Top Considerations in Mobile Healthcare Development
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The development of healthcare mobile apps has accelerated at an unparalleled rate in recent years. It's clear as day that mHealth apps are beginning to shape the business, with a plethora of products on the market.
Medical applications are providing a solid foundation for innovative solutions we couldn't have imagined a few years ago, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI), full-throttle progress in mobile technology, and ongoing security enhancements.
Not only are there a lot of opportunities, but the stats also show that the best is yet to come. According to certain studies, the worldwide mobile health applications market's CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) for 2019 to 2025 is 38.26%. Consider this figure:
Apps for Healthcare: What Are They and How Do They Work?
Mobile healthcare apps come in a variety of shapes and sizes. They can be classified according to their functions, for example. Some aim to improve health monitoring, while others want to improve operational efficiency. Still, others aspire to advance medical research and take medicine to new heights.
However, all apps are divided into two categories from the standpoint of the user: those for patients or non-professional users, and those for healthcare organizations.
Patients' Interests
Patients are increasingly turning to mobile apps as their understanding of healthcare grows and their preferences vary as healthcare becomes more consumerized. People want to keep track of not only their fitness activities and diets but also their key health parameters. Mobile gadgets and software, which have become an integral part of our daily lives, support patients in keeping track of their health, arranging remote consultations with doctors, detecting and preventing diseases, and receiving prescription assistance.
For Providers
Using mobile app development, hospitals and other healthcare providers can greatly improve their administrative processes and give better treatment outcomes.
Practice administration, care coordination, employee tracking, equipment management, appointment scheduling, and medical insurance verification are among the most common use cases. The list goes on and on. mHealth apps for medical offices typically include a variety of connectors and include technology such as IoT, AI and Machine Learning, and even blockchain.
Top 6 Things to Think about When Making a mHealth App
Creating a product and determining the best answer for a problem can be a difficult task. It is important to keep some considerations in mind and focus on the critical areas in order to produce an excellent software that satisfies all interested parties.
To walk through with us, below are the main healthcare mobile app development tips.
1. A Digital Strategy
Even if this point appears to be unrelated to the development of a health app, digital strategy is the first thing to consider. You should conduct a thorough analysis of the market and your competition, establish clear objectives, and identify the problems that your possible solution will solve.
Most likely, you already know what kind of software you'll make and who your target audience will be. Whether you're developing a patient app or a medical provider app, you'll need to develop a mobile app growth plan. What are your plans for distributing and monetizing your solution? How big do you want your user base to be?
Another point to consider is the operating system platform. Android is still the most popular smartphone operating system, but that doesn't mean you should ignore iOS customers. If your budget is restricted, you might first launch an app for one platform before moving on to others.
Remember that you can always start your medical app development project as an MVP project to see how it corresponds with user needs and what changes should be made. After that, you can move on to delivering a complete product.
2. Compatibility and interoperability
Interoperability is one of the most important factors while developing mHealth apps. It refers to an application's, device's, or system's capacity to successfully connect and coordinate with one another.
Practice Management Systems and EHR solutions, dermatological sensors, scheduling applications, and other software and technology are available to hospital employees. As a result, you must verify that the app you're developing can communicate properly with the other software apps in a typical healthcare facility environment.
Another factor to consider is the hosting. The advantages of the cloud are numerous: it protects data from loss by storing it on multiple servers, improves performance, and ensures 100 percent uptime. That's why it's used by the vast majority of enterprise healthcare mobility solutions, such as scheduling software.
Despite this, many hospitals continue to install traditional hosting – shared or dedicated – as a less expensive alternative to cloud computing. As a result, having a compatibility layer integrated into your software would be beneficial in allowing your app to work with the current setup.
3. Regulatory Compliance and Data Security
Security is always a priority in app development, especially in the healthcare industry. Medical software contains a wealth of personal information and sensitive data. As a result, the responsibility for safety and privacy is not abdicated.
In terms of additional security precautions, storing app data on devices is not the greatest option. Storing data on the app server, which was designed for speed and efficiency rather than security, may result in data leakage. Does this sound perplexing?
Encrypting data
In this scenario, ensuring confidentiality through encryption and the usage of secure communication channels would be the solution. Consider using end-to-end encryption to provide additional security for sensitive healthcare data.
Authentication
Implement the most appropriate multi-factor authentication technique where it is most needed. This additional guard layer will decrease authentication threats by protecting access to your app. You don't want to bog down clinicians' and staff's workflows by misusing it.
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Penetration Possibilities
Prepare to tackle the threats and safeguard your app from unauthorised access. If you're forewarned, you're forearmed. Attacks by hackers, social engineers, or man-in-the-middle can all put your app at risk. Concentrate on double-checking any potential security holes and eliminating them.
Regulatory Compliance
Another focus is on the regulations and policies that govern medical data. Depending on the region and the nature of medical material, they differ. Conduct research prior to designing your app to ensure that it complies with these guidelines.
Data sharing is secure thanks to healthcare message standards and general rules for securing personal health information. As a result, make sure your programme complies with them.
Here's a rundown of the most important:
HIPAA. When it comes to developing a health app, this is a must-do. HIPAA governs the flow of personal health information (PHI) and how it should be managed by healthcare and insurance businesses to prevent fraud and theft.
FHIR. If your solution deals with electronic health records, you should consider this crucial standard that describes data formats, elements, and APIs.
HL7.Another set of guidelines aimed at protecting patient data is Health Level 7. It contributes to the development of a healthcare app that ensures secure data transfer between medical organisations.
Direct. The standard specifies how to encrypt and digitally sign messages containing PHI.
Isn't it as simple as ABC? If you're just getting started in this industry, hire an experienced team of developers who know what standards to follow and what policies medical data should follow.
4. User Interface and User Experience (UI/UX) Considerations
User experience and user interface design are another topic whose importance never diminishes. When creating a healthcare mobile app and fine-tuning its details, pay close attention to the user interface and user experience (UI/UX). In terms of practicality, it is critical for keeping the audience engaged.
Both doctors and patients nowadays commonly utilise medical applications and spend a significant amount of time entering various data. As a result, aim to avoid using sophisticated design solutions and instead focus on ease of use. Keep it simple. Visuals should be relevant and well-balanced, with simple target elements.
Patients who use the app are most likely suffering from illnesses or are undergoing treatment in a vulnerable state. Following that, the finest message design might give is one of serenity and comfort. It would not be unnecessary to choose fonts, sizes, and colours with care, as well as keep an eye on overall readability. Anything that perplexes your users or requires them to spend additional time behaving will surely drive them away.
5. API Components
API allows software programmes to communicate with one another and share data. Consider two river banks — unconnected apps – that are joined by a bridge, or API, allowing data to flow between them regardless of how the apps were originally constructed.
To begin, APIs are required for connecting a new mHealth app with an existing healthcare environment as well as various third-party services and tools. Your goal in this situation is to assure interoperability, streamline processes, and give higher-quality treatment to patients.
Examine the various options to see if they are open source, have current documentation, and are well-supported by the development community. In some circumstances, you may need to seek extra API from vendors and providers to streamline procedures. Keep in mind that not all of them are accessible to outsiders.
Another possibility is to persuade healthcare providers and app developers to link their services with yours. You must offer an API in this situation. Keep security and privacy concerns in mind when you work on your own API programme development. It is critical to ensure that the documents remain confidential and that only doctors, patients, or insurance companies have access to them. Consider creating API documentation that is well-defined.
6. IoT Devices and Healthcare Mobile App Development
For the past few years, IoT solutions have been generating a lot of hype. Statistics show that it isn't merely a rumour or a speculative notion. The Medical Internet of Things market is expected to reach 411.53 billion US$ by 2026, with a CAGR of 19.3 percent, according to a review by Reports and Data.
In today's world, health is riches. The worldwide health and wellness market is growing as an increasing number of people of all generations adopt a better lifestyle. As public health awareness grows, so does the need for medical services.
IoT devices can help here by providing a better, faster, and in some circumstances less expensive solution. So, how are IoT devices used in the healthcare industry? Here are a few examples of popular types:
There are a few problems in medical IoT to keep in mind, taking into account the complexity of the solved issues, a range of devices, and communication protocols or standards:
Data Security
We know that data is transferred from IoT devices and sensing units to a system and then stored in the cloud. When using cloud-based capabilities, be cautious. Consider using high-quality encryption and keeping your security up to date.
Integration: multiple devices and protocols
IoT has the potential to connect a vast number of devices. To establish a flexible system, they should all be able to link and combine data without difficulty. Even if communication protocols are not yet uniform, ensure that your app is designed in accordance with HIPAA and FIPS principles, which comprise a slew of rules and regulations. Keep in mind the API considerations described above.
Overload of information
Sensors and gadgets in the Internet of Things can create a lot of data. Consider storage capability while designing your IoT software, since it will allow you to store a massive amount of data indefinitely. Find out how much data is kept in the cloud. You might be able to attain this goal with the support of skilled analytic engineers and data professionals.
Your Technology Partner for App Development in the Healthcare Sector
Understanding what consumers want in a mobile app is one thing; building a healthcare app that meets those higher expectations is another. The KPi-tech team has contributed significantly to the development of several businesses by delivering software solutions for over 18 years. We offer a high-level support system that you sorely need for expanding your business, based on our years of experience in US healthcare and IT services. Over the last decade, we've effectively offered comprehensive US Healthcare IT solutions through custom software development services. In the Domain Healthcare and Information Technology industries, we have increased sales and accelerated growth.