In the wake of global pandemics, societies face many problems. As everyday life changes dramatically and healthcare systems are under lots of pressure, physical and mental health are becoming our greatest concerns.

Luckily, there is space for hope. Medical history has always been closely linked to the development of technology. Healthcare software development provides some solutions and instills optimism. 

Speaking of that, telehealth services apps are a new trend in the healthcare industry. In this article, you will find out more about telehealth apps and what it takes to develop one.

What Are Telehealth Applications?

These applications are platforms that connect patients and physicians online. They enable patients to access healthcare services from home. It means no more waiting in lines and mingling with other patients. On the other side, physicians no longer need an institution or a rented place to do their job.

Telemedicine applications work on a very simple principle. The basic idea is to enable remote consultations with the doctors. 

However, these apps go further than counseling. The digital technologies behind them also facilitate:

• online prescription renewals, 
• treatment monitoring, 
• medication adherence tracking, 
• treatment adjustment, 

and more. 

These services are provided through a series of options available to both patients and doctors. The most common options comprise video calling, live chat, and push notifications. 

Clearly, these apps can never replace a traditional face-to-face visit to a doctor. This is especially true for people with serious health issues. However, they certainly relieve the workload of medical staff in hospitals by moving less acute consultations online.

The Key Telemedicine App Features 

For both patients and doctors, key features of any telehealth app are:

• registration
• profile management
• video conferencing
• text chat
• notifications

As for the patients particularly, they should have the following options available:

• search & filters
• booking an appointment
• rating doctors

Finally, the healthcare professional’s side of the app should contain the following features:

• access to the patient’s medical record
• managing calendar
• receiving payments
• monitoring grades

Developing A Telehealth Services App: A Step-by-step Guide

Just like developing any other app, the process of healthcare mobile app development requires several phases and some investment. 

Phase 1. Choose the platform

In the beginning, you will have to decide if you wish to go for an app optimized for Android or an iPhone Operating system. In order to make that decision, you will have to conduct thorough market research. Some businesses eventually decide to go for both from the very beginning, which of course means more investment.

Phase 2. Determine the design

At this stage, remember that aesthetics are as important as functionality. UI/UX design is crucial for the functionality of your app, and it’s important to keep the app simple, fast, and intuitive.

Phase 3. Decide on the APIs

Application Programming Interface (API) is a software intermediary, allowing communication between the apps on a device. The APIs are what enable video and voice calls, text messaging, emailing, fax, etc. For example, the technology that enables making calls over the internet is VoIP (Voice Over IP). Using each of these technologies costs, of course. In our example, VoIP pricing depends on the provider, but in any case, it is much cheaper than a regular landline.

Phase 4. Develop

At this stage, the developing team will create the app according to the requirements. For Android apps, it is usually advisable to start with an MVP (Minimum Viable Product). MVP is kind of a blueprint of an app. It reduces time to market and provides feedback which is very important for UI/UX designers to create a better experience for the users.

The team that conducts the development usually consists of:

• front-end and back-end developers
• UI/UX designers
• business analysts
• project manager
• QA engineer
• team leads
• DevOps engineer

Phase 5. QA testing

Once the programmers are done with their part of the job, the Quality Assessment team comes in. The QA team checks if everything works as planned. They will find if there are any glitches or bugs in the application. Finally, they will perform stress testing, to see if the app won’t crush under high traffic or concurrency.

Phase 6. Maintenance

A good app is an up-to-date app. Once available for download, the app should get regular updates, always aiming for a better customer experience.

Also, telehealth businesses put a lot of attention in creating convenient marketing strategies to spread the word.

Investment

There are many companies around the world that provide app development services, and each of them has its own pricing plan. The amount of investment will also depend on what you want to include in the app and which platforms you opt for (iOS or Android, or both). Approximately, developing a telehealth app costs between $150,000 and $250,000.

Technologies

Telehealth apps combine several technologies to provide users with the required health services.

Internet of Things and Wearables are quite relevant tech concepts for healthcare. Portable devices such as smartwatches can detect and transmit information about the body of the carrier. In healthcare, this means doctors can connect with the patient’s gadgets and access data about the patient’s condition.

The patient’s data obtained in such a way, combined with the disease history, can be analyzed by Artificial intelligence algorithms. These assist doctors with diagnosing and treating illnesses more accurately.

Another important technology relevant for telehealth apps is cloud platforms. People’s health records are treated as highly confidential data, and keeping them safe from leaking should be your highest concern. That’s why most apps providing this type of service use cloud platforms, a.k.a. internet-based data centers that allow access to sensitive data only to authorized users. 

Furthermore, technology that makes sure no privacy breaches happen and that you never get fined for such misconduct is blockchain. Blockchain technology encrypts data, contributing to cyber security and reliability of the app.

Conclusion

Once develTelehealth apps are the beginning of a true revolution in the healthcare organization. The telemedicine market is a rapidly growing niche, which generated $40.2 billion in 2020, and it is expected to generate more than ten times that by 2031. 

These statistics encouraged many to invest in telehealth service applications. Telehealth apps create profits through transaction fees, membership payments, or subscription plans.