Maximize the ROI of Your Healthcare App With These Must-Have Features

The consumer adoption of telemedicine has increased rapidly: from 11% of US consumers in 2019 to 46% at the end of 2021. And COVID-19 has played the role of a catalyst in the growth of telemedicine and other healthcare innovations.[i]

And the investments in healthcare apps are at an all-time high.

The maximum downloads of fitness and healthcare apps were witnessed during the pandemic when even visiting a hospital wasn’t safe. In fact, in the last week of March 2020, the installations of health & fitness apps increased by 67%. Moreover, these apps also made it easier for doctors to provide virtual consultations.

While there are hundreds of mhealthcare apps available in the market today, not every app has what it takes to thrive in the market.

There are essential features that need to be integrated into your healthcare app to ensure it helps as many people as possible.

Let’s take a look at these must-have features of a healthcare app.

Ready? Let’s dive in!

Appointment Management

An appointment management feature is one of the most crucial features that your healthcare app should have. Not only does it allows patients to see the availability of the doctor and book their consultation accordingly but also can be a huge helping hand for the doctors to keep track of their appointments.

It also enables doctors to view their calendars, review their upcoming appointments, and adjust their availability in case of an emergency.

What’s more, doctors always have the authority to accept or decline any consultation request. Only after the doctor confirms a request, the customer should get the confirmation mail.

Video Conferencing

The COVID-19 pandemic had a monumental impact on the healthcare industry. Hospitals were unable to accept in-person doctor visits. Research indicated that primary care doctor visits have declined 60% since the pandemic began.

Video appointments have been the alternative to in-person consultations since the pandemic. Patients no longer have to spend hours in waiting rooms to see their doctor.

This is why video conferencing is one of the most prominent features of a healthcare app.

Maintaining an Electronic Health Record

An EHR is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. These are patient-centered, real-time records that make it easier for both patients and doctors to access a patient’s medical information instantly. While EHRs have all the medical information of patients, these systems are designed to collect and manage more than just standard clinical data collected in a practitioner’s office. Thus, they can contain a broader view of a patient’s care.

Simply put, the electronic health record features give doctors a bird’s eye view of a patient’s health record, treatment, and procedures.

The doctor will have a separate interface within the app to fill out a health form and transfer the data to the internal system.

User Dashboard

A prominent and easy-to-use dashboard is an essential component of your app to deliver a great user experience. The dashboard should easy to use for both patients and doctors. It should have all the required information, presented in a visually appealing manner.

The information available on the dashboard depends on the purpose of your healthcare app. For example, it might show the patient’s nutrient intake for the day, the date of upcoming appointments, etc.

The key here is to remember that the dashboards should be visual and in bright colors and graphics to make it easy for the user to digest the information.

Doctor and Patient Profiles

An individual doctor and patient profiles are a must-have feature for a healthcare app. A patient profile will allow users to log their medical information which will let doctors have a quick overview of patients, their conditions, or medications.

Doctor profiles help patients quickly find the appropriate doctors for their medical care. For example, a doctor’s profile may contain information such as specialization, healthcare facility, and the availability of the doctor.

Payment Integration

Seamless and easy payment integration is essential for your healthcare app. The integration should allow easy mobile payment for medical services, medicine, or insurance.

You can integrate multiple payment options like a credit card, PayPal, Google Pay, etc.

However, remember that your payment gateways should employ PCI-DSS regulation and high-end security standards since personal data can be violated and misused.

Integration of Maps

This is a critical feature to integrate into your healthcare app. It allows users to find the nearest hospital so that patients can get medical aid as quickly as possible.

You can also integrate a comprehensive map of your hospital as well. Since getting lost in a multi-specialty infrastructure is not uncommon, especially for senior citizens, adding a map of your building will enable people to find their way around it.

CMS and Reporting

CMS is an important administrative function that might not be important for users but is essential for data administration.

The reports and analytics allow the admin to track user engagement, reveal pain points, and work on future updates.

Multi-Language

A multi-language app allows you to target a larger demographic. Generally, complicated or medical terms are not something a bi-lingual speaker can easily understand in their second language, so an option to switch to their native language can enhance the user experience manifold.

Secure Authentication

Secure authentication should be a top priority for any healthcare provider as it involves sensitive health records and information about patients.

Moreover, it has valuable information about healthcare professionals as well that can fall prey to hackers. Unauthorized access should be avoided at all costs.

Therefore, it is important for you to invest in designing, implementing, and testing app authentication from the beginning.

Multi-factor authentication is an ideal practice to protect data and prevent unauthorized access to the application.

Conclusion

The healthcare app landscape has played a pivotal role in making medical assistance accessible to everyone from the comfort of their homes. Integrating EHR, and other telehealth features can enhance the healthcare experience for your patients.

However, remember the type of app you need and the features that you should integrate into your app depend on the subjective requirements of your healthcare organization.

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References:

[i]- McKinsey & Company