How to build a patient-centric healthcare app?

Updated on November 20, 2020

A healthcare application is the next big thing in the world of medical technologies today. The right patient-centric healthcare application may improve your patient’s experiences and make their treatment more successful. These are complicated apps containing subsystems for doctors, patients, and require advanced HIPAA-compliant electronic health records management. 

But create an app that fits your organization’s needs?  The guide on how to make a medical app published by Riseapps in October shows that the patient’s needs are different, and there are a lot of factors influencing the person’s decision to choose a healthcare provider. Here are some of the essential factors and ways through which you can build a patient-centric healthcare app. 

User Experience

The most important factor of any healthcare application is user-experience. It is essential to focus on patients and their abilities. It may happen that an older adult is using the application, or a person is using the application in an emergency. In such a case, an application with a problematic or difficult user-experience can be a real pain. Hence, one of the significant factors to take care of is the user experience. Here are some of the essential elements that you should take into account when designing your healthcare app: 

  • The application should be of a small size not to eat up much space in the user’s device. 
  • The application should be fast enough so that the user can use it conveniently in an emergency. 
  • The interface of the application should be clean, with all the options mentioned clearly on it. 
  • The application should be responsive in nature to open up in all the devices and platforms properly. 

Digital Communication

One of the most significant benefits of having an application is that of the convenience of communication. Whether it is a telemedicine application or an appointment application, communication and navigation play a significant role. But the way of communication will be different in different application types. Professional healthcare application developers might help you with that since they know how to build it right. 

If it is an appointment application, the navigation system of the application should be easy. The application should be such that it can navigate the user by filling up the form correctly and following other necessary steps to complete the appointment procedure. On the other hand, if it is an application for telemedicine or online consultancy, it should have a powerful chatbot. 

In telemedicine, the application should have an AI feature so that the chatbot can answer the patient’s questions and collect necessary details. It might also help healthcare professionals to diagnose and automatically match the patient with a needed professional. Again, in the online consultation, the application should be such that it can connect the user to the right specialist. 

If you don’t know what to choose, you need to consult with experienced healthcare app developers

The Security

The design, the features, and many other factors play a significant role while developing an application. But something that should not be left behind is the security of data in the application. The users feed different information such as their addresses, phone numbers, and also specific personal details. The application should be secured enough to keep these details safe. 

Also, in most of the applications, there is an option for payment. Here, the users make use of their cards or even internet banking details to make the payment. One single bug in the app can steal the data and cause a security threat to the user. Hence, the application’s security is also a significant element to keep in mind while developing an application. 

In the United States, the security standards of healthcare software are established with HIPAA. In the UK, Spain, and other countries, it is the Data Protection Act. You can easily find the list of security requirements for almost any country online. 

Conclusion

Building a patient-centric healthcare application needs a lot of precision and patience. It should be easy to use, easy to navigate, and fast. Also, at the same time, it should be such that it can make the user feel confident in providing details.

While paying particular attention to the application’s design and convenience, other essential factors, such as security, should not be left-back. Altogether, it is always a great idea to contact an expert about making a medical app. The professionals are aware of the necessary elements and the tricks that can make an app clean and clear. 

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