How to Develop Medical Applications in 2022 | Essential Guide 

Updated on January 31, 2022

Find out about the latest market trends in healthcare development, and get your ultimate guide to developing a high-quality medical application.

Top-5 Tips for Healthcare App Development in 2022 

Medical app development services became very popular in 2021 — with the digital health industry setting another funding record in the third quarter of this year, it’s apparent that virtual care wants to be established as a new form of sorts. Healthcare applications are used to control treating of patients, allow training and recording functions of their brain, nervous system and internal organs. Medical software helps to administrate hospital work and train staff. To put theoretical knowledge of medical professionals into practice, Diversido team has developed software and hardware for Android and iOS applications. It simulates vital functions – oxygen saturation, heart rate, temperature, respiration – and allows these signals to be displayed on a real patient monitor.This article will broadly describe tips that will help you approach digital health development more efficiently and outline the latest trends in the industry. 

Find Your Target Audience 

The pandemic has necessitated many changes in healthcare application development, accelerating the evolution of the field and making it extremely popular. 

Some of the most popular types of healthcare apps nowadays are solutions for telemedicine and wellness apps. As doctors and patients are continuously looking for new ways of staying in touch, the demand for telemedicine increases fast. It allows patients to consult doctors online, rendering commuting unnecessary on many occasions. Wellness applications are created for people who are interested in new ways of keeping themselves healthy and relaxed. Examples might include apps for meditations, fitness, nutrition, sleep improvements, etc. 

Depending on the types of services your app will provide, your target audience will vary. As a business owner, there are three main groups that you can choose as the target audience for your future application: 

  • Patients/Users

First of all, you can create apps that users can download themselves and start using, regardless of what software or equipment their healthcare providers choose to utilize. Wellness apps fall into this category as they assist patients, additionally to recommendations prescribed by medical professionals. 

  • Provider organizations

Alternatively, you can focus on providing software to healthcare providers, such as various medical facilities. Telemedicine apps, while used by both doctors and patients, are usually targeted at this audience. 

  • Labs and CROs 

You can also build diagnostic and data analytics equipment for laboratories — or apps for clinical research organizations that’ll allow them to better retain trials’ participants. 

It’s worth noting that requirements to such apps that, in any way, interact with people’s health info are often much stricter — especially within the security aspect. 

Determine the Platform and Devices 

Once your target audience is clear, it’s time to determine what platforms and devices you need to develop for. The most obvious choice is a smartphone — more than six billion people have one. The next option is computers, of course, — though not that if you’re developing for rural areas or underserved populations they might not have one. 

More specialized types of healthcare equipment include various medical devices, such as pacemakers, defibrillators, medical monitors, tonometers, etc. Almost any tool that’s used by doctors to treat patients can become a connected medical device, if you, broadly speaking, equip it with sensors that’ll send data into the software. Medical hardware infrastructure covers items that need specialized software. Examples include bed elevators, filtration systems, waste treatment systems, and more. Medical devices and hardware infrastructure usually require IoMT development. 

Of course, IoMT device development is sophisticated — if you’ll want to build one of those sensor-based solutions, you’ll need to pass through multiple clinical trials and regulatory checks to be able to market it to medical institutions or customers. 

Create a Prototype or MVP 

A clear outline of your future project plays a big role in its success. Build a prototype if you want to have a visual example of how your idea will work and what value it will deliver. Show it to your prospective investors and potential target audience to test the project’s feasibility. 

Build an MVP, however, if you want to gather tangible evidence that a) you have a product-market fit, b) the way you’re delivering your value is satisfying for users. MVP can be rolled out in app stores or sent off to your first adopters as an early access app. 

Don’t forget that for MVP development to make sense, your audience needs to know about you; start talking to your future customers — whether it’s patients or doctors — at the early stages of product development. 

Take Care About the Functionality 

To develop a truly convenient e-health product be sure to consider its following characteristics:

  • Accessible UI\UX Design 

Software should be intuitive, easy to navigate and use. UI must incorporate features making it accessible even for non-tech-savvy individuals. Remember that lots of people who need virtual healthcare don’t have high levels of digital literacy. 

  • Privacy and Security 

Privacy and security for healthcare development apps must be top-notch. Such applications handle very sensitive data. Also, if you are planning to market your software in the US, make sure that it complies with HIPAA and FDA standards.

  • APIs and Additional Integrations 

APIs are sets of tools that allow several programs to communicate. Enabling integration of your software with other services is important — it allows for the interoperability of digital health software. For instance, it would be nice for doctors if your lab app could connect to solutions of major EHR providers — then, they would receive patients’ test results right into the system they use. 

  • Continuous Delivery 

Healthcare software must be reliable, and continuous delivery is a crucial characteristic of it. Make sure your app can work on old devices; on the phone that has is 4% of charge, when the network connection is bad. 

Stay Modern and Updated 

To maintain a competitive edge, consider these modern development areas for your application:

  • Telemedicine 

As it was already mentioned, telemedicine innovations are nowadays. According to the CDC, the last week of March 2020 has seen a 154 percent increase in telehealth usage, compared with the same period a year ago. In 2021, these numbers sunk a little, but it’s one of the most popular niches within digital health. 

  • Integration With the Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) Devices 

IoMT represents wireless connectivity between medical devices, increasing their productivity. It is viewed as an extremely promising niche that has the potential to mitigate many medical challenges.

  • Cloud Computing 

Cloud computing enables multiple online services: processing and storage of large volumes of data, financial transactions, virtual assistance, and more. 

  • Blockchain Integration 

This technology can be immensely useful to the industry, for example, to encrypt patent data, securely process transactions, manage medicine supply chains, etc. The potential is limitless.

Summary 

To summarize, if you are interested in developing a healthcare app, first of all, determine your purpose and target audience. Then think about what platforms and devices it must be compatible with, create a prototype or an MVP, and make sure that all the crucial functionality is present. Last but not least, to stay relevant, speak with your customers about what they need from your type of digital health device. 

The Editorial Team at Healthcare Business Today is made up of skilled healthcare writers and experts, led by our managing editor, Daniel Casciato, who has over 25 years of experience in healthcare writing. Since 1998, we have produced compelling and informative content for numerous publications, establishing ourselves as a trusted resource for health and wellness information. We offer readers access to fresh health, medicine, science, and technology developments and the latest in patient news, emphasizing how these developments affect our lives.