5 Common Challenges In Telemedicine Or Online Doctor Consultation Mobile App Development

The Coronavirus outbreak hit us harder than the iceberg that hit the titanic. And none of us was prepared for it. The world came to a standstill plunging the global economy into a worse recession. One detail the pandemic exposed is that we were not adequately equipped for such a calamity, especially when it comes to our healthcare system.

As the fear of COVID-19 loomed around us, people avoided stepping outside even for something as essential as their medical appointments. But thanks to the telemedicine and mHealth industries for being the knight in shining armour during these testing times. These industries have helped millions get easy access to healthcare professionals, medicine deliveries, medical reports, etc. The global pandemic skyrocketed the use of mHealth and telemedicine apps. And today, it is one of the fastest-growing industries. According to reports, the telehealth/telemedicine market will be worth over $66 billion worldwide by the year 2021. And as the demand for these apps increases rapidly, so has their development.

Telemedicine Mobile App Development

The primary objective behind a telemedicine or mHealth app is to make the process of obtaining healthcare services as accessible as booking a cab or ordering food online. Pandemic or not, people no longer want to wait in queues or days for a doctor’s appointment or get their medical reports. And being able to stay safe as well as maintain social distancing is just a bonus you receive by using these apps.

Today, telehealth or online doctor consultation mobile apps come with a plethora of incredible features where you can carry out numerous operations effortlessly. However, developing a telemedicine app is not as easy as using one. The development takes place in multiple phases where the developers need to consider several crucial factors. From UI and UX to database design, security module, etc. developers need to pay extra attention to the intricate details of the app. Since developing an online doctor consultation mobile app requires a lot of hard work, time, and expertise, many mobile app development companies face challenges during the process.

What are these challenges?

Let’s discuss them.

5 Common Telemedicine Or mHealth App Development Challenges

Data Security

Ensuring user data is secure at all times is always of utmost importance for any app developer. Especially now during these difficult times where cybercrimes are increasing rapidly. In apps like telemedicine or mHealth, they store and access their data from cloud servers. So it becomes crucial that the app has a robust backend infrastructure. If it isn’t, hackers will not take much time to breach the data. And app security is one of the most common challenges developers face while developing a telehealth app.

Solution: Developers should only use trusted and foolproof app development framework. Also, ensure that the frameworks and libraries have the most advanced security updates. Not to forget, only use cloud storage leaders like Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Implementation of UI/UX

An innovative app like a telehealth app needs to have a user-friendly, intuitive design that works flawlessly in all the platforms. But easier said than done, developing a telemedicine app is quite a challenge as you have to create an interface that caters to the demand of all types of users.

Solution: When you decide to develop an online doctor consultation mobile app, make sure you create two versions of the app. One of those versions will be for the doctor and the other for the patients. Also, the features and functionalities for both versions will be completely different. Most importantly, the interface and compatibility of both versions should be simple so that both the doctor and patient can use them without a hassle.

Scalability

A successful telemedicine app should be rich in features and highly scalable. Unfortunately, many developers overlook this aspect while developing the app. While developing a telemedicine app, always consider the rise in demand as well as the number of users. If the app is not ready to take the load, it will not be able to cope up with the situation.

Solution: First, always build a highly scalable app. In other words, the app should be able to work seamlessly with multiple users, even during peak or low traffic times. It also supports automatic scaling of server resources as the demand rises. Plus, manual analysis of the code and ensuring the poorly defined areas are optimised helps develop a scalable database for your app. You can also consider server cloning as it helps create a cluster of application servers, consisting of the same codebase.

Backend Integration

A powerful backend integration ensures the app can handle swift and successful data transfer from the patient to the concerned doctor. Sounds easy right? Well, it is much more complicated than that. The app requires an integration of various features that should also comply with the healthcare authorities. Additionally, you need to integrate several third-party services such as payment methods, location services, etc. into the app.

Solution: An online doctor consultation mobile app should have a reliable and robust backend process. It ensures a uniform data transaction between the patient and the doctor. While developing the app, make sure it has well-organised API documentation, and you conduct a thorough analysis of the different frameworks and architectures. Furthermore, you need to define a set of protocols to ensure synchronisation of data on both ends. Lastly, examine the healthcare guidelines to design the features accordingly.

Compliance with Healthcare Authorities

Another major challenge of telemedicine app development is ensuring that it is compliant with healthcare as well as data protection authorities and guidelines. There are a set of protocols that aim to safeguard the medical records and data of a patient. Developers usually face a challenge embedding the set of rules with the features of the app. Ensuring the app complies to the healthcare protocols will also prevent it from data breaches and delivers a more reliable data exchange.

Solution: Ensure your app synchronises the login controls, monitoring process, as well as the data storage. Eliminate any scope of illegal access by any third parties or data leakage. You can also use incredible tools like AWS CloudWatch and AWSCloudTrail in your online doctor consultation app development. Another excellent way to make your app secure during data transfer is by using SSL enabled endpoints.

Choose Mass Software Solutions To Develop Your Online Doctor Consultation Mobile App

Planning to develop a custom telemedicine app? We’ve got the expertise and the right resources to build a future-ready online doctor consultation app tailored to your requirements.

With Mass Software Solutions, you get a dedicated team of app development specialists driven by creativity and innovation. By creating human-centric designs and futuristic digital and mobile products,we help businesses unlock a plethora of opportunities. From building a least viable product to a complex mobile app solution packed with features and third-party integrations, we help you transform your ideas into reality. We’ve been in the industry for over a decade, helping businesses, large and small, discover, design, and build revolutionary applications.

Our goal is to transform a company’s digital challenges into valuable business opportunities. We achieve this by empowering them with applications that help them gain a competitive edge and become industry leaders.

While developing the telemedicine app, we ensure it

Prioritises User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX)
Is cross-platform compatible
Performs flawlessly even during peak traffic times
Rich with features
Maintains exceptional app security at all times
Is user-friendly, highly scalable, flexible, and adaptable to current market changes
Integrates seamlessly with your business processes
Strengthen customer engagement and facilitates communications
Opens new revenue channels
Fosters customer loyalty

We believe in keeping the entire app development process transparent and use various project management and communication tools to ensure easy interaction between our team and clients. We harmonise your digital world and focus on delivering a great user experience through our apps.

Benefits Of An Online Doctor Consultation Mobile App

mHealth and telemedicine apps have revolutionised the healthcare industry. Especially by providing high value to the people who live in areas that are not easily accessible from medical professionals and facilities.

Some of the benefits of building an online doctor consultation mobile app include:

Faster healthcare solutions
Higher customer satisfaction
Convenience
Efficient monitoring system
Extensive patient outreach
Cost and time-efficient
Access to a variety of specialists in one app

Revolutionise The Healthcare Industry With Your Custom Telemedicine App

Building a telemedicine or online doctor consultation mobile app is no cakewalk. But if you consider the advantages and current consumer needs, developing one can surely be rewarding. But, before you make your decision, consider all the challenges and the features you want to include in the app. Also, always consider your audience. After all, it’s them who decide the success of your app.

If you need a team of seasoned mobile app developers, contact us. We’d love to hear your app ideas. Don’t worry. Your ideas are safe with us.

Get your FREE consultation today!