5 Steps to Develop a Telehealth App

Many suggest the gross inadequacy in the healthcare sector was the reason behind the catastrophe during the pandemic. 

So several measures - including the ones to increase the accessibility of healthcare - crossed the minds of innovators. They were trying to make ends meet and bring the situation under control. That's when the idea of telemedicine became popular and started to gain acceptance. 

In no time, businesses dealing in communication technologies started seeing telemedicine as an opportunity. Rising investments and revenues - with current predictions of a phenomenal 26.6% CAGR by 2027 - supported the case. 

But, for many startups willing to venture into telemedicine, getting started can be a little puzzling. So, let's see how you can develop a telemedicine app of your own.

Step #1: Start with creating a profiling feature

Profiling and record-keeping are the most important tasks in a clinical setup. 

So first, develop a dedicated user profiling feature where a patient can create their profile and access their medical details in a single place. 

Besides the general demographic details of the patient, including their name, address, mobile number, etc. the user profile should also display upcoming appointments, appointment history, lab reports, etc. 

Step #2: Develop a mobile service panel

You'd want the welcome page of your telehealth application to display the details of all the services it offers. 

But apart from the services, the panel should also include information about the doctors available for consultation. This information will also include the doctors' educational as well as professional backgrounds. 

Your telehealth app will need tabbed pages to create such a mobile service panel. The pages will display content like typical conditions treated by the telehealth service, timings for each doctor's availability, and other crucial information. 

Step #3: Add a geolocation tracking feature 

A telehealth app should be an all-encompassing solution to deliver remote health care services. This is why your app should have a geolocation tracking feature to help you track your patients' location easily and quickly. 

Once patients permit you to track their location, you can accordingly suggest nearby pharmacies or centers for:

• vaccinations, 

• medications, 

• rehabilitation, etc. 

Step #4: Develop a flawless communication channel

Since a physical connection between a doctor and his patients will be missing, there should be no loopholes in virtual communication. You'd want the communication channel to be free of any disturbances and distortions. 

Features like live chat and video conferencing over mobile devices of all types are your best bet to achieve seamless communication. 

At the development stage, your developers should bring in a methodology to integrate an easy-to-use messenger where doctors and patients can effortlessly share audio-visual messages. 

Step #5: Include remote patient monitoring (RPM) in your app

To build an advanced telehealth app, you need to provide features that make your patients self-reliant. That said, add features to support self-health tracking for patients. 

For instance, in conditions like hypertension or diabetes, create a scheduling feature that reminds the patient to note blood pressure and blood sugar readings consistently. Doctors can then monitor these charts remotely and suggest medication accordingly. Additional capabilities required for an efficient telehealth app

Since telehealth relies heavily on effective communication, artificial intelligence is becoming an indispensable part of telemedicine apps. 

For example, the use of AI for developing chatbots and voice recognition assistants can make the user experience better. 

Besides, you can embed blockchain to ensure safe storage and exchange of medical records on the app. It is a fast-growing trend, with the global Blockchain healthcare market expected to reach 829 million USD by 2023.

Over to you!

Developing your telemedicine application surely seems like a great decision at this point. 

But you need to get the elements of your telemedicine application right. You'd want to set up a smooth and effective basic workflow to ensure that your telehealth app scales well enough. 

You can follow our guide to get started.