Contrary to the obvious belief that the healthcare sector has a rigid attitude toward change, it is quite evident that this sector less or more is the most advanced and technology-driven domain of all. In recent years, it has certainly started to take new forms. In this blog, we are going to explore telemedicine app development costs and key features with a complete process.
Like we can already witness the replacement of phone calls by patient portals (with 42% of users preferring to book an online telemedicine appointment through a telemedicine app), and EHRs have also taken the place of paper records (87% of office-based physicians are already using EHRs to access patient data Still, among all of them, the most revolutionary offering is of healthcare mobile app development. Telemedicine and Telemedicine mobile apps enable patients as well as doctors to avoid the probable inconveniences that occur during a hospital visit, substituting it with remote communication.
1. Telemedicine App Market-size and Statistics
- Telemedicine Market size surpassed USD 60.9 billion in 2020 and is estimated to grow at 18.2% between 2021 and 2027.
- According To Fortune Business Insights, The Global Telemedicine Market Size Is Projected To Reach USD 396.76 billion By 2027.
- Revenue in the Online Doctor Consultations segment is projected to reach US$21.98bn in 2022.
- User penetration will be 1.34% in 2022 and is expected to hit 1.61% by 2027.
- The average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to amount to US$215.50.
- In global comparison, most revenue will be generated in China (US$8,097.00m in 2022).
2. Best Telemedicine Mobile Apps Across the Globe
2.1. Teladoc health
Teladoc health is a renowned application and has been offering easy healthcare facilities to people globally. The application that started in the United States is a pioneer in the industry. It offers facilities like connecting with the doctor over video call or chat, booking appointments with nearby doctors, getting prescriptions, and everything that can be covered under urgent or non-urgent healthcare services.
The application is transforming the industry by streamlining data for medical employers, employees, customers, and health benefit providers.
2.2. DoctorOnDemand
Another application in the list is Doctor On Demand Application. You can connect with nearby doctors virtually for solutions to your problems. The customers love the application for the ease and accessibility it offers. In case of an emergency medical, one can connect with doctors immediately and get a resolution.
It is one of the most popular healthcare applications that offers e-prescription and laboratory test facilities.
2.3. K Health
The application has advanced features and a symptom checker that would make things easier for the users. If you need to see a doctor you need to pay a minimal fee for a one-time visit. You can even choose an annual prescription where you get to interact with the doctor who diagnoses illness, orders lab tests, and prescribes medicines.
2.4. MDLive
The application allows you to connect with licensed therapists, psychiatrists, and dermatologists. These experts are available to connect with the user at any time of the day. You can book virtual appointments, meet them, and update your health insurance policy from any insurance company. the application has it all for all the ease it offers.
2.5. Lemonaid
Lemonaid is a popular app in the United States that lists licensed medical practitioners from all 50 states. The application markets itself as an “Online Doctor’s Office” and thus, offers services that can be availed in a medical practitioner’s office. Schedule your visits, review your reports, get prescriptions, and whatnot.
The application is clearly standing by its mission to provide primary care health services to every American. It can be a great reference for you if you want to invest in telemedicine app development.
These are just some of the most popular telemedicine mobile applications in the market. These applications have transformed the way people look at the healthcare industry. Now getting appointments and medical assistance is just a click away!
Also, Read: Telehealth App Development
3. Telemedicine Mobile Apps Types
Before we move forward with other details of these applications let’s have a quick look at different telemedicine mobile app types. These applications are categorized based on their target audience and the portfolio of services they offer.
3.1. Telemedicine Apps for Healthcare Institutions or Individuals
These applications are designed and developed for the end users, i.e. the health care providers and individuals. The most significant services that these applications offer are online appointments, chat services, video calling services, e-prescription services, etc.
The applications are basically designed as a direct mode of communication between the medical practitioner and the patient.
3.2. Telemedicine app as Aggregator between Users and Doctors + Clinics
These applications aren’t directly connected to the doctors or the patients but play a significant role in the diagnosis and treatment process. It could be medicine delivery, lab testing, commuting, or others.
These applications are vital to keeping good health.
4. How to Monetization Telemedicine Mobile App?
- Sales of one-time services such as remote consulting
- Sale Monthly and Yearly Subscription of services
- Sponsored Content and Featured Listings
- Aggregation of Diagnostic centers and Labs
- Integrate eCommerce Functionalities
- Sell In-app Banner Advertisement
- Commissions from Doctors, Practitioners, Labs, Pharmacist
- Product as a Service to Health Institutions
5. What Are The Benefits of Telemedicine Mobile Apps?
It is learned that 75% of hospital visits are actually too basic and they can be handled easily via a phone or a video call. All in all, the money and time spent by patients at healthcare facilities are meaningless. In fact, in certain scenarios, a hospital visit isn’t always an available option. There are a number of countries facing a shortage of certain specialists or healthcare facilities overall, which leads to long waits and constant overload. So, in such medical conditions, it is common for patients to wait for their telemedicine appointment for weeks while the doctors often have to work overtime.
Healthcare facilities directly choose a hands-on alternative to hospital visits. Telemedicine mobile apps work great at creating a better schedule for healthcare professionals, saving the time of 75% of patients not requiring a physical examination, and also giving better access to healthcare for people living in under-served rural areas.
When talking about custom telemedicine app development, there are a lot more advantages that we cannot ignore:
5.1. Universality of Medical Services
With the telemedicine Mobile app, it would be easier for the patients to connect with medical consultants for their assistance. Also, the medical practitioner would not need to ask you for your medical history as it would already be available on the portal.
When considering the Stats by NHRA, we would see that 39.8 physicians per 100,000 people, compared to 53.3 physicians per 100,000 in urban areas, are dedicated to providing services to their patients with the help of telemedicine mobile applications.
5.2. Ditch the Time Factor
It would become quite easier for the patients to avail of required medical assistance without much ado. The time factor would not be an issue anymore. You can build the feature to let patients connect with the respective team of patients as and when required.
5.3. Ease of Record Keeping
When it comes to talking about record-keeping it has become quite easier now. With digitalization, the medical practitioners and both of you can access your medical history without much hustle. The best part is these solutions are developed keeping in mind the safety and security of the data.
5.4. Unified Patient Management System
With a unified patient management system, you would not need to worry about carrying your medical records with you. Telemedicine app development solutions can help you keep up with consultations, update prescriptions, disease monitoring, etc.
5.5. Efficient Time Management of Healthcare Specialists
Time management and work management become easier for medical practitioners. Thus, they can examine more patients in less time. With work overload, management telemedicine solutions can offer a better work-life balance.
5.6. Facilitate Administrative Operations
Administrative officials can focus on other important works other than being devoted to record maintenance. We have recorded dermatology, psychological and behavioral health, cardiology, and chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and more.
5.7. Single Window for Treating More Patients and Increase the Overall Revenue
If you look through the lens of a doctor, telemedicine mobile apps allow you to see a lot of patients during their visiting hours because of the reduced administrative work. If a doctor is seeing a lot more patients then it will boost its revenue and also reduce stress levels.
Related Post: e-Prescription Software and Mobile App Development- Cost & Features
6. Who Needs Custom Telemedicine Mobile Apps?
Physicians today prefer video consultations over the phone or email, thus physicians require customized Telemedicine solutions for better & remote consultation.
6.1. Healthcare Consultants
With telemedicine app development, healthcare consultants can keep, exchange, and securely access assessment records on patient-focused websites and mobile applications, which is of great use to them.
6.2. Pharmacists
Well, they will be able to deliver great services only when they are not confused while delivering the correct prescription in coordination with patients and physicians.
6.3. Hospital & Care Provider
They will be able to determine when to push the accuracy limit and it will be simpler to retrieve previous information if they have an electronic prescription app or website.
6.4. Physicians
By using telemedicine applications, doctors may treat patients accurately and without any ambiguity of any type. The quality and safety of the prescription process may be improved with tailored e-prescription solutions. A prescription may be quickly turned into a digital file and delivered from one pharmacy to another.
6.5. Patients
Patients can schedule virtual visits, request video consultations, access new prescriptions, find out when to take their medications and order medication from nearby pharmacies using the telemedicine mobile app.
This results in:
Better Efficiency
reduces the amount of time pharmacy staff must spend manually entering data or interpreting handwriting. It also gets rid of follow-up calls from the local pharmacy to the doctor.
Enhanced Care
There is no longer a requirement for pharmacists to decipher handwritten prescriptions and reduce the possibility of mistakes. Patients also need not remember medication and instructions as complete treatment and patient history are recorded.
7. What Are the Key Functionalities of Telemedicine Apps?
When talking about the functionalities of any telemedicine application, we need to cover the following points. These functionalities add to the ease of working on your application and help you deliver solutions that are easy to market. Your customers would love your solutions if you covered these functionalities in your telemedicine app development.
7.1. Real time consultation
Often, in case of minor or repetitive incidents, patients may already know the correct diagnosis, so they just need confirmation from a professional. In such a scenario, getting in touch with a health specialist via a telemedicine mobile app can be more effective than an in-person telemedicine appointment. A patient can book an e-visit after answering a few questions related to their symptoms and scrolling through a list of available doctors. Once a patient has chosen one of the specialists, she can book an e-visit at their convenience.
7.2. Prescription renewal
These visits when a patient requires getting a renewed prescription are certainly very frustrating. Telemedicine mobile app comes in handy in renewing prescriptions even on the very day the patients have run out of medication. Patients can schedule an e-visit to discuss their condition with their doctor and get a renewed prescription sent straight through the mobile app. Then can get it printed out or even choose to show the electronic version at the local pharmacy store.
7.3. Medication advice
Often patients have certain questions regarding the medication, mainly when it has been prescribed for the first time. There could be certain side effects or might want to know if it is okay to decrease the dosage after acute symptoms have disappeared. Using a telemedicine system, patients can send a photo of their medication prescription or either type their query in a message or even book a call with their doctor to ask them directly.
7.4. Photo/Video-based consultation
There are certain specialists, mainly dermatologists, who admit being able to diagnose a patient within the first two seconds of visual contact, like in case of skin problems, eye infections, bruises & similar medical conditions with visible symptoms. Here, a consultation via the Telemedicine mobile app would be enough. The patient can fill out a small questionnaire, after which the app will allow them to take a picture of the problematic spot and send it to a healthcare professional, who will accordingly establish a diagnosis and message it to the patient along with a treatment planner. In case the specialist requires more info, she can schedule a video call with the patient or send lab test orders through the telemedicine mobile app.
These are some of the most important functionalities that our telemedicine app development services integrate with your solution. Along with these basic functionalities, it is important that they do not miss adding interesting and user-friendly experiences in your application that would help you earn the best results.
Visit Also: How Much Does It Cost to Build a Healthcare App Like myAster?
8. Features to be Considered in Telemedicine App Development
In order to make online visits as informative as face-to-face appointments, a number of telemedicine app development firms offer countless feature-rich telemedicine solutions with great functionality. Let’s explore them here:
8.1. Online-Appointment Scheduling
The doctors can manage their availability by adding specific appointment timings directly to the online calendar. The patient simply needs to log into the App, view available timings, and select what suits them most.
8.2. Patient & Doctor Dashboard
The dashboard page is what the patients & doctors will see when they first log in to the app. For physicians, it displays a list of pending appointments and new appointment requests. From this place, the video sessions can be launched directly and treatment notes can be edited. For patients, the page will display a confirmed appointment, medication planner, video appointment request confirmation, etc.
8.3. Appointment Reminders
These alerts ensure you never miss out on your appointments. Both doctors and patients will receive an email before a scheduled session that provides the date, timing, and login details for the meeting.
8.4. HD Quality Video Chat
What is better than being able to consult the physicians regarding your symptoms or ailments via a video chat? The cutting-edge HD-quality video chat functionality enables you to see everything and interact in crisp detail.
8.5. Video Session Recording
This is yet another useful feature of a telemedicine solution’s ability to record video sessions. Once the session is over, a 48-hour time window is given to download the video to your system. Physicians can use this video for future reference as they review a patient’s progress over time.
8.6. Multi-user chat
Numerous telemedicine platforms have this chat functionality integrated, which allows providers to talk to patients or other physicians in real time.
8.7. Patient information
With a simple click, a patient’s info can be easily exported in PDF format. Does this comprise patients’ personal contact information, treatment notes, history of appointments, and emergency contacts? This is helpful to provide a history of visits & patient info to the other healthcare providers.
8.8. Treatment Notes
The health providers (admin) can add progress notes, treatment, and evaluation for each session. The server securely stores these notes in an encrypted database, and thus it guarantees patient-doctor confidentiality & safety.
8.9. Direct EHR integration
With the recent prominence of electronic health records (EHRs), it is vital that patient encounters are documented and stored digitally. The same goes for Telemedicine app development, where a number of telemedicine platforms enable users to document patient encounters, record audio/visual notes, and then attach them to patient’s health records.
8.10. Pharmacy Databases
It is easier to access the Pharmacy Database from the telemedicine mobile app, thus making the workflow a lot easier and more efficient.
8.11. Document Sharing
The solution allows the patients as well as the physicians to share documents easily through the mobile app, thus enabling efficient and timely urgent care.
8.12. Access Medicine Data
Medical professionals can access medicine data easily via the system to keep themselves updated regarding the newly-introduced medicines and the medicines that have been prescribed by them to certain patients.
8.13. Reporting & Analytics
Several telemedicine platforms consist of some form of reporting or analytics feature, though what data is included depends on the platform and what it is being used for.
For instance, a real time Telemedicine mobile app may include reporting features that can track how many remote visits a provider has made, how many different patients she has seen, the common reasons for visits, and how many patients were and how much were they satisfied with the visit.
8.14. Store-and-forward Technology
This feature enables physicians and patients to share medical data, images & patient history in a safe & secure manner. They are mainly prominent in the arena of teleradiology, where patient MRI scans, x-rays, and more are sent to a specialist for remote diagnosis. This feature requires robust archiving & compressing functionality as it deals with comprehensive medical images that need to be shared with others without any drop in image resolution.
8.15. Prescription and medication Tracker
This feature allows the doctor to track the prescriptions and medication offered to certain patients.
8.16. Multiple Payment Mode
Constant payments need to be received online in lieu of the services offered to patients, such as appointment fees, etc. Thus, multiple payment modes, like Credit/Debit Cards, PayPal, Stripe, and Braintree, are offered to the patients to make payment processing easier.
8.17. CMS for Health Articles
CMS integration with Telemedicine solutions is quite crucial in order to maintain health articles efficiently.
8.18. Push Notification
Alerts can be sent easily to doctors as well as patients in case of any updates, such as new appointment requests, appointment confirmations, medicine planners, and a lot more.
Checkout More: Top Mobile App Development Companies in USA 2023
9. Which Practices Find Telemedicine Mobile Apps Beneficial?
This solution proves helpful for many healthcare streams ranging from:
9.1. Cancer care
Often cancer involves a long & intense period of treatment for patients where they need to make visits to numerous healthcare providers, all during receiving treatment, such as chemotherapy, which makes them tired & sick. Thus, when patients are enabled to meet several oncology providers from home using Telemedicine solutions, it reduces the burden not just on patients but also on caregivers.
9.2. Family practices
With the use of Telemedicine solutions, family healthcare can be provided in a lot more flexible manner. The system can be used by physicians to check on how patients are doing and to review test results and symptoms before prescribing medication.
9.3. Sleep Medicine
Sleep medical conditions can be easily diagnosed and treated from home via sleep tests & therapies, however, a consultation with a sleep specialist is still needed. This is why telemedicine is quite popular among sleep specialists who consult with patients at home.
9.4. Diabetes Care & Management
Chronic conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure need ongoing patient interaction. With Telemedicine solutions being an effective and efficient way to engage with diabetic patients, they report their progress from the comfort of their homes.
9.5. Medication Management
Medication compliance has a great focus in healthcare and with telemedicine solutions, the healthcare providers & staff can stay in touch with patients to ensure they are compliant with a prescribed medication regimen. This improves patient health results and reduces readmissions.
9.6. Prenatal Care
Most prenatal care consists of routine check-ups & patient education, thus Telemedicine app development allows moms to continuously receive urgent care without any additional time & cost burdens of traveling to a clinic for each visit.
9.7. Mental & Behavioural Health
m-Health, e-therapy, telepsychology, and tele-mental health are in all likelihood the largest segment of telemedicine users in healthcare, after all, it is just so flexible as well as it can be utilized successfully for a variety of client populations in mental health services & behavioral health, such as Emotional support, Consultation & Supervision, In-home behavioral interventions, Medication Management, Psychological Assessment and Therapy for individual, couples, or groups.
9.10. Psychiatry
Video consultation and medications through telemedicine mobile apps.
9.11. Dermatology
Sending images of skin such as rashes, scars, or nevii for rapid consultation.
9.12. Cardiology
The app can monitor patients with cardiac diseases via wearable devices. The app can also be examined using electronic stethoscopes and tele-ECG. This is highly beneficial for patients with high blood pressure and are prone to heart attack.
9.13. Ophthalmology
Macro picture of an eye using a smartphone camera OR attached optical device
9.14. Orthopedics
X-ray image sharing, monitoring, and consulting with orthopedics.
9.15. Nursing
Nursing services for noncritical cases and minor injuries, like bruises and mild burns. Provide Instructions for wound treatment and medication.
9.16. Physical Therapy
Advising patients on the proper workouts, diets, and regimens for treating sports injuries and other injuries.
9.17. Emergency Treatment
Telemedicine apps can provide urgent care instructions and consultation for emergency medical support.
These are some of the important use cases where one needs assistance with telemedicine mobile applications. If you are looking forward to developing a telemedicine mobile that can help you monetize on the current healthcare scenario, then you are indeed in the right place.
10. Security and Compliance Requirements for Telemedicine App Development
- Certified with EPCS (Electronic Prescription for Controlled Substance)
- Electronically protected health information (ePHI).
- Integrated with EPA (Electronic Prior Authorization)
- In compliance with HIPAA
- HITECH Act meaningful use stage 1 & 2
- Health and Human Services (HHS) guidelines
- Certification with EPSC (Electronic Prescription for Controlled Substance)
- FDA Policy for mobile medical applications.
- Health Level 7: HL7 Standards
The U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 regulates security provisions and data privacy for electronically protected health information (ePHI). If we talk about this in simpler words, this is an act that is enforced so that data that is relevant to respective patients can be stored, shared, and accessed safely and securely by limited parties, which include the patient and the insurance company.
HIPAA compliant has established itself as the most popular compliance standard and has set strong security zones for telemedicine app developers who need to abide by them. Along with this, the compliance framework is designed to regulate other industries and help in a careful assessment of the details.
Some other relevant standards to stick to are SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR.
The data shared and discussed with other members is always encrypted and transferred maintaining high security. True end-to-end encryption for single messages is never a good idea.
Along with data security, admin levels need to be taken urgent care of. Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), Multi-Factor Authentication, Password Rotation, etc. are some common practices to follow.
Read Also: Pharmacy Management Software Development- Features & Functionalities
11. Factors to Consider While Developing a Telemedicine Mobile App
As you initiate your search for the right Telemedicine System Development company, you need to abide by certain parameters that will prove to be pivotal for your search:
- Easy-to-use, Feature-Rich, Application
- Simple Yet Attractive Designs and Artworks
- Mobile-ready strategy (suits both Android & iOS apps, PWA)
- Functions efficiently and smoothly on all devices (mobile, tablets, & desktops)
- EHR EMR system integrated
- Certified with EPCS, HIPAA compliant & HL7
12. Required Techstack for Telemedicine App Development
- Mobile App Platforms: Android, iOS
- Drug Data: openFDA Drug API | GoodRx
- EHR and EMR: Allscripts API, DrChrono API
- Prescription Management: MDLive
- Treatment Type and Health Insurance: Eviti
- Front-end Development: Angular, Java, CSS, HTML, React
- Back-end Development: Laravel, Node.js
- Push Notifications, SMS: Batch, Twillo, Push.io
- Database: MongoDB, Cassandra, and Postgres
- Cloud Environment: Amazon Cloud Services are well-tested
- Location Tracking: MapKit for iOS, and Google Maps Android
- Real-time Analytics: Hadoop, Spark, Apache Flink,
- Payment Processing: PayPal API, Braintree SDK, eWallets
13. How Much Does It Cost to Develop a Telemedicine App
When talking about telemedicine mobile app development, it is largely influenced by the concept, functionality, development approach, and the app development team that you have hired. Our IT consulting firm has delivered solutions in the past with around $40k for the basic application and $150k for the feature-rich and custom functionality-loaded telemedicine applications for one platform.
The cost of the development of telemedicine apps can even rise above $300k per platform if you choose to work on a very complicated and intricate solution. The cost to develop a Telemedicine System depends on a number of factors, after all the system is integrated with myriad features and a lot of integrations. Here are the factors that mainly affect the cost of Telemedicine app development:
14. Crucial Factors That Decide Telemedicine App Development Cost
Here are some salient factors that play a vital role in telemedicine app development costs. Telemedicine app development cost depends on various factors which are in detail below.
- Size of the telemedicine software development team
- The Development Timeline is inversely proportional to the Development Size
- Development Partner Geo-Location- The final cost for creating a telemedicine app is significantly influenced by the geographical location of the chosen development partner. In the United States, a developer’s hourly rate is from $150 to $250, whereas in Eastern Europe it is between $12 and 180 dollars, and between $40 and 80 dollars in Asian nations.
- Third-Party API Integrations (Third-party Resources, like Database, API, Authorization)
- Certifications & Compliances
These factors are crucial to calculating the cost of telemedicine apps and mobile app development. As soon as you succeed in finding the right medical app development company, you can determine the cost of developing this system on the basis of these features. However, a telemedicine mobile app in an MPA form will fall around $25000 to $45000 dollars for a single platform.
15. Conclusion – Telemedicine App Development
telemedicine software development has proven to be greatly effective in overcoming barriers to health services that occur due to the distance between patients and providers, poor access to reliable transportation, lack of available providers, and a fragment of care owing to gaps in time between appointments…
When it comes to talking about telemedicine software development, we can help you enter the market by developing highly rewarding telemedicine mobile apps. With our expertise and experience in the field, we offer Telemedicine mobile apps that adhere to HIPAA compliance, thus privacy infringement becomes a strict NO. We are always available to interact with you around the clock and help you establish an efficient telemedicine mobile app platform.
Octal is one of the leading USA-based telemedicine app development companies that offers innovative telemedicine app development solutions at easy prices. Being a top-rated telemedicine software development company you can hire experienced and dedicated telemedicine app developers for telemedicine app development services.
So, if you are looking for any assistance, catch up with us for some coffee!
16. FAQs about Telemedicine App Development
