Mobile Healthcare App: Key Requirements From Patients

We live in a highly digitalized world, where an increasing number of tasks and services are executed online. This includes the world of healthcare as well, where mobile apps, as well as other modern tools, have come to play a vital role in improving patient experiences and the received quality of care. 

You would agree the rising demand for mobile care is fueling a health revolution. With handy features, the health apps can make it simpler for users to record their health data and provide access to medical treatment. This would reduce the need for in-person doctor visits as well. Unfortunately, despite the value they offer, healthcare mobile apps are having trouble with increased adoption, primarily on account of the lack of features that patients need. 

Though the features of the healthcare app might vary their ultimate goal would remain the same. The combined features of a health app are about making life easier for patients and doctors and providing assistance with hospital management. For patients, it offers a quicker and simpler way to keep track of their test results, pays their bills, and much more. For hospital administration, the data collected simplifies doctors' jobs while making it easy to view patient information and keep track of their patient's progress.

So, we put together a quick list of some of the most important features of such apps from the patients’ perspective.

1. Ease of registration and login: The quickest way to frustrate the user of any app is to offer a complex registration and login process. In the context of healthcare, such issues can quickly deem such apps inaccessible.

2. Integration with wearable devices: Today, we live in a world that is brimming with an abundance of tools that allows people to monitor their health sans all the complicated tools and machinery, i.e. wearable devices. Now, given that they allow patients to keep a track of their overall well-being and such, integrating them with the app will help patients and doctors remain apprised about the former’s health.

3. Seamless communication: Studies have shown time and again that a large number of visits to hospitals and other healthcare facilities can easily be tended to either on a phone call or a video call. However, how can patients adapt to such provisions if the app does not offer them the means to communicate with doctors with ease. Hence, it is vital that the mobile healthcare app properly integrates Telehealth functionalities, which would make things a lot easier for not only patients but their doctors as well.

4. Actionable data: Research, including that of download stats from app stores, has demonstrated that people have embraced the concept of healthcare mobile apps with arms wide open. Unfortunately, their experience with such apps is eventually soured by a lack of something as basic as information. It is not enough to just cover the basics; a proper healthcare app must offer patients all the information they need, such as case history, medical ailments, treatment plans, diagnostic reports, next scheduled appointments, and such. You get the drift, i.e. give patients the kind of experience that will keep them engaged with the app.

The technological revolution has had a significant impact on the healthcare industry and that has been for everyone to see. After all, we have gone from racing to hospitals, clinics, etc. every time the need for a healthcare professional arose to be able to consult with them over the phone, from the convenience of our own homes. And to think, this is only one tiny aspect of the changes technology has brought along in the world of healthcare. Of course, mobile apps have come to play a crucial role in the healthcare ecosystem. However, to serve the patients they are intended for, the apps must be built on the foundation of patients’ needs and expectations. So, if you too are looking to undertake a health app development project for your company or simply looking to improve your existing app, you know exactly what to do.

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