Top 6 Features That You Cannot Miss in Your Healthcare App

Healthcare has always been the prime focus for both innovators as well as entrepreneurs. Enriching human health is a priority for the whole sector and introduction of technology has just aided the overall cause. But have we reached a point where both tech innovators and noble healthcare individuals can cross paths and join hands? 

The concept of telemedicine was very popular much before the pandemic struck us. Because of the shortage of qualified doctors in and around so many parts of the world, the diagnosis and subsequent treatments were done over phones, faxes & emails much before we started video calling our doctors. There surely is a significant hike in the number of patients being diagnosed over the internet but how much has the world of technology and connectivity actually helped healthcare?

The Importance of Tech in Healthcare

Technology plays a double role in aiding the healthcare sector. Innovation with finest diagnosis machines is just one aspect of tech in healthcare. The ability to smartly and promptly communicate data has been pivotal in shaping healthcare to what it is today. Connecting diagnosis data to devices took its own evolution but things are changing at a rapid pace.

When Emily Reiser, Associate Director of Texas Medical Center Innovation said “Healthtech startups who connect with our network will emerge more prepared to access their customers and grow into their markets” it surely was a call to take the mobile application development in Texas to a level where it can work in perfect synergy with public health.

Currently, North America alone contributes more than 38% of the total global revenue that the mobile healthcare industry generates.

The peak of communication and the unfortunate pandemic may have proved to be just the right trigger point for innovators to take the sector to the next level. With advancements in telemedicine and eDiagnosis, the tech world is now looking at expanding the universes and empowering the users to get their health solutions without having to go through a rather unceremonious process.

Points to Consider for Tech in Healthcare

When it comes to the internet and apps dedicated to healthcare, there are multiple levels at which one could serve. You could be serving doctor consulting app development for patients or an institute wanting a thorough app for their patient tracking. For all the different kinds of use cases, there are primarily 3 types of healthcare apps that one could get today:

Apps for medical institutes & doctors: You could have a dedicated app for doctors to manage their profiles, for hospitals & clinics to keep records of their patients and for larger institutes to keep track of their routine activities and store the data to work more efficiently.

Apps for patients: Patients can use the interface of the app for tasks at their ends like booking appointments, having remote diagnosis sessions with the doctors via calls, tracking their medicine dosage courses & to save their important health records.

Apps for IoT: These apps are often used by institutes to check on sugar & oxygen levels of their admitted patients, to maintain utmost hygiene at the premises and to file vital reports and make SOS calls in case of any anomalies based on the pre-fed data.

You can pick niches and further create more categories of apps but they will more or less fall under the larger branches of the tree as mentioned above. Currently, android application development services lead their peers at Apple because of the cross-compatibility of android devices and the sheer volume of them but the accuracy of the tech that Apple has produced specially with their apps and their wearable devices has made the competition much tougher.

Best Features to Have for Healthcare Apps

Based on the kind of app you want, you can enlist a few trending features that are doing the rounds. We can possibly group some of them together and paint them with a broader stroke. Though we see frequent oscillation in the world of mobile app development trends, we can generalize the ones that gain momentum. Here is our list of 6 features that can be very crucial for all kinds of healthcare apps:

Integration of Wearables

Wearable devices are getting closer to accuracy with each passing year. We often read cases of watches and other tracking devices notifying individuals of their raised heartbeats or blood pressure levels. Integrating health records from these wearables like number of steps walked, calories burnt or heart rate speeds with your app can help you keep a uniformed data structure about your overall health. Along with having detailed routine health data, this integration can also help medical institutions prepare better in case of an emergency thanks to the connectivity of the wearables to the apps. 

IoT Features

Medical negligence has no place in our world in today’s day and age. No patient should receive a lack of medical attention due to overwhelming situations we faced in the last couple of years. Despite the recent troubled times, automating medical devices has been the core focus for manufacturers for several decades. The IoT in healthcare is estimated to reach over $176 billion by 2026. Much of the routine tasks like monitoring blood pressure & sugar levels, observing the oxygen levels and heart rates can be done through an app with IoT functionalities enabled on all machines. This saves lots of human resources and vital time in case of any emergency and prompt notification about any anomaly can save countless lives.

Reminders

Although users hate too many notifications on our devices, having health related personalized notifications can prove to be a true game changer for your app. Routine reminder notifications like tracking menstrual cycle, suggesting home remedies to stay healthy during that time, reminders about taking medicines & notifications about upcoming routine appointments can be given a personal touch to make them sound appealing. 

Dashboard

A user’s dashboard is probably the most common yet most important feature that any app could have. Having a detailed dashboard that carries the most important tabs is very useful for doctors & medical institutes as well as patients. Too much information can get a bit overwhelming for app users and providing a go-to home screen in the form of a clean dashboard can help them navigate through the much important features rather easily.

In-App Purchases, Payments & Rewards

At some point, all apps need to start thinking about creating their own revenue stream that is not dependent on third party advertisements or subscriptions. Of course providing exclusive services on subscription basis should remain the biggest source of revenue but allowing in-app purchases can elevate your app and overall user experience to a whole new level. You could enlist products like insurances, ambulance services, home care and many others that will help you earn the loyalty of the users. Speaking of loyalty, the app could return the loyal customers with exciting rewards that will further engage them with the app.

SOS Function

One function that can totally differentiate your app from the rest is your app’s ability to make SOS calls. Based on the data feed from wearables or even based on the voluntary SOS gesture given by the app user, your app can place calls, send text messages and call for an SOS help which can be lifesaving. Connecting emergency contacts and nearby medical institutes and integrating a navigation system will guarantee a safe tenure for your users on your app and will inspire the immediate contacts to try your app as well.

Other notable features include the staple appointment booking feature, video calling for telemedicine and cloud data compatibility across institutions for a seamless experience. 

Conclusion

The features mentioned here can be useful for all parties involved. But to optimize an app, you must define the use case and the target audience. Based on the target user base, you can further diversify the features and add more layers to it as well. Connectivity and compatibility is at the core of every feature you may see on any healthcare app across the globe. Connecting more devices and making the data more compatible ensures safety and prompt action. When it comes to healthcare, time is the most crucial aspect and any feature that saves time with the help of connectivity and compatibility will get the warmest and widest welcome in the foreseeable future.

Pinal Goda

Pinal is a React Native Developer working with Gtech Web Infotech Pvt. Ltd., a leading mobile app development company in India. Being capable of building cross-platform applications that are highly proficient and offer intuitive user experience is her forte.