With the advent of the digital era, every sector is evolving itself by stepping into digitization and bringing a strong online presence. This is one of the reasons why android app development java gained huge demand recently. Healthcare App Development is one such sector where tremendous use of data analytics has been spotted in the past few years.

Online healthcare comes with several advantages of saving time, consulting doctors from anywhere around the world, timely reminders for medicines, etc. The need for remote healthcare supervision has increased especially after the outbreak of COVID-19 because people became very cautious about stepping out of the house. These are the times when we can understand how online healthcare apps are so advantageous especially in modern times. Currently, there are more than 40,000 healthcare apps in Play Store assisting patients, medical staff, doctors to make treatment easier and accessible.

So, in this article, I am going to give a brief idea about how to build a healthcare app and what are the various categories of healthcare applications. The roadmap for designing and building the application is almost the same as android app development except for some of the do’s and don’ts.

Roadmap to Building a Healthcare App

Before you go ahead with your idea of healthcare care, you should know that these online healthcare apps are not exclusively for patients. For example, if you want to expand your audience, you can also think of developing an app advantageous to both a sick person and a healthy person from the perspective of fitness and a balanced diet. So, let’s see how one should proceed with the idea of healthcare app development.

• Pick a Category: The first step that you should take for healthcare app development is to decide in which category you want to build. There are several categories for healthcare apps and surely you also use one for yourself as well. Conduct market research and see who your target audience is and try to learn their pain points. Then ask your team what kind of apps you should build to come up with a simple and viable solution. Some of the categories of healthcare apps are medical consultation apps, fitness and diet chart apps (lifestyle apps), reminder apps, clinical assistance apps, telehealth apps (remote monitoring), etc.

• Must have Functions: No matter which category you pick for your healthcare app, there are certain functions that are generic for all healthcare apps. For example, your app should have a dashboard that will show the history and of the patient which is compulsory for a practitioner to gain insights. If you are building a medical consultation or telemedicine app, there should be a payment portal for the buyer. There should be an option of real-time chat and videoconferencing as it might be needed if a patient is in an emergency state.

• Certification through HIPAA: Though every android application has privacy concerns and data security, for healthcare apps the data and privacy policies are very strict as it needs to get certified through Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Patient data protection is very crucial and hence you need to go through additional layers of data security when it comes to healthcare apps. The app developers can introduce encryption, privacy policy, compulsory password protection, etc.

• Simple User Interface: A successful healthcare app should be optimized and designed very simply so that users don’t have to follow numerous steps to reach the destination. Healthcare apps are needed during the time of health emergency so optimized functioning and uncomplicated design are very much required. And, in case the users are medical practitioners, the patient’s medical history and key information should be made visible easily.

• Features to Add: The mandatory and key features in a healthcare app are tracking blood pressure, heart rate, calorie intake, blood sugar level, etc. Features to set reminders for daily activities like water intake, medication time, tracking sleep cycle, etc should be included. Information of the practitioner the patient is consulting should be available. And, like other android apps, features like a real-time chatbot, video calling option, geolocation, feedback option, the payment gateway should be available.

Benefits of Building a Healthcare App

There are several benefits of online healthcare mobile applications. The most important reason why the demand for online healthcare apps is increasing is due to easy availability. Nobody will want to step out of the house if they can consult a doctor easily from staying at home. Moreover, there are also apps from where you can order medicines after consulting a doctor.

Previously, even for measuring blood pressure or heart rate, one needed to visit the health clinic but that difference is bridged with the healthcare apps in the 21st century. There are many apps that help patients to monitor their own health which saves both time and energy to go and consult a doctor in person.

This guide will get you started as a beginner if you are planning to build a healthcare application for the Android platform. If you want more guidance, you can always consult the team of Xornor Technologies and learn more about healthcare android app development.