What do patients want in a mobile healthcare app?
Digitization in the healthcare industry is a trend now. Healthcare seekers can do everything from scheduling appointments and ordering medicines to tracking everyday health in just a few simple clicks. Today’s healthcare domain is leveraging all modern technologies to revolutionize how healthcare services are provided to patients.
The increasing demand for health apps is also accelerating the healthcare revolution, making people’s lives healthier and longer. The easy-to-use and handy features are incorporated in patient healthcare apps, making it simple to record health data, reduce in-person doctor visits, and review prescriptions.
According to a report, if medical spending rises, it will reach $12 trillion by 2040, accounting for 26% of GDP of the US. This percentage fluctuates with every passing year.
Healthcare providers today intend to improve the patients’ overall health, but on the contrary, the majority of them fail to match the patient’s expectations. When it comes to healthcare apps for patients, it’s all about providing best-in-class functionalities in the most user-friendly way that can entice your app users.
The reason behind this is the negligence of the main features that every healthcare seeker wants today. The patients want to get the best treatment through these medical apps without leaving their homes.
This article will help you understand what your patients want and what areas healthcare providers should focus on when developing a healthcare app for patients.
1. Seamless integration with medical devices
According to a report by Juniper Research, the healthcare wearables market will reach $20 billion by 2023.
The future of the healthcare app development industry is data-driven. The data gathered by the integrated multiple wearables and non-wearable devices help healthcare professionals to make strategic data-driven decisions related to critical patient treatment. The integration provides an easy-to-use dashboard feature where patients can easily get an overview of their health status.
It’s advisable for healthcare businesses to integrate apps with multiple wearable devices so that patients can easily monitor critical data such as heart rate, blood sugar, posture control, sleep patterns, and physical activities. This data helps your patients improve their overall health, and Healthcare seekers will now have better knowledge about their fitness routine and diet plans.
2. Simple yet unique digital experience
Every modern customer expects a seamless and impeccable experience in whatever service s/he invests in. Healthcare seekers are no exception.
According to a report, 90% of mobile apps are not used regularly once downloaded, and this can be due to the poor user experience.
Today, most mobile healthcare apps for patients fail to deliver the impeccable user experience that users expect. Healthcare seekers today want an amazing digital experience that helps them easily use health apps’ features and functionalities. All they want is a user-friendly user interface that allows them to access functionalities easily and improve their health hassle-free. The more attractive, appealing, and simple your healthcare apps will be, the more it entices your app users.
3. Quick symptom checker and in-app chats
Today’s health app users are becoming tech-savvy with the evolving digital apps and healthcare trends. Symptom checker applications are pretty common these days.
Patients are looking towards the kind of apps that provide features like symptom checkers and verified healthcare information.
Not only this, but they also want an interface where they can connect and talk with their doctors.
Secure and encrypted audio/video consultations between patients and providers are a must-have feature every customer looks for into a healthcare app.
Today’s health apps allow patients to interact with their respective healthcare professionals easily, saving time and reducing hospital visits. It serves patients personally via telephone calls and video calls.
Chatbots integrated with the apps direct the app users to chat with a healthcare professional
in case they don’t want to book an in-person or virtual consultation. AI-powered chatbots provide patients with the next level of interaction. AI-enabled chatbots help you determine the next course of action in treating severe diseases and book an automated appointment on your doctor’s behalf if required.
4. Instant reminders and notifications
What if your patients get quick notifications about their appointments, medicine reminders, and tracking sugar levels and heartbeat in just a minute. The incorporated in-app reminders and push notifications feature in the mobile healthcare app helps healthcare seekers to upgrade their health.
This feature will increase the levels of user engagement. Businesses can leverage the latest technologies to incorporate this feature that helps patients to set reminders for upcoming appointments and schedules with respective doctors.
5. Fast accessibility of medical records
Data accessibility is the need today for every patient, and they want fast and easy access to their medical records when needed. The healthcare data or medical records stored on the cloud are highly secure and ensure they are available to the patients whenever needed.
App owners should integrate this feature that helps patients access medical records by storing them on HIPAA-compliant cloud servers. With this feature in the healthcare apps, patients can access their medical records and provide better access to their health details.
6. Easy sign-up with manifold doctor profiles
A hassle-free and quick sign-up interface help app users instantly log in to your app and start using it.
Moreover, healthcare app users desire to get their treatment done with the doctor of their choice. A separate doctor profile look-up section to select preferred doctors so that patients can consult them in-person or schedule virtual healthcare appointments. Also, the app facilitates patients to choose their doctor based on their experience or reviews of other users.
7. Hassle-free appointment scheduling and easy access to functionalities
Fast appointment scheduling is one of the crucial features every app user wants in their healthcare app. Healthcare app developers provide patients with a quick appointment scheduling feature that greatly benefits them to upgrade their health.
A healthcare app needs to have an interface showcasing available slots for the appointments that help patients book at their convenience. Once an appointment gets approved, confirmation can be sent to the users via the app, ensuring a seamless user experience.
Additionally, the more unique functionalities an app has, the more it entices the users.
So, a full-fledged healthcare mobile app for patients is all about booking or scheduling appointments for an early diagnosis that provides patients with faster treatment and will save their immense efforts and time for health treatment.
Ending Note
The healthcare industry is leveraging modern technologies yearly while making people’s lives easier. The biggest challenge is understanding your patient’s wants in a mobile healthcare app.
Healthcare app development companies must design and develop a healthcare app that matches their targeted customer’s expectations.
Their incorporated features may vary at certain times, but the result remains the same for all of them. Healthcare seekers will now get endless benefits from mobile health apps as it makes their lives easier to live. According to health experts, the trend of providing patients with healthcare software development services via health apps is here to stay for a longer time.
