Don’t you enjoy the convenience of accessing everything from your phone? Nowadays, you do not need to visit the hospital to know your blood pressure. All you need is a mobile phone. Apps are instrumental in ensuring such services. Through an app, one can improve their workout routine, monitor their drug intake, get access to a medical center, or store their health metrics. Medical practitioners can also diagnose patients remotely, seek a second opinion, carry out management roles, and access education. For more cases, you can follow this link.
Healthcare applications improve the flexibility and accessibility of healthcare. Although most solutions are yet to establish themselves in the market, they are still a precious tool for any startup operating in the health sector. But such apps have unique difficulties, primarily due to the sensitive and complex nature of the data that they collect.
Security and Privacy
Data security is a burning issue in the world of advanced technology, where everyone has access to the internet. Cyber attacks are common in various fields, where hackers access sensitive data for malicious purposes. The level of security that a medical app should offer is almost similar to that in financial applications. Users need to be sure that their prescriptions, diagnosis, insurance information, contacts, or other sensitive information are safe. There are laws that protect the user’s privacy and every developer needs to comply with them fully. Developers also need to dig deeper and create stringent security measures like multi-factor authentication. This is where a user applies a combination of access methods, like a password, voice verification, fingerprint, face scan, and retina scan.
Different Laws for Different Locations
To complicate it further, different locations have varying regulations on data security. For example, in the United States, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is in effect. There are also privacy laws in each state that affect healthcare app development. Apps that need to comply with HIPAA are those that share private information with parties like doctors or insurance companies. Healthcare apps that facilitate the storage of user information do not need to comply.
Each app receives a unique analysis before implementation. Due to the privacy law compliance requirement in different areas, most health applications have a location limit. It isn’t easy to develop an application for international use, especially if it involves sharing information. Thus, it may be easier for a startup to map out an area, comply with their needs, and then expand while making changes.
The Size of Healthcare Data
Some healthcare apps process huge volumes of data, such as those that perform an accurate analysis of patterns. Due to it, healthcare professionals can predict epidemics and start vaccine development and administration at an early stage. Deepmind Health from Google and IBM’s Watson are good examples of apps that manage big data. They both use artificial intelligence in data sorting and provision of treatments. AI comes with high operational costs, which may be a huge disadvantage for a startup. The technology is also unable to achieve the level of human intelligence accuracy.
Managing big data poses problems right from the collection stage. So, developers have to prioritize the information they consider important. The costs of storing large volumes of data are also too high for most startups. The amount of healthcare data increases continuously, which necessitates a flexible storage system. Some developers have on-premise storage, where they get control over the access and security of data. However, this can be difficult to maintain and scale, which may lead to data silos.
Volatile Market
Every year, there are new trends in the healthcare field. People are constantly adapting to new ways of life and acquiring new habits. The changes develop into market trends, which the health app needs to consider. Thus, any developer in the healthcare market needs to be vigilant and keep up with the trends. While this is a huge chance to cause a disruptive change in the industry, this may be a headache for other market participants. Nevertheless, this is a chance to offer better services to people and make huge returns.
Funding
Extensive market research is an important process before developing an app. But research may require funding depending on its nature. The healthcare sector is constantly expanding with the increase in population worldwide. Thus, developers require more funds to cater to the basic needs like storage or data sorting. Additionally, the costs of updates need consideration due to the healthcare market’s volatile nature. For startups, it may be easier to outsource development services in order to get the best outcome from a certain budget. A low budget does not dictate a poor app, however. It is possible to build around certain key areas first.
Compatibility with Devices
Fast technological development has paved the way for new electronic devices. How users respond to your app depends on how well they can interact with it. This translates to how compatible the app is with the new gadgets. People are now increasingly using smartwatches for healthcare activities like monitoring their heart rate or keeping up with their workout routine. For your app to do well in the market, it needs constant optimization for upcoming devices. Proper research is also necessary to understand UI/UX elements and frameworks required by operating systems from Google or Apple.
Healthcare apps are one of the best ways to maintain interaction between patients and doctors. Apart from saving everyone’s time, patients become more aware of their health, and the treatment procedure is more efficient. Such perks make the development of healthcare applications a lucrative investment. A good app developer should foresee changes in the market through constant research. This will ensure that the app meets the projected needs and remains relevant. But a budget for such changes is also necessary.
