IOS Healthcare apps to Improve Care With Advanced Features & Cost

The pandemic has shown that the use of healthcare apps is a necessity and organizations and individuals have now realized the same. App usage in the healthcare industry is at a high and it's estimated that approximately 350,000 digital apps are now available to users.

With hospitals and users now being open and confident enough to use mobile healthcare apps, Apple has been investing heavily in mobile healthcare. Apple's healthcare app has gained popularity and is a preferred platform due to benefits like high revenue, strong security, and reduced development time. Healthcare apps have become more accessible and give real-time information. They have managed to bridge the gap between patients and doctors.

Now moving further here’s listing down the following features that iOS apps for healthcare should have while making the app usage an immersive and user-friendly experience.

• Sign up / Login feature. This allows a user to either log in if they have an account or sign up for a new account. Sign up or login can be via email, phone number, or various social media apps like Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter. The sign-up should be simple and should make it easy for the user to log in to start using the app or to sign up to use the app.
• Health tracking. Since the whole purpose of creating a health app is to track the health statistics of the user, this is the most crucial feature of the app. The functionality should enable tracking and monitoring of health statistics such as blood pressure, sugar levels, heartbeats, oxygen levels, calorie intake, sleep, etc.
• Appointments. One of the basic features of the iOS health app is booking appointments by the user with doctors. This helps to check doctor timing, schedule an appointment, and also set reminders for the appointment. This makes it relatively stress-free for users and helps the doctor see upcoming appointments. Apps like ZOCDOC allow patients to find and schedule a doctor’s appointment in an emergency.
• Profiles. Healthcare apps must include profiles of both the patients and the doctors. A doctor profile should have some basic information like area of specialization, clinic address & geolocation, and visit charges. A user or patient profile can have their name, age, gender, and health information like height, weight, blood group, medicines being taken at the moment and health details like sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, allergies etc.
• Voice integration. Voice integration using Siri is a useful step in healthcare apps. Users can use Siri to search for hospitals and or doctors and also schedule appointments using voice commands.
• Video calls. Integration of video calls in healthcare apps is a must and the recent pandemic times have shown that this is an essential part of any healthcare app. It allows users and doctors to interact visually without having to leave the house except for emergencies. This is especially useful to old age patients and patients living in far-off places.
• Online chats. Like the video call feature, the chat feature is also essential. It allows the user to interact with the doctor or nurse. Common questions can also be answered by chatbots to find a faster resolution. Sending messages on chat during an emergency can be very helpful.
• Geolocation. Adding geolocation to the app is useful to both the user and the hospital. It allows patients to find the hospital or doctor's clinic and vice versa can help track the patient location in case of emergencies.
• Ratings. Doctor ratings are useful to check and decide before contacting a doctor whose rating is low. The genuineness of ratings is essential.
• Payment gateways. Payment gateways are the important parts of a healthcare app. Integrating payment gateways is essential and makes it convenient for the patient to pay online easily for services used.
• Reminders and notifications. These are necessary to update users and doctors regarding upcoming appointments, reminders for medicines, reminders for refill prescriptions etc.
• Fitness. Healthcare apps also feature fitness coaching integration and help remind users to get active after a certain time duration.
• AI. Integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is very helpful. It can help in giving routine information, appointment scheduling and more via chatbot application. It can also help with early diagnosis and analysis of user data.
• Blockchain. This can be used to manage EMR and EHR data, research, and medical tracking, and can be used to improve hospital and insurance billing securely.
• AR / VR. Augmented and Virtual reality can help patients via interactive virtual simulations. It helps doctors improve using simulated situations.

Many factors help determine the cost of healthcare apps. The average cost of a healthcare app is around USD 40-50,000. Advanced features like AI can take the cost up to USD 100-150,000. Some factors that can determine cost are;

• Features and Functionalities. As the features and functionality of the app increase, the cost of developing the app also goes up. It is up to the insurance company or the hospital to decide which functionality and features are needed.
• User interface and interaction. Better the interface and interaction, the higher the cost. Good interfaces attract users and good interactive use keeps the user using the app rather than searching for new apps. Making better apps with great UI and UX can increase the cost.
• Cost of time. Time spent in developing the app plays a big role in pricing the app. The time is taken to develop a good app also needs more developers and this increases the cost.
• App maintenance and security. Maintenance of various elements of the app, changes and ensuring that the security of data for both the user and the health organization is vital. This also increases the cost of the app.

Final Words

We all have observed the growth of on-demand IOS app development services in the healthcare sector over the years. It has facilitated people with advanced medical assistance while providing people easy access to medical & healthcare facilities. Further, the healthcare development sector has also helped in the enlargement of new-age businesses. Several businesses are showing great interest to invest in this industry. And, if you’re also one of them then the above-mentioned points would you some idea on how to get an idea about how to develop a healthcare app.

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