INTRO/BACKGROUND: There may never be a time where remote, digitized healthcare is more clearly in demand. As the pandemic rages globally, with alarming spikes currently underway in the United States and Europe, patients and doctors need a way to access medical records, medication and even physical devices without risking infection. In many cases, going to the hospital is not an option for those in need of treatment.
To address the needs of both health care professionals attempting to provide care remotely as well as patients with limited resources during the pandemic, a mobile and web app development company can work on custom software based on the particular needs of a healthcare business, whether it be in prescription management, hospital administration or even access to medical machines through IoT (Internet of Things).
Figures of Growth in the Healthcare IT Industry
In the state of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic, the healthcare IT market has opened up avenues of growth across multiple industries. According to statistical aggregators, the Healthcare Software Market is set to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 14% from 2019 to 2027, with a projected market value of $511 billion by 2027. These figures may even be conservative, considering the effects of Covid-19 on market growth are not yet fully clear.
Telehealth, which the CDC defines in short as the “remote provision of medical/clinical care,” has seen particularly marked growth in 2020 versus 2019. In late March, when concern about the pandemic was swelling, doctors held video-call appointments with patients at 1.5 times the rate they did during the same period the year before. In addition, visits to the Emergency Departments (ED’s) of hospitals dropped sharply during March 2020 compared with March 2019, indicating a tendency to avoid hospitals for fear of transmission.
The trends are clear and the figures support them: patients are staying home yet still require substantial care and treatment. As a healthcare provider, you will need to invest in a workable, remote healthcare software in order to stay viable in the current medical and economic environment.
How a Custom Software Developer Can Help Companies in the Healthcare Industry
MAIN POINT: Both patients and doctors require some help to access and provide quality healthcare remotely. Doctors need a centralized location to store notes and patient information securely, and patients need a place to access doctors and medications at any time they may need them. With a flexible set of software-based solutions, a mobile and web app development company can meet the needs of both parties – offering solutions for EHR (Electronic Health Record), medical database/research, diagnosis, imaging, appointment scheduling, billing and even telemedicine in the form of a custom software.
A custom web or mobile app will not necessarily take the place of an existing healthcare protocol, but rather work to optimize existing administrative practices of doctors and health care professionals. With EHR technology, a doctor can check if a patient has checked in for appointments or not. A developer can also integrate an API (application programming interface) to send information to doctors or patients if needed. With a custom CRM, in other words a central repository to store health information, a hospital can organize a secure database of medical records.
With the help of a custom software company, a hospital can improve its patient portal to maximize patient engagement, and even use digital marketing and sales tools to allow their care to reach a wider audience. If a hospital is worried about managing their doctors, nurses and patients, they can institute a software to track employees, check the location of patients and even generate reports about booked appointments.
Finally, a mobile app can be a convenient way for patients to access after-care. Some patients won’t have the time or resources to come in after they have received a medication or procedure. With the help of a mobile or web app accessible anywhere, a medical service has a better chance of patients engaging with health-care interfaces during their normal workday. If you want to increase the rate of patient engagement and promote his or her overall health, you can enlist the help of an app developer to create mobile services for wellness, nutrition and even at-home self assessment.
Security and Compliance in the Telehealth Sector
In medicine, patient confidentiality plays a crucial role in the security of patient information and a business’s industry reputation. The HIPAA, or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, outlines strictly that doctors must keep patient records confidential, and any violation of HIPAA brings harsh consequences. Thankfully, mobile and web developers can mold a software to the needs of an industry – in this case, they can work even within the stringent parameters around health information privacy to provide a software in compliance with HIPAA and HL7. With the right guidance and communication, a third-party developer can centralize sensitive patient information required to keep the organization running and reduce the risk of a data breach.
Apps for Versatile Use
You may be tempted to think apps are mainly for entertainment and communication. However in the 2020’s, and especially during our current Covid-19 predicament, healthcare businesses can use the services of a custom mobile or web app developer to provide quality health online and store patient data securely, all without risking infection outside.
