Why Healthcare Apps Need More Than Just Development?

As all sectors of the economy evolve in response to changing customer expectations, often driven by digital examples in their personal lives, the same is true of the healthcare sector. The single biggest change is that our customers now expect digital experiences that are comparable to online banking or shopping experiences.

The Growing Need for Digital Solutions in Healthcare

The healthcare sector isn't immune to this bounce, and we have seen an explosion of different types of apps as a bridge between patients and practitioners, or patients and their data. The growth of healthcare apps has been driven by factors such as:

- The increase in telehealth consultations.

- The need for patients to book appointments online and have access to medical records.

- Remote health care and chronic condition monitoring.

- Increased expectations for 24/7 monitoring availability, and desire to receive real-time updates.

But it has become increasingly apparent that, in such a sensitive, heavily regulated industry, many more layers need to be addressed before you just go ahead with development. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a patient-centric application that connects to a clinical workflow or advertising its capabilities to healthcare users. All development must consider that the app will need to be extensible, usable, and adaptable, to allow for updates to meet users’ expectations and patient medical requirements, which frequently change.

Custom App Development Improves Patient Engagement and Operational Efficiency

A templated application for healthcare services may address some fundamentals, but custom development will meet the unique requirements of either a hospital, clinic, or private practice setting. Custom applications provide individual control over desired features, functionality, and integration to existing medical systems.

Here are some ways custom-developed healthcare applications deliver value: 

1. Involved patient: Real-time appointment scheduling, medication reminders, and lab results provide patients a sense of being involved in their journey of care.

2. Operational efficiencies: Custom dashboards, analytics, and workflow automations help healthcare staff to minimize manual tasks and time on some tasks, typically improving efficiency and accuracy.

3. Brand trust: An impressive and operating application provides efficiency for the provider and takes a lot of trust out of the role of the busy patient

4. Realistic examples: Scheduling appointments, Remote Health Monitoring, E-Prescribing

Let’s take a look at a few use cases where development alone is just the start:

• Scheduling an appointment: Many applications allow users to create an appointment, view wait or travel times to a visit, and confirm appointments all from the user's mobile phone. However, if there is a failure to connect appointment availability in real time or the calendar system does not optimize appointment reminders, organizations can expect that no-show rates will begin to rise. These features need constant optimization.

• Remote Health Monitoring: For patients living with chronic illness, an application that connects to a wearable fitness device and delivers real-time health data can be life-changing. 

  All of that said, it requires a lot of backend support, regular maintenance, and data validation to use the systems safely and reliably. 

• E-prescriptions:  When it comes to generating an e-prescription right off the app, it seems quite simple. The real work comes in making sure you follow legal guidelines, validly transmit sensitive information, and ensure that it follows all prescription pharmacy guidelines.  A. E-prescriptions require constant attention, with a myriad of potential formatting errors.  B. Changing drug laws.

Data Security & Compliance

Few industries take in as much sensitive data as healthcare. Patient health records, insurance information, and personal information are all protected under laws like HIPAA (U.S.) or GDPR (Europe). Failure to comply with the necessary regulations can lead to fines and legal action on a very real and personal level, as well as a perceived irreversible loss of trust to your patients.

When you set out to build a healthcare app with data protection as a priority, it's not as simple as checking it off a list. 

You need:

• End-to-End Encryption 

• Secure authentication (biometric, 2FA)

• Regular Audit for security 

• Compliance with national & regional rules 

The additional difficulty is that after you develop an app, it must evolve with new data and privacy laws, and new cybersecurity threats that arise. If you are underutilizing your app without updates, it becomes a liability to you.

Why do you need After-Launch Support? 

Fixing Bugs, Adapting Policies/Regulatory Changes, Adding Features  When you launch your healthcare app, the thinking begins. 

• Bug fixes: Even the best testing often overlooks problems that only show up in the real world. A real-world implementation might, for example, reveal glitches, compatibility problems, or performance lags. Quick and effective support helps to avoid patient care being disrupted.

• Policy changes: Healthcare is one of the most regulated industries. Legal requirements, insurance policies, and medical guidelines are constantly evolving. A well-designed app can suddenly become problematic if it doesn't change quickly enough.

• Feature growth: Patients’ needs are changing. You may need to add video consults, multilingual support, or AI-enabled symptom checkers, for example. Ongoing support allows you to add new features and grow, without having to start building a completely new version of the app or site.

Apps that aren't regularly supported can quickly become irrelevant or outdated. Healthcare providers don't have the luxury of this type of lapse when lives and reputations are at stake.

Uptime, Security, and Trust - the importance of regular maintenance

Maintenance is one of the most underrated aspects of any project, but also one of the most important to the long-term success of your app. Regular maintenance ensures:

• App uptime: Bookings for an emergency appointment, obtaining urgent lab results, and increased risk are perhaps the most serious issues that can occur in healthcare. Regular checks of the server and systems will monitor and prevent your app from going down.

• System compatibility: Devices, operating systems, and platforms are updated all the time. Your app needs to keep pace with these updates so that the app can continue to function correctly. For example, a crash in your healthcare app caused by a device OS update could prove very disruptive.

• Continuing trust: Regular updates indicate that the app is being intentionally improved and cared for. Transparency fosters trust among your users, patients, and providers.

• Improvements to performance: As usage increases, over time, you may download usage patterns that show you opportunities to improve. Maintenance means you can improve the speed, responsiveness, and ultimately user satisfaction of the app.

Support and Updates for Long-Term Success

At Markup Designs, we recognize that your healthcare app is not just an app; it is a commitment to reliability, care, and trust. Therefore, our work does not stop after we launch your app.

Our post-launch service includes:

• Scheduled performance audits and security scanning.

• Enhancements to features based on user experience feedback.

• Fixes for bugs and any compatibility issues, sooner rather than later.

• Expert assistance with updated regulatory requirements.

Our strategists, developers, and healthcare consultants assist our clients in adopting an approach to ensure resilience, responsiveness, and continued relevance after the launch day has come to pass.

Healthcare apps are changing the way we access the medical systems we depend on for care. In an area as sensitive and fluid as healthcare, the success of the app relies on far more than the simple production of the app. 

Whether their application journey begins with requirements gathering and compliance, regulatory, security, and user enhancements, and maintenance (ongoing), the journey of a healthcare app is ongoing.

Through investments and a roadmap for updates, healthcare agencies can continue to support and protect everyone who relies on their digital platforms for contact tracing, vaccine information, education, or social supports.

While your desire to build a strong and lasting platform is meaningful, it is about finding the right team. 

Markup Designs can help you on the journey of healthcare apps from inception to legacy.