, and fulfill other necessities.

Do you know why healthcare applications are getting so much popularity? Ease of access, improved health monitoring, improved convenience, and tracking of health records are some common reasons.

Types of Healthcare Mobile App Development

As we discussed earlier, mobile and healthcare applications cater to both patients and medical providers. The healthcare app development is classified into 3 categories: For professionals, patients, and medical institutions.

Professional Healthcare App Development

The healthcare applications for professionals are used by the medical staff, doctors, and physicians. Here are some benefits the professional healthcare apps deliver the society:

Patient Healthcare App Development

The patient healthcare app development caters to the medical requirements of patients. It helps patients in the following ways:

Healthcare Application Development by Medical Institution

Through healthcare applications, not only patients and medical professionals but the medical institutions get benefits. The institutions which offer medical care also require such apps for the following reasons:

Now you understand all the 3 types of medical applications, so you can pick any one of them according to your requirement.

Challenges the Healthcare Application Development Faces

The covid19 pandemic has upsurged the market value of the healthcare industry.

Based on the report of 2023, the global health app market will expand from $28.320 to $102.35. The report also says that the online health market will reach $660 billion by 2025.

Healthcare app development brings multiple benefits, but still, there are some challenges. We know the health care application deals with sensitive and personal information of patients, which raises safety concerns. Until you don’t build the trust of the targeted audience, No matter how intuitive the design of your website is, it doesn’t benefit you. To build trust, you need to constantly work on every aspect of healthcare application.

Here are some biggest challenges and business strategies for medical app development –

1. Security & Privacy Of Patient

Most healthcare applications bring several issues in terms of patient privacy-sensitive data & medical reports. Multiple users have reported errors about their data being used without their consent and knowledge. This is why patient safety & securing sensitive information in healthcare apps is the biggest concern.

2. Bulk & Unstructured Data Management

Patients would benefit from the medical app when it aids them in getting the right treatment at the right time. The industry needs healthcare applications for managing unstructured and bulk data. If the application fails to maintain the sensitive information of patients, they won’t trust your service. It will also hamper the credibility of any business.

3. Keeping Updated With The Market Trends

Keeping up with the latest market trends to the patient is crucial. Investors can often get attracted to such solutions which are aligned with the latest technologies. The development of new mobile devices, new tools, and people’s lifestyles can develop some challenges for the medical institution & the medical team to manage everything.

4. Data Encryption

There are more than 7 million unencrypted data records that have been compromised in the healthcare industry. These statistics bring the concern of exposed sensitive data. It is necessary to ensure that the medical records and personal data of patients travel through the encrypted channels.

The medical care solution should adhere to certain standards. It should be aligned with the patient and health care professionals’ requirements. If any company fails to offer this, they lose their credibility and reputation.

5. Designing Application Principle

The healthcare app design should cater to the patient’s needs. When developing the medical application, ensure the design should be minimalistic & clean. The colour choice of healthcare applications is highly based on the target audience and purpose. Avoid creating a complex design and choose a design that makes navigation easy.

Key Features a Healthcare Application Should Have

The advanced healthcare application offers advanced options for both patients and doctors. Before you begin to develop a healthcare application, here are some necessary conditions that should be considered. Here are some Healthcare application success factors-

Key Features Should Be There In the Application for Patients

Key Features Must-Have in the Application for Doctors

Key Features Must-Have in the Application for Medical Care

Necessary Factors to Be Considered When Developing a Medical App

Developing medical care applications is a complex process that requires a strong approach to easy steps. A single mistake can double your expenses and will extend your development time.

Therefore, to get the desired outcome here, you must consider the following factors to ensure the success of your application.

1. Ensure The Website Meets All The Rules

When you start developing a healthcare app development roadmap, you must follow legal compliance. Some major compliance you must follow when developing an application are FDS, HIMSS, HIPAA, etc.

The healthcare industry is very much concerned when it’s about complying with the legal protocols. Make sure the healthcare application complies with the CCPA, NIST, HiTech, GDPR, PIPEDA HiTech, etc.

2. The Interaction Should Be Easy And Smooth

The uninterrupted flow of seamless information across multiple devices is another must-have feature in the healthcare application. If you don’t want to feature the interoperability glitches in your application, then you must follow this step.

Make sure the connectivity you are offering through the healthcare application is flawless and caters to the target’s needs.

3. Give Concern To The Single Purpose

As we have discussed earlier, 3 mobile application categories are part of the healthcare industry. No matter which type of application you are going to develop, don’t give multiple solutions to multiple categories.

To make your application more successful, stick to the single app category. When you put all your focus into one solution, you will provide the best solution to your targeted audience.

4. Integrate A Good Selection Of Features

Whether a health application succeeds or fails depends upon the features in it. Every healthcare application varies in terms of functionalities, features, interface, etc.

To make the application effective in the industry, make sure it has all the necessary features like health monitoring, appointment scheduling, safe payments, seamless integration, social sharing, and robust security.

5. UI/UX Matters

The bad user interface & user experience can push your healthcare application into the hole. When developing an application, ensure that your users are not having a bad time when accessing your app.

To ensure the success of the application, you need to keep things simple so that regular users who don’t have much tech knowledge can easily access this.

6. Integration & APIs

Integration & API play a crucial role in the entire app development procedure. The market is filled with a bunch of integration & API options, so make sure you are selecting the right choice.

7. Don’t Forget To Drive The Testing Procedure

Testing is essential in the healthcare app development procedure. If you don’t want to put your application in the consequences, then don’t launch it without testing strategies.

We have clearly mentioned in the above section that the healthcare industry runs over strong policies. If the application you launch is untested, then you might face expensive lawsuits. It won’t be good for your finances and business credibility.

8. Deliver Authentic Information

The healthcare application you develop should offer authentic solutions to your problems. Ensure that the information you are providing to your patient is completely correct. Incorrect content can have negative consequences and put your business in legal issues.

9. Strong Security

When developing medical applications, healthcare app security and compliance should be your concern. As the application holds sensitive data and health reports, it should ensure the safety and security of the users.

The website should adhere the compliances such as HIPAA and HIMSS level of safety. Keep your website protected from data theft and breaches.

Now you know all the major points when developing a healthcare application. Develop an effective mobile medical application and witness the benefits.

Benefits of Developing a Healthcare Mobile Application

1. Improved Customer Loyalty

When you offer an application loaded with valuable features, it will get a million downloads. People used to choose the application which offered them better access and convenience. Developing an application is the way to improve customer loyalty.

2. Enhance Your Business Engagement

Providing valuable information through the application minimises the gap between your clients and you. It brings engagement to your application. This is the right way to grab the potential audience for your healthcare business.

3. Set Brand Credibility

When your application meets the user requirements, it improves your brand name. The more people will connect to your app, the better credibility your business will get. It will ultimately reflect in your brand revenue.

Healthcare App Trends You Must Look For In 2024

Check some emerging technologies in healthcare apps in 2024-

1. AI & Big Data

Over the years, the healthcare industry has collected a huge amount of data, and these data can be used in multiple ways. These data can be used as predictive analytics to track patient wellness.

AI and big data technology are already being used in the industry, but in the year 2024, we’ll see the expanding growth.

It will be further used in risk estimation, treatment simulation, and the large-scale geo-mapping solution, which will help to track future epidemics. If it comes to AI, it is still changing the healthcare market by changing the way the industry operates.

Artificial intelligence is used to support medical professionals in diagnosing patients. The market of AI is expected to grow by 2026 to USD 45.2 billion.

2. VR/AR

AR/VR is hugely used in the healthcare industry for remote surgeries and training medical professionals. The best example is HoloLens. This is the Microsoft mixed reality headset, which can be utilised for off-site medical consultation & training stimulation.

The potential of AR/VR technology is wide since it is tested for supporting the patient’s mental well-being. It is used in patient care services like diagnostics and rehabilitation.

3. Blockchain

Blockchain may not be used in the healthcare industry broadly like the above two technologies, yet it is one of the most promising trends. Within a few years, this technology will play a huge role in dealing with the most complex issues like data efficiency and data interoperability.

The blockchain network is used to collect and share patient data between medical facilities, which also includes emergency care units and hospitals. In addition, this technology is also utilised for managing the information in clinical trials where nodes will protect information.

4. Telemedicine Service

Undoubtedly, Telemedicine has brought a complete revolution in the healthcare sector. This technology is used in remote areas where hospital facilities are not accessible properly.

Telemedicine applications are useful for consulting with doctors, online slot booking, video conferencing, generating online prescriptions, etc.The patients are becoming more aware of Telemedicine and medical practitioners.

The global telehealth market size, according to the GrandViewResearch report, was measured as 83.5 billion USD in 2022 and is expected to grow with a 24% CAGR in the forecast period from 2023 to 2030.

More and more people are getting satisfied with this because it brought a reduction in the amount of hospital readmission process.

5. Cloud-based Technology

The biggest challenge of the medical industry is to manage patient data & their documentation. With the advent of Cloud-based solutions, most of the tasks would get simplified. Through Cloud-based technology, you can store patient health records 24*7 accessibility.

Based on the research of Data Dynamics Inc., 30% of digital records are assumed to be stored in the global healthcare sector.

80% of the healthcare data in the medical sector is unstructured, which requires allocation, computation, storage, and management needs. These necessities can be fulfilled with cloud computing solutions since the cloud platform delivers better accessibility, security, management, and availability.

Summary

We have witnessed the popularity of healthcare apps in the medical industry. If you want to develop a healthcare mobile application by ensuring its effectiveness and cost-effectiveness, then follow the above-discussed healthcare application success factorsguide. An ideal healthcare mobile application gives better opportunities to the healthcare professional as well as to the patients.