Features to Consider When Building a Mobile Health App

Building a mHealth app requires more planning than any other type of application as this technology is subject to more regulation compared to others. The features would vary for different types of mobile health apps but there are some that you would encounter in most of the mHealth applications. Today, in this article, we will be discussing some of the common yet demanding features that you should also consider and integrate during healthcare app development.

mHealth applications have skyrocketed in the last couple of years. They have made life easier for users (patients), and medical professionals find them equally useful. Most of the tedious manual/physical work has turned digital as patients can book online appointments, track their reports, and even pay bills online. With the introduction of new features every now and then, healthcare apps are only getting better and better.

Statista reports that the healthcare sector of India is projected to reach 372 billion USD by 2022 which is 2.66 times of what it was in 2016. And the global healthcare sector will cross the 10 trillion USD mark in the same year.

Mobile health app development: Key considerations

The features and functionalities of the mobile healthcare app you desire primarily depend on the type of mHealth app you want to develop. So, invest some time in research and look for the different types of mobile health apps out there in the market. Then choose the one that matches your idea and requirements.

The next thing to consider is choosing the tech stack for your app, which should be done very carefully as the technology at play in these applications keeps changing swiftly. Make sure that the tech stack you pick can handle future advancements or updates because the features that look relevant now may be totally outdated after some time. For a healthcare app development company, it’s important that they are aware of the latest trends and technologies in the domain and can incorporate them in your mHealth app as soon as they become available.

Apart from this, one important thing that hugely matters is understanding your target users and their problems. A mobile health app, in fact, any app would only be successful if it is providing any value or aiding the users in some ways. The features of the app should solve the challenges faced by users in their day-to-day life regarding healthcare.

Before we proceed with the mHealth app features, it is also very important that the app adheres to the compulsory health compliances such as HIPAA and HITECH. Abiding by these data and privacy protection laws ensures that the sensitive data/information of the practitioners as well as the patients is safe and secure with the app.

mHealth app features’ checklist

We have compiled a list of some of the important mHealth app features that you can look to integrate into your application.

1. Live Chat or Call

Live chat or Instant calling is one feature that you would find across most of the telemedicine apps, and should be on your list too. Well, like any other app that offers chat or call support where the user can talk to the customer support executives to get their concerns addressed, such features in a mHealth app allow the patients and doctors to communicate with each other effortlessly. If the user/patient needs any sort of consultation, they can directly contact the available health experts in the app.

2. Video Conferencing

In addition to live chat and consultation over audio call, many mHealth applications also cover the video conferencing feature that enables patients to virtually connect with the healthcare professionals and get a virtual consultation. From a doctor’s perspective, it’s called remote patient monitoring. So instead of visiting the clinic, the user can get consulted right at their home, which saves them a lot of time.

3. Doctors’ Listing

The profiles of the doctors and other medical professionals should be listed in a way that is convenient for the users to select when they make a search or browse through categories. Some necessary information should be displayed upfront even if the user doesn’t click on a specific profile, such as the doctor’s rating, fees, and their specialization. This will give users an overview of the practitioner and help them make a quick choice.

4. e-Prescription

Adding to the list of the common and important features in a mHealth app is the e-Prescription feature. One thing that has been solved with the introduction of electronic prescription is that the manual paperwork has reduced significantly. Patients also need not worry about losing the prescription. The concept is pretty simple and helpful. It allows doctors to generate and send prescriptions to the patients along with other important information right through the app within a few clicks. Patients can look for the prescription and get the required medicines through the pharmacy either by going to the nearest one or getting it delivered again from a healthcare-related app that deals with the online delivery of medicines. This feature remarkably improves communication between both parties.

5. Symptoms Checker

Considering the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of this feature increases more than ever. So, if you are thinking to have a mobile health app, you should definitely integrate the symptoms checker feature in it. If people are experiencing any kind of ache or pain, they can use this feature to check what their symptoms say and what disease they might be having. This is quite helpful for the users as the app can let them know the possibilities of sickness based on their symptoms. For instance, symptoms of mild fever, dry cough, and loss of taste or smell might indicate that the person is Corona infected.

Read: Impact of Covid-19 on Healthcare

6. Wearable Device Connection

With the increasing demand for wearable devices such as smartwatches, fitness trackers, etc., many healthcare organizations have started to leverage the advantages of advanced wearable technology like IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) and introduce them into their app. To make your mobile health app further useful, configure it or make it work with wearable devices. This would allow users to pair the device with the app and monitor various health-related functions like heart rate, blood pressure, etc.

7. Cloud-based data storage

Having this feature in your healthcare app enables healthcare organizations and even patients to manage and store their data in the cloud and addresses the many challenges faced in managing data in smartphones. The inception of cloud storage has assisted medical professionals and patients in many ways. They can easily access their information anywhere, anytime. It is quite difficult to manage the variety of data in smartphone and wireless devices so adding cloud-based data storage in your mobile health app offers ample benefits to your audience.

The Bottom Line

There are different types of mobile health apps aimed at different types of users. And they would all have many features aimed towards a specific problem or challenge. However, the above-mentioned features are something that you would commonly find in many mHealth apps. But again, it depends on what kind of healthcare app you want to build and what features would be most suitable for it.

Want to hire healthcare app developers? At Dew, we recognize the obstacles that occur while building healthcare apps and thus can help you build apps that meet all the compliance regulations and create an exciting journey for the users as well as the medical professionals.