Developing Healthcare Applications: Industry Dynamics and First-Hand Experience from Engineering Masters

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Entering the 21st century seems like stepping onto a speeding escalator. The last few years have been marked by adapting to new technologies and adjusting approaches on all business levels. Today, we can freely say technology is here to stay, making almost all industries depend on it if focused on keeping their place in the market.

Managing healthcare systems is no exception. According to general Statista research on a global level, the digital health market is projected to grow by approximately 50% between 2024 and 2029, and when asked by Accenture, 93% of executives agreed that with rapid technological advancements, it is more important than ever for organizations to innovate with purpose. 

Technology advances have brought the healthcare industry an overall improvement in decision-making, medical treatment planning, patient care and diagnosis, healthcare provider coordination, data recording, and enhanced security measures to prevent data breaches. And of course, with unavoidable topics such as artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning, and virtual/augmented reality, the revolution in healthcare delivery is inevitable. These technologies already show more secure and precise strategies, and most importantly, bring personalized and proactive care to patients' lives. 

Top Healthcare App Examples and Solutions

Healthcare app development is an all-around process of developing mobile applications to meet healthcare and wellness requirements. In general, these applications enable users to track their health conditions, communicate with their chosen healthcare professionals, and access solutions tailored to their specific medical needs.

Some of the most trending solutions are:

  1. Telemedicine - enabling remote communication between patients and healthcare providers, reducing the need for clinic visits, especially for those with limited access or mobility; through healthcare management platforms, operations between providers and end users are simplified, enhancing an overall healthcare delivery
  2. IoT medical solutions - improving patient monitoring and care delivery for professionals by focusing on collecting, transmitting, and analyzing health data in real-time
  3. Health and wellness tracking applications - enabling users to track their health condition via various metrics and measurements, such as physical activity, pulse, nutritional status, and sleep quality
  4. EHR (Electronic Health Records) - storing and managing patient medical records electronically, offering an overall view of medical history to improve data accuracy and accessibility
  5. Cloud-based applications - transforming the way healthcare organizations store, access, and manage data in a more efficient and affordable way

Niche Tips for Successful Product Development

Quote about developing user centric products

  1. User-centric design: Meeting All User Essentials
  • Providing patients with access and more significant control over their data, and doctor appointments, with features like accessing a complete medical record stored in one place
  • Providing patients with chronic conditions the ability to track their health daily and/or between their regular checkups, thanks to medical devices such as wearables
  • Enabling patients to receive crucial information about their prescriptions, reminders to take their medication, and notifications about upcoming checkups by implementing push notifications
  • Developing user-friendly designs while considering all types of users
  • Respecting all necessary accessibility regulations for patients with disabilities, through features like screen readers, adjustable fonts, voice commands, and easy navigation etc.

User centric design dev quote

  1. Data Security and Regulatory Compliance: Building a Reliable HIPAA and GDPR-Compliant Platform

Data security means securing all the data you are handling through your business that is related to your end-users. In healthcare, it is keeping patients and their health records safe from misusage. 

Any security incident, known as a data breach, in which unauthorized parties access sensitive or confidential information, can harm patients and result in penalties for failing to ensure the privacy of personal data. The exposed information can include Social Security numbers, names, and addresses, as well as sensitive health information like Medicaid ID numbers, health insurance details, and patients' medical histories. According to Healthcare Dive research from 2023, nearly half of the 40 million data records were exposed due to attacks. It is no surprise that almost 70% of healthcare companies moved to the cloud that same year, according to DuploCloud.

This put digitization on a new level of responsibility for healthcare providers, challenging them to deliver services in the best interest of both end-users and their businesses. 

Dragans quote about data privacy and compliance

Each country has its own healthcare system managed through various regulations and specific frameworks that define how data security measures should be implemented to comply with legal requirements. There’s no difference when it comes to developing healthcare apps. It is crucial to comply with both local and international regulations to ensure secure processes and protect data privacy.

If operating in the US, businesses should be familiar with the HIPAA regulations - a 1996 law that enforces data security to protect patients' medical information. The Act regulates the processing of protected health information (PHI), including electronic PHI (ePHI), by any organization in the US market.

Running a business in the EU is nothing less regulated. GDPR came into force in 2008 in European Union countries to protect the privacy and security of individuals' sensitive data in all sectors. The regulation protects EU citizens’ data by defining how organizations process, store, and destroy it. 

  1. System Integration: Ensuring Effective Integration With External Solutions

System integration is the process of connecting separate systems/software solutions so they can work together as a single integrated system

Jovans quote about privacy in healthcare

The reason why organizations choose to integrate their solutions with external ones is to fill in the gaps where needed and boost their productivity while addressing crucial inefficiencies. Integration of two different IT systems can improve the information flow, shorten long processes, and enhance the overall efficacy.

When discussing healthcare applications, this means ensuring that your app can effectively communicate and exchange data with other external systems, such as electronic health records (EHRs), lab systems, and various tools and documentation. The mutual goal is to create an ecosystem where data flows smoothly between systems, improving overall functionality and efficiency.

Choosing a compatible solution provider may be difficult, due to differences in standards, experience, business approaches, and industry requirements or regulations. 

Healthcare Toolkit Banner

Being aware of the system integration benefits, the Inviggo team delivers solutions that are integratable and compatible with other technologies. Open systems have proven to be effective for our clients, so we strive to adopt and implement advanced and forward-looking technology solutions in our everyday achievements.

When it comes to third party integrations, our team had a chance to work on such projects, delivering API for specific healthcare applications. 

Milicas quote about data integration in healthcare

Digital advancements in healthcare bring high expectations for faster, more efficient, user-centric solutions. Additionally, the widespread adoption carries many challenges for businesses to overcome. By addressing them, healthcare app development has the potential to revolutionize care delivery and significantly improve patient outcomes on a global scale. By partnering with a team of experts that handles healthcare projects with a solution-oriented approach, care, and understanding, businesses can reach a shifting perspective on any business operation. 

For more than five years, the Inviggo team has been closely following the dynamics of the healthcare industry, successfully managing a vast number of projects related to the digitization of various processes and overcoming challenges to drive positive change at the intersection of healthcare and technology.

Featured image by Artem Podrez

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