Published on May 16th, 2019 | by Bibhuranjan

Top Qualities You Need To Become a Successful Healthcare App Developer

Developing a healthcare app is not easy and it requires more than just expertise and experience. Healthcare apps have the ability to save people’s lives and developers may not know the impact they can bring but they are certainly responsible for helping medical practitioners make better diagnosis and provide the right care for patients.

As more cases of anxiety and depression come to light, there are a lot of ways on how an app can help patients get diagnosis even without setting a personal appointment with their doctors. Surely, there has been an overwhelming increase in the number of healthcare apps being launched everyday. As of the moment, there are about 318,000 health apps available on Apple App Store and Google Play Store. This number represents double the number of apps available in 2015.

But, as a healthcare app developer, what do you need to become successful in building healthcare apps that change people’s lives?

1. Knowledge about the types of healthcare apps

You have to be familiar with what “genre” of application you want to build. The major types of healthcare apps are: clinical assistance apps which offer EMR and EHR access, including digital imaging abilities, scheduling and reminder apps that can send notifications and reminders about appointments and prescriptions, and telehealth and remote monitoring apps which basically transmit patient information to a provider that is miles away from where the patient is.

Health and lifestyle apps, on the other hand, provides consumers an overview of their physical health and fitness based on their sleeping patterns, movements and day-to-day activities. Diet and meditation apps fall into this category.

There are also apps that are mainly for study guides and educational games. They serve as medical resource and provide access to learning physicians or medical practitioners.

2. Familiarity with the features and functionalities of healthcare apps

Healthcare apps are very different if compared with other types of apps. Depending on which type of healthcare app you want to build, you have to be ready to integrate functions such as dashboards, reporting and analysis charts, payment portals, doctor profiles and location, as well as real time chat and video functionalities. While these will all depend on the scope of your project, you must have prior experience working on these functionalities.

3. Willingness to conduct privacy and compliance research

Healthcare apps are subject to fierce legislation and you must have to deal with getting legal rights to patient information early through HIPAA and through local certification agencies in your country. The certifications will ensure that you have knowledge about the guidelines and standards for the healthcare apps you will be building.

Also, you must think ahead in protecting the app’s users by adding security features and encryptions as well as by conducting regular maintenance and system updates that will prevent their information from being compromised or jeopardized.

4. Smart decision making in terms of platform and devices

Before actually building your app, you have to decide which platforms, devices and operating systems you want to support. This is a crucial part of the app development process for any healthcare software.

One of the main audiences of healthcare apps are older people who need constant medical attention, but millennials are also using a lot of health and fitness monitoring apps. Do your own research about who you intend to use your app and decide which platforms and devices you will build your app on.

Another thing to consider is users’ ability to understand your app’s design. Most often that not, people who are sick and need immediate attention would use your app to receive care, so you should not confuse them with elements that will hinder them from doing what your app wants them to do.

While there are a lot of other factors and skill sets required to become a successful healthcare app developer, your journey will always be based on your passion and your willingness to help solve people’s health problems in an innovative way. Keep these qualities on mind, and apply them when you’re building a healthcare app and you’ll surely see the difference.

Tags: apps, healthcare, medical, software

About the Author

Bibhuranjan Editorial Officer, technofaq.org I'm an avid tech enthusiast at heart. I like to mug up on new and exciting developments on science and tech and have a deep love for PC gaming. Other hobbies include writing blog posts, music and DIY projects.