What to Know Before Starting Doctor Consultation App Development?

These days, doctor consultation app development is the much-needed buoyant force in accelerating the transformation of the healthcare industry.

This innovative healthcare solution bridges the unmet gaps in patients and healthcare providers, while simultaneously improving accessibility. Blending state-of-the-art technologies with healthcare not only takes care of urgent medical attention but also acts as a giant leap forward for a patient-centred future.

Apps like these have enabled users to use their smartphones for healthcare and inspire doctors and healthcare organisations to invest in medical app development.

According to Statista, the online doctor consultation market is witnessing a CAGR of 4.02%, resulting in a projected market volume of $11.52 billion by 2029. Also, user penetration is anticipated to grow by 1.75% by 2029, curating technology as a powerful equaliser.

What’s more? According to a survey, 43% of users prefer to book consultations online, while 57% of users go online when searching for a healthcare provider.

Amazed by these mind-boggling numbers, if you are a medical practitioner or a doctor who wishes to develop a doctor appointment app or want to optimise their existing doctor on-demand mobile app development, you are at the right place.

Herein, we’ll explore how doctor consultation app development is unlocking healthcare 2.0, revolutionising the future of the healthcare industry, and insights that’ll help you reap the benefits of investing in this idea without mistakes.

So, let’s start by understanding how doctor consultation app development works and the driving forces bracing the popularity of healthcare apps.

Exploring the Different Types of Doctor Consultation Apps

These days, doctor on-demand consultation apps have emerged as inevitables, offering numerous features and functionalities tailored to diverse medical concerns. Here’s a quick rundown of the different types of these apps and how they address unmet health requirements:

1. Peer-to-Peer Doctor Consultation App

As the name suggests, the peer-to-peer doctor consultation app enables patients to communicate with doctors remotely, improving the patient-health provider relationship. Patients experience shorter wait times, fewer appointments and affordable consultation fees. Doctors can use these apps to get support in assisting a patient or to discuss a patient’s condition with a specialist remotely.

Peer-to-Peer Doctor Consultation App Example:

• Practo

A renowned name in telemedicine apps that lets users ask physicians free health concerns and get answers from a vast network of doctors.

2. Aggregator Doctor Consultation App

An aggregator doctor consultation app is a platform that connects patients with numerous doctors under one umbrella offering varied healthcare services. This app enables users to check doctor’s reviews, compare different healthcare service providers, facilitate remote consultation, etc.

Aggregator Doctor Consultation Apps Example:

• Graphmyhealth:

It allow patients compare different healthcare service providers, including doctor consultations by chat, phone, video, or home visit

3. All-in-One Healthcare Consultation App

The all-in-one healthcare app’s core objective is to streamline the cumbersome process of medical processes. These apps offer fully-rounded medical business solutions for users, healthcare practitioners, vets, emergency services, pharmacies, hospitals/clinics, billing and management and much more.

All-In-One Doctor Consultation App Example:

• Pharmeasy

This app offers a range of services, consisting of teleconsultation, medicine deliveries, sample collection and home tests.

By understanding the different types of doctor consultation apps, physicians as well as patients can choose the most appropriate time for consultation to meet specific medical needs and improve the overall experience.

How Does a Doctor Consultation App Make Money?

There’s no doubt, that doctor consultation app revenue has grown constantly in recent years.

For instance, the Doctor on Demand telehealth app reported revenue of $75.9 Million. Plus, the company revenue is predicted to grow in the future, as the demand for doctor consultation app development continues to increase.

But, the question remains unanswered – How does a doctor-on-demand app make money? It makes money through different sources like subscription fees, partnerships, commissions, advertising and many others.

Let’s have a look at each in detail:

       1. Consultation Fee Model

Doctor on-demand telehealth app generates revenue by charging consultation fees for audio or video consultations with healthcare providers. Patients have to pay for every online consultation through the platform.

Often, the fee structure varies depending on the type of healthcare provider and the time duration of the virtual session.

      2. Commission-Based Model

As the name suggests, commission-based medicine apps charge a commission from healthcare providers who use the platform. Often, the commission is a percentage of the fee patients pay for their consultation. The amount of the commission depends on the following factors:

• The type of visit – Charges a higher commission for longer visits
• The patient’s insurance plan –  Charges minimal commission to patients with insurance that includes telehealth visits
• The doctor’s expertise – Charge a higher commission rate for virtual visits with expertise, like dermatology and psychiatry.
  

  3. Partnership Model

Doctor consultation apps can also generate revenue by partnering with leading industry employers, health insurance companies and healthcare systems offering on-demand doctor consultation app development services as part of their network.

Furthermore, to these revenue streams, doctor consultation apps make money from ads and sponsoring remnant places on their app.

Recommended Reading : An Entrepreneur Guide on How To Monetize Your App

How To Develop a Medical App?

Doctor consultation app development requires concise planning and execution. To assist you with seamless development, we’ve pocketed the development process in easy-to-understand 8 steps.

Let’s start.

Step 1: Define Your App’s Key Features and Functionality

The process of “How to develop a medical app” starts with understanding which features to include in your app. For instance, you might plan to focus on a specific niche within the medical industry, like mental health and grow your service array by partnering with reliable medical app development companies, providing features like therapist searches, telemedicine consultations and virtual appointments.

Consider doing app market research to identify crucial features that are successful in the same niche to ensure your app has a competitive edge. Also, analyze the strengths and weaknesses of similar apps and address the unmet needs with a unique value proposition.

Step 2: Build a Database of Doctors and Clinics

Building a database enables patients to search and find doctors or clinics based on their geography, doctor’s speciality and availability. Without a database, patients would not be able to find or schedule consultations within the app. You can collect information like contact details, services they provide, operational hours and other related information.

Thus, having a database of doctors and clinics saves time and simplifies consultation processes for both patients and doctors.

Step 3: Hire Dedicated Medical App Developers

If you are wondering what to consider when hiring developers to develop your app, we got you covered!

Ensure you hire developers who have experience in building similar apps and have a comprehensive understanding of the healthcare industry. Identify developers, designers and testers that dwell with expertise in doctor on-demand app development, UI/UX design, and testing. Surprisingly, outsourcing app development companies can provide you with dedicated and skilled professionals with the ability to manage development processes seamlessly.

But, when choosing an outsourcing app development company, consider their reputation, experience, and client reviews on trusted B2B platforms like Clutch to ensure your project’s success.

Step 4: Pick the Right Tech Stack to Develop a Doctor Appointment App

Ask your app development company to help you choose the right tech stack based on your app’s requirements, budget and timeline. Plus, they’ll help you stay up-to-date with the latest technologies and trends in the industry.

Step 5: Create Prototype and UX/UI of App

Once the technology stack is finalised, the business analyst team starts by building a mobile app wireframe of the app’s structure and functionality, providing a basic idea of how the app will look and function.

The development team will create a prototype with minimal features that can be tested by users and used to gather feedback. Following, designers will focus on the UI/UX design of the app by choosing a colour scheme, typography and layout that is visually eye-pleasing. The design team will also ensure the design stays consistent throughout the app and is optimised for different devices, screens and orientations.

Step 6: Ensure HIPAA Compliance of Your Doctor On-Demand Consultation App

With your development team starting the development of your medical app, they must adhere to HIPAA compliance. This includes developing a protected mobile app architecture that aligns with HIPAA regulations to safeguard patients’ crucial information.

Furthermore, ensure your development team has a comprehensive understanding of regulatory compliance standards for healthcare and knows the best ways to secure the app. A handful of proven practices for secure doctor consultation app development include:

• Establishing PHI (Protected Health Information) data encryption to secure sensitive patient information.
• Use SSL connections to ensure secure health data transmission.
• Adhere to standard regulations like the HITECH Act, GDPR and other relevant standards.
• Consider a HIPAA-as-a-service cloud platform, which offers HIPAA-compliant infrastructure for hosting and managing healthcare data.

In a nutshell, adhering to these regulations ensures your doctor’s on-demand appointment app is safe and compliant with HIPAA regulations.

Step 7: Establishing Payment Gateways in Your App

Integrating payment gateways is a vital step in doctor consultation app development to cater to users’ needs. Your partner doctor appointment mobile app development company will choose a suitable payment gateway provider, configure the gateway to work with your app, and ensure all transactions are secure and comply with relevant guidelines.

Moreover, when selecting a payment gateway provider, consider factors like transaction fees, security features, and user experience. Some of the popular payment gateway providers for healthcare apps are PayPal, Stripe and Braintree. By establishing a secure and reliable payment gateway, you can offer users a protected and seamless experience while ensuring the integrity of their data.

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Step 8: Test, Release and Update Doctor Appointment App

Quality Analysts thoroughly test the app across different devices and platforms to ensure it works flawlessly. This process consists of testing the functionality, usability, security and performance, as well as ensuring the app complies with standard regulations like HIPAA.

Your medical app developers team will work closely in collaboration with the QA team to address any concerns that are identified and make improvements and changes as needed for the required standards. Once, the testing process is completed, and necessary changes are made, the app is rolled-out to the respective stores, making it available for the public to download and use.

Inspire Your Vision With Apptunix’s Expertise in Doctor Consultation App Development

As a leading custom healthcare app development company with extensive experience in creating on-demand apps, we have a highly skilled team of developers who excel in the technologies required to craft exceptional on-demand healthcare solutions. Our collaboration with various healthcare brands has led to the successful delivery of high-end applications tailored to their specific needs.

One such project is OPCG, a smart healthcare system designed to enhance the patient-caregiver relationship by enabling paramedics with medical directives in real time.

Another significant healthcare app we’ve developed is Cortext, which empowers healthcare providers to create comprehensive records while curating as a secure communication platform. The platform allows hospitals to communicate securely from any workstation or mobile device, for improved care coordination, patient safety and satisfaction. Currently, Cortext is implemented in numerous hospital chains in the US, achieving a 60% improvement in nurses’ real-time response times.

In Nutshell, the future of doctor-on-demand app development lies in the seamless integration of technologies like wearables and artificial intelligence (AI), paving the way for innovative and personalized healthcare solutions. And as seen, the demand for accessible and convenient healthcare continues to grow, and on-demand apps are becoming pivotal to comprehensive health management.

If you have some questions about developing a doctor appointment app after reading this article, we can help you usher in a new era of personalized digital healthcare solutions.