Last Updated on May 23, 2023 by admin
The demand for healthcare mobile applications has skyrocketed since after the pandemic. Beyond its convenience, it allows users to access solutions to various medical problems as quickly as possible.
However, there is a seeming knowledge gap, as the existing healthcare apps seemingly struggle to cater to the ever-growing demand. This context means that, more than ever, there is an urgent need to build healthcare applications even more.
But this goes beyond just asking “how to build a medical app.” Instead, it involves a more painstaking process of identifying the best way to solve people’s problems, bringing more innovation and brilliance to the healthcare mobile app market.
This seems like a lot, but to be honest, it isn’t – you just need to get started on the right foot. And that is the reason we have written this article carefully to guide you on how to develop a healthcare app that would breathe new life into the growth of the medical industry (based on Topflight Apps experience).
Step-by-Step Guide on How to Build a Medical App
Step 1: Conduct an In-Depth Market Analysis
How’d you revolutionize the industry if you do not know the state it is at the moment? This is what market analysis helps you to achieve. It helps you identify valuable product ideas and those you shouldn’t waste time on.
And this involves identifying and studying your competitors. What have they done? What are they doing? Also, What are their users complaining about? How can you do it better?
The market is currently booming; this means there are a lot of medical apps being created daily. Conducting a well-detailed market analysis will help you know what to do and what not to do – apps to develop and apps that aren’t worth your time.
Step 2: Study and Familiarize Yourself with Your Audience
Who are you building a health app for? Do you know them? What are their pain points? Why would they dump their current favorite healthcare application for yours? You cannot answer these questions without studying your target audience.
However, while studying, you need to be very sensitive. Healthcare is a sensitive industry, and it’s easy to come off as insensitive while asking questions. Find a balance while trying to understand the problems of your potential users.
Step 3: What Are The Features of Your App?
This is typically the first stage of the development phase. You have defined the pain points and the people you want to target. Next, how do you want them to interact with your application? This is where you define them.
Note the features you include in your health app also determine how much market traction it will get. The more it directly solves your target audience’s issues, the better it is for you. Therefore, you need to be very meticulous at this stage – you do not want to clog your app with so many features that some of them become irrelevant; at the same time, you also do not want to risk not having “just enough” features to beat your competitors. It’s your duty to find a balance…again.
Common features included in many top healthcare apps are:
- Appointment scheduling.
- Real-time chat and messaging.
- Progress tracking.
- Analytics and reporting.
- Third-party integration.
- Payment integration.
- Security and privacy.
- Offline mode, etc.
Step 4: Choose Your Tech Stack
What are you building with? Your chosen technology will determine how efficient your implemented features will be. Technologies recommended to create a medical app include
- Programming languages like PHP, Kotlin, Node.JS, Swift, etc.
- Application Framework.
- IDE.
- JavaScript Framework
- Payment Gateways like PayPal, Stripe, etc.
- Cloud Storage.
- Deployment Platforms
- Utilities like Google Analytics, etc.
- …and many more.
Step 5: Ensure Compliance
As we mentioned in step 2 of this guide, healthcare is very sensitive, and you cannot afford to throw caution to the wind. Ensuring HIPAA compliance if you are in the USA region and GDPR compliance if you’re in Europe is one way to confirm the sensitivity and privacy of user information. Many people won’t use a medical app if it’s not compliant with any of these regulatory bodies, as the case may be.
Step 6: Design The App’s UI/UX
This will be your blueprint – see it as the architectural design of your application. Ensure your user interface is as simple as possible yet innovative and engaging – you don’t want to bore your users. Above all, ensure it is user-friendly; no one wants complex stuff – you don’t either.
Step 7: Hire a Team
You have all the details; now it’s time to develop. Whoever you hire at this stage significantly determines the turnout of the entire medical app development process. Therefore, ensure you hire meticulously.
Invest in professionals. Consider their track record, expertise in your niche (type of health app), customer reviews, etc.
Step 8: Test the App
Test before you launch. Hire a quality assurance team to perform A/B tests, Black Box tests, Beta tests, Alpha tests, Acceptance tests, Unit tests, and so on. Check and fix all bugs and errors before you launch. Remember, first impressions last longer – but, of course, perfection is a mirage, and there will always be room for improvement.
Step 9: Product Launch
Voila, your healthcare mobile application, is ready to be launched into the market! After deploying your app, make plans for continuous support and community management. Otherwise, you might find yourself out of business sooner than you could’ve ever expected.
Conclusion on How to Build a Healthcare App
There you have it – the ultimate step-by-step guide you’ll ever need to build healthcare applications!
If you’re looking for more information on how to build a medical app or you need to speak with an expert, don’t hesitate to contact us – we will be glad to help.
Also, Read Four Essential Strategies for Achieving and Maintaining Optimal Health.
