It is not new that technology advancement has an impact on the healthcare industry. What was once a gloomy picture with long queues for doctors, has now changed drastically due to healthcare apps.

The global mobile health (mHealth) market size will increase to USD 100 billion in 2021 from the bare USD 21 billion in 2016. It is a five-fold increase.

If we speak of the US healthcare app development market, the medication adherence mobile application market is set to reach some USD 3.5 billion in 2025. Moreover, as per a report by Research2Guidance, 80 % of physicians use smartphones and medical apps.

Since the users of the healthcare app seek excellent customer experience, a poor customer experience leads to the failure of healthcare apps. A healthcare app often fails due to lack of considerations of factors, and these are:

What are the 5 Factors?

Understand the Target Audience

It is critical to understand the requirements of users of healthcare apps for patients, doctors, and healthcare professionals. Your application evokes a positive response, only with a well-defined target audience. The healthcare app must have an easy-to-use interface. The developer needs to develop a mobile application  that is trustworthy for the user and have the right set of features.

Device and Data Security

Users become paranoid about sharing their data online. The app developers store the data not on devices anymore. The information for the clinical management application that connects to the app has restricted usage of APIs, the app developers store the data on the servers, but in an encrypted format. The data transfer between the device and remote servers become accessible to data breaches by fraudulent companies. The app developers advise on end-to-end data encryption in such a scenario.

UI/UX Design Considerations

Healthcare apps must be clean and easy-to-use. UI/UX plays a crucial role in creating a healthcare app, more so for the patients entering into multiple records, daily or the doctors updating the patient history, after a visit. The app must not portray a negative impression for the patients seeking a remedy say for a patient-centric application. The users must feel cheerful with the app experience.

Hippa Compliance

To protect the sensitive health data for the patients, it becomes imperative the app owner must follow some regulations. While developing a healthcare app for the US market, it is expected to follow the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

The app owner must prioritize the patient’s protected health information(PHI). The app stores like the Apple Store reject the app, which fails to conform to these guidelines. The review guidelines get based on the privacy and security of the data.

API Components

The application programming interface (API) is a process, routine, or tool that interacts with a software or a module. When the user logs into the app, the API component connects the mobile application with a remote server. The APIs authenticate the device to access the repository of a patient engagement solution.

Summary

You must actively engage a quality Healthcare App development company for delivering a positive experience and a higher engagement with users. It is a best practice to test the healthcare app for compatibility on a range of devices (Android, iOS, etc.) for deciding on the success.

Another best practice for developers is to create a user guide on the step-by-step instructions on how the healthcare apps work. It saves the healthcare professional’s time, devoting towards more meaningful activities. Moreover, the mobile application must be tested by usability testing to understand how a real user can use the same.