All You Want to Know About a Medical App
It's hard to keep track of all the doctor visits, regular checkups, and tests to stay healthy and not take up a lot of time for treatment. Fortunately, we live in an era when it is enough to download a special medical application or other telemedicine software development services, open it on your smartphone and upload your data there.
Personal health apps have come to the rescue. They can track every test and result, every doctor's appointment and prescription, put them in your calendar and notes, and take your health care management to the next level. Let's take a closer look at medical apps and what it takes to develop them in this article.
What is a medical app?
The term "health app" or "medical app" refers to apps for smartphones and tablets that provide health-related services. Because they are available to patients at home and on the go, medical apps are part of the movement toward fully mobile health. Several types of medical apps are available for download from app stores. Many of these apps aim to help consumers improve their lifestyles by providing health and nutrition information. Other technologies help doctors and patients communicate at a distance, such as apps for people with diabetes that instantly transmit glucose readings to their treating doctors. Many medical apps are designed for physicians-many apps integrate mHealth with electronic medical records (EMRs), allowing physicians to track their patients more effectively.
There may be priority types of medical apps:
- patient health tracking apps;
- physician appointment and clinical care applications;
- medical directory and database applications;
- professional network applications;
- doctor-on-demand applications.
Users have to enter all the data manually into simple medical apps, and the app is usually only used to track tests or body parameters such as blood pressure. There aren't as many features, and the process is much simpler. However, basic medical apps are inefficient and time-consuming because everything is done manually.
You can use automation, integration, detailed medical reports, and even medical consultations in more sophisticated medical applications. It's quite possible that building such an app will cost more and require a more complex technology stack with APIs and improved UX design. This is why it's so important to understand your consumers' expectations when developing a customized medical app.
What do people expect from medical apps?
Personal data management applications should provide a number of basic features. Here are some examples:
Easy ways to use the app
It's helpful to have distinctive features in the app, but the basic features should be easily accessible to users. Patients will not use the app if it adds to the time they already spend on self-care.
Patients are looking for a smartphone app that will help them save time when scheduling, changing, or canceling doctor's appointments. Patients will give up on a mobile app if it takes them a long time to figure out how it works.
So, whether it's making an appointment or scheduling an online diagnosis, a successful mobile medical app is what makes medicine more accessible and takes the hassle away.
It will speed up the process for doctors and can save a lot of patient time. A medical app should save a lot of time and effort for patients, not add to their problems.
Detailed and actionable information
According to app download statistics, patients are showing great interest in mobile apps and health platforms. Patients download these apps because they provide value in return. Providing information just for the sake of information will not make an app successful.
Patients want to understand everything there is to know about their condition, its causes, and how they can use that knowledge to improve their health. Your medical app should provide situation-specific information and guide patients through a body of knowledge.
Make sure your app is engaging, using interactive tools and non-technical, non-bogus language.
Professional help is always available
Patients should be able to easily interact with health care providers through a mobile health app. According to a study, 75% of hospital visits can be done by phone or video.
Providing a place where patients and physicians can communicate will benefit both parties. Telemedicine services save patients time and money on hospital visits, and they also allow physicians for them on a more personal level.
Again, make sure these features are easy for end users to use.
Patient Social Networking
Patients want to interact and connect with each other. It's critical to include a social networking element in your medical app.
Incorporating social aspects into your app offers several benefits. When someone is diagnosed with a particular disease or condition, they usually want to connect with other people who have had the same condition or disease.
It makes patients feel welcome and part of a caring community. It's quite possible that patients will be more interested in your health care app if they receive notifications of new versions when they download it.
A simple but unique digital experience
Consumers in today's world want a simple and attractive user interface. Statistically, 90% of apps are rarely used once downloaded. Poor user experience may be the reason so many mobile health apps don't make a good first impression.
Data shows that about 21% of millennials would delete an app if it provided a poor user experience.
As a result, your mobile app should have an intuitive user interface. It's important to emphasize that medical apps need to be useful and attractive, especially when it comes to data visualization.
Patients are much more likely to save and use an app if it has attractive pictures.
Users usually prefer websites and designs with relaxing hues. Also, don't forget to consider your target audience when designing your overall look. For example, if you are selling a product to the elderly, your software should have more meaningful icons and enlarged copies.
Connected additional devices
App-connected technology, such as health trackers and smartwatches, are in vogue right now. By 2023, the medical gadget industry will reach $20 billion.
Faster adoption presents a unique opportunity to develop a health app that can be easily linked to medical gadgets.
A medical gadget can track vital information such as heart rate, blood sugar levels, tremors, posture control, sleep cycles, and physical activity. This information can help patients better understand their exercise, reassess their lifestyle, and give them more control over their health.