Guidance on developing a useful Telemedicine app like Doctor on Demand

Telemedicine apps providing doctor on-demand services started gaining popularity for the past few years and are experiencing an upward-sloping demand curve ever since the Covid19 outbreak. Social distancing being the order of the day, virtual doctor-patient consultation has become the preferred choice of doctors and patients unanimously. Consequently, more and more healthcare service providers are incorporating Tele-health apps to facilitate virtual diagnosis of patients.

What are telemedicine apps?

A Telemedicine app is a software solution that enables the physicians to remotely diagnose and treat patients with the help of various online communication channels like video calling, chatting, etc. so that the patients need not visit the doctor physically unless they encounter medical emergencies.

How does a doctor-on-demand app function?

Here is how a doctor-on-demand app functions:

• Patients log in, creation of a profile, if they are new users, and then listing their symptoms along with complete medical history.
• Arranging for a video call with the desired doctor using an integrated calendar.
• Doctor consultation via smartphones, tabs, or PCs.
• Treatment advice by the doctor via e-prescription and suggesting laboratory tests if required.

Some of the commonest ailments which can be treated virtually are cold and flu, rashes, infections, allergies, to name a few.

Multi-fold benefits of Telemedicine apps

Easy access to healthcare 

Telemedicine apps make healthcare easily accessible from the comfort of our homes and works round the clock. This is particularly useful to elderly patients, those with less mobility, and busy professionals. People residing in remote areas who need to travel long distances for doctor visits greatly benefit from virtual healthcare access.

Hassle-free health records monitoring and preventive care

Patients with chronic conditions and severe complications need continuous monitoring of their current health records by physicians which can be very difficult to peruse if the records are on papers. Integrating a telemedicine app with EMR solves this problem as physicians have real-time access to patient’s health records thereby providing timely medical assistance to the patients. Moreover, virtual clinics facilitate better preventive care, thus reducing mortality rates.

Convenient and profitable for all

A Telemedicine app like Doctor-on-demand proves beneficial for the patients, doctors, and clinics unanimously. Patients do not have to waste time waiting in long queues and unnecessary hospital visits. As such, the spread of infectious diseases can be controlled. Doctors can deliver faster and more effective treatment, reducing the chances of errors, owing to telemedicine software. Due to a reduction in administrative activities and infrastructure costs, doctors can reach out to a wider spectrum of patients thereby increasing the overall revenue.

The must-have features of Telemedicine apps

Profile creation

Patient profiles should contain all necessary features like age, gender, medical history required to start treatment. Similarly, doctor profiles must include facts like the area of expertise, years of experience, educational and professional qualification; fees charged per visit, etc. which are essentially required by the patients while choosing the desired doctor.

Appointment booking

The patients should be able to book an appointment as per their requirements and must be able to view the timings and availability of medical practitioners. So, GPS enabled search options, advanced filters, and integration of Google, Apple, or Microsoft APIs into the app calendar are necessary while carrying out Telemedicine app development.

Advanced communication channels

·         High-quality video conferencing and voice calling options to enable accurate virtual diagnosis of the patients.

·         Real-time virtual consultation channels should be HIPAA Compliant to ensure the safety of sensitive information.

Maintenance of online medical records

Cloud-based e-records storage (EMR- electronic medical records) for maintaining medical data necessary for the course of treatment, digital prescriptions, and providing easy access of the data at any time, from any location to the authorized users proves advantageous when medical data has to be sent to other doctors or kin of patients. These medical records maintained online should be encrypted totally to ensure HIPAA compliance.

Multiple online payment gateways

Numerous payment options like Stripe, Paypal, Authorize.net, 2Checkout, etc clubbed up with safety measures will attract more customers.

Reminders

Reminders to both doctors and patients for the appointments are highly desirable in this fast-moving era.

Reviews and ratings

Valuable feedback from customers through reviews and ratings aides to identify the areas of improvement and contributes to the addition of enhanced features. 

How a telemedicine app can usher in monetary gains for the service provider?

• The Subscription fee for both doctors and patients.
• Annual charge from the customers for the services enjoyed.
• Offering franchise for hospitals and clinics.
• In-app advertisements.

Evaluation of the costs involved and picking the right telemedicine app development company.

The cost depends on certain factors like the UI and UX design, front-end and back-end development, platforms to be considered for the development, need for third-party database and APIs, and additional features. While choosing the right Telemedicine App Like Doctor-on-Demand, one must not exclude the features necessary for a robust structure and smooth functioning.

Key Takeaways

The demand for Telemedicine apps has sky-rocketed in the past couple of months and has been predicted to be the next big thing in the medical domain. Thus, service providers of the medical sector, not providing the telemedicine facility to the customers, will be way behind their competitors in generating revenue. To build a user-friendly telemedicine app, the above-mentioned principles must be adhered to during the process of Doctor on Demand Mobile App Development.

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