Tag: telemedicine

All-in-One-Guide

A Guide to Custom Healthcare Software Development

Posted on | by Ami Kothari

Healthcare and technology have found new grounds for collaboration with the various forms of virtual health care via Telemedicine apps. Be it for your appointment with your doctor, collecting blood reports, or even tracking your general well-being and vitals, there is a technological solution for it today.

Healthcare technology has eased the many problems we face from the conventional healthcare system. Virtual healthcare in the form of virtual doctor visits, mobile pharmaceuticals, laboratory service, and health records management has become a household name as well as a need of time. The shift to technologically advanced solutions that are convenient is inevitable.

Let us then take a look at what the numbers suggest:

  1. Although telemedicine or virtual healthcare has been around for a long time, its usage saw an all-time spike in April of 2020. The usage of virtual healthcare during April 2020 was 78x higher than in February 2020, according to McKinsey and Company.
  2. The Asia-Pacific regions reported a surge from 4% to 56% during 2021, as per a survey by Willis Towers Watson.
  3. The Indian telemedicine industry is predicted to have a CAGR of 23.89% from 2020-2025 according to biresearch.com.

Apart from the response from the patients, healthcare providers are also eagerly adopting virtual care and telemedicine software solutions. According to the survey by COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition, more than 60% of healthcare providers found telehealth applications more convenient and more than 50% found more work satisfaction.

What is Healthcare Software Development?

custom-healthcare-software

Many different software solutions are designed to help the functioning of healthcare personnel or centers. They perform a broad range of activities that optimize performance, manage data, cut down the time taken and reduce costs in the process of imparting healthcare services.

Healthcare software is used by both healthcare service providers as well as receivers. Hence it has features as well as specific user interfaces that cater to both ends. Each healthcare software is made to suit the needs of the situation, be it a large hospital or a small clinic.

Healthcare software can thus be considered a broad name for all the different applications that cater to the healthcare industry. We will discuss more of the different types below.

Different Types of Healthcare Software

It is no secret that the prevalence of smartphones and tablets has enabled the use of healthcare software on a large scale. There are umpteen apps that provide some sort of healthcare service. Be it a platform to connect to a healthcare provider or one that promotes general wellness, the numbers keep on growing.

Healthcare apps can be divided in a broad stroke into two- for healthcare providers and patients or general users. The apps and the functionalities that cater to each are vastly different from the others.

Custom Healthcare Software for Patients

The software designed for patients and general users is designed to solve one or the other health issue, monitor health, etc. These apps allow them to seek medical attention if needed. Here are some of the different types of custom software developed for patients.

 

software-development

  1. Healthcare accessibility software: These are software that allows users who need medical consultation to seek it personally. These are designed to be multifaceted, one of which serves the patient. It allows for easy and convenient consultation which would otherwise take a lot of time and money. It may also have features that allow users to access their laboratory reports, access pharmacies to place orders, and store medical history and access it with ease.
  2. Mental Health Software: Virtual care has created greater access to mental health services. There is dedicated software that provides the platform for consultations, therapy sessions, etc.
  3. Health monitoring software: These are the most prevalent form of healthcare software. They provide a plethora of services that help manage health issues. They allow patients to keep track of their illnesses.
  4. Medication and pharmaceutical services: These apps allow patients to virtually place orders for their medicines, make subscription offers for long-term medications, and more. There are also apps designed to remind patients to take medication on time.
  5. Lifestyle apps: These are applications that guide users to lead healthy eating habits and hobbies that promote general wellness.
  6. Fitness apps: These apps cater to those who are looking for personalized solutions to their fitness problems. Solutions like exercise, yoga, activities like sports, and diet plans to help achieve fitness goals.

 

Custom Healthcare Software Development for Healthcare Professionals

When it comes to custom software development for healthcare practitioners or providers, it caters to a lot of different categories of people and services. Some of these apps have more than one functionality and some have all. Depending upon the need of the medical care facility, they are:

 

types-of-healthcare-software

  1. Telehealth: Applications that provide a platform for healthcare providers to impart their services are referred to as telehealth applications. Telemedicine apps and Doctor appointment booking apps are used by doctors for consultations and make it very convenient for both the doctor and the patient.
  2. Hospital management software: These are software that is integrated into the hospital system to enable smooth and optimized functioning of the different aspects of a hospital. It also provides data management capabilities, insurance, and payment processing, administrative work, claims management, and patient information.
  3. Health Record Software: These act as repositories of information, that provides a unified platform to easily access patient records and medical history. Knowing the health records of a patient gives the healthcare professional a better idea of providing treatment.
  4. E-Medicine order software: Share medicine orders with ease to patients using this application.
  5. Monitoring software: This software allows healthcare providers to closely monitor the health of patients. This is useful for patients who are chronically ill or are at some incapacity to take care of themselves.

 

How to Build a Custom Healthcare Software Development?

A software solution for your healthcare facility or business is a great initiative as the above-mentioned stats prove how much they are in demand. It also has other advantages like optimizing performance, improving efficiency, increasing revenue, and increasing customer satisfaction.

There are two ways to build a custom healthcare software

  1. employing an in-house team of developers
  2. Outsourcing

While employing an in-house team may seem like a feasible option due to proximity, speed, and efficiency, it has many disadvantages like higher expenditure, lack of expertise or experience, etc.
Time and again healthcare facilities chose to employ outsourced talent to build custom software for healthcare.

Before you consider picking a custom healthcare app development company like EMed HealhTech you should look for technological expertise, industry knowledge, the capacity and scalability of the company, and its developer’s skills. Another important aspect is the security measures that are incorporated into the healthcare app as it deals with very sensitive information.

Why Choose EMed HealthTech to Develop a Custom Healthcare Software?

EMed HealthTech is a leading healthcare IT company that focuses on delivering quality and innovation. We cater to healthcare facilities of all sizes and provide customized healthcare IT solutions that help improve business prospects.

Your search for hiring healthcare software developers ends with EMed HealthTech. Contact us today to get a free estimate for your custom medical software development project.

 

Common-Challenges-of-Telemental-Health

The Seven Challenges of Telemental Health and How to Overcome Them?

Posted on | by Ami Kothari

The mental health scenario in India is a bleak one, with one in every seven people suffering from a clinically diagnosable mental disorder, according to a study by Lancet Psychiatry. There is also a huge disparity in the doctor-patient ratio. The required ratio, according to WHO, stands at 3 psychiatrists per 100,000 population, but India has only 0.75 psychiatrists per 100,000. This ratio is made taking into consideration that India is a low-income country.

However, with the entry of telemedicine into the mainstream, things are starting to look different. A virtual care system nullifies a lot of the geographical and physical barriers that keep a person from mental health services. With more access and awareness, the social stigma surrounding mental health issues also disperse. However, implementing a telemental health service has its challenges. We discuss some of the major challenges faced by Telemental Health and Telemedicine app development and how to overcome them.

 

Telemental Health Landscape in India

The telemental health landscape got a boost this year with the central government launching its National Tele-Mental Health Program (NTMPH).

The launch comes as a welcome change in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Having to withdraw from social circles, being forced into isolation, loss of loved ones, and threatened job security are post-COVID factors that have left a debilitating impact on mental health.

However, mental health issues are not just personal struggles. Studies show a deep connection between mental health crises and the economy of a nation. A simple explanation could be that poor mental health causes a loss of productivity, negatively affecting businesses and by extension, the whole economy. Not surprisingly, poor mental health is believed to have cost the world economy a whopping $2·5 trillion on average in 2010 — a number that’s about to rise to an unbelievable $6 trillion by 2030. India, alone, is estimated to face an economic loss of US$ 1.03 trillion due to mental health problems, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

While the new action plans and studies shed a ray of hope on the telemental health care scenario, it is not without its own set of challenges.

Challenges of Telemental Health

challenges

Privacy

One of the major challenges in making use of the telemental health care system would be privacy. While privacy is a must in every medical consultation, in the case of mental health issues, there is the weight of social stigma attached to it. If a person decides to reach out to a mental health professional for help, this is often done discreetly. The lack of a private space is also a concern given that most Indian households have joint family systems. A space that is private and safe is a must to ensure that patients can fully avail of telemental health services.

Preference for in-person care

Despite the availability of virtual care, some people prefer in-person care. This is because mental health issues are more sensitive. Being able to confide in the presence of another person provides the warmth of human contact while a virtual consultation might seem cold and distant. It is also important to consider that most people would be forced to stay in an environment that might be conducive to their mental health deterioration. In-person, care ensures that the patient is part of a support group and in an environment that acknowledges their issues.

This preference gets in the way of patients accessing mental health services as well as telemental health providers.

Digital Literacy and Networking Issues

Using telemental health applications means that the patient requires a certain amount of know-how about technology. India particularly faces a large demographic of digitally challenged people, which amounts to 80% of 1.4 billion people. Digital literacy gets in the way of the proper implementation of telemental health programs.

Another glaring issue is connectivity. While there is an equivalent of 81.3% of the total population, the internet penetration rate in India is still at 47% as of 2021. This means that more than half of the population does not have access to the Internet. Because most telemental health services take place over the internet, a large portion of the people is not able to access this due to low connectivity.

Strategies to Overcome the Challenges

The challenges faced by the telemedicine industry in implementing its services are often broad. Here are a few strategies we can adopt to battle the challenges.

Awareness and Education on mental health

A developing country like India has its own set of social stigmas when it comes to dealing with mental health issues. Myths and superstitions get in the way of proper diagnosis and treatment. Creating awareness through campaigns to all people of all ages, introducing mental health issue awareness in school curriculums, and breaking the myths surrounding mental health treatment can help tackle this challenge to a large extent.

Better connectivity

India is a developing country and is only slowly pacing towards a fully networked society. Creating better connections is a slow process, but one that can create significant changes. With better connectivity, mental health services can reach remote areas and persons with restrictions on mobility.

Digital literacy

India’s statistics on digital literacy, as mentioned above, are bleak. While there are a lot of mobile phone users as per the statistics, not many may be literate on anything beyond the basic functionalities. Inculcating proper digital literacy into the school curriculum, and through social channels to reach the older crowd can help better the digital literacy rate. Updating to smartphones is also important to avail advanced services of telemental health.

Telemedicine App Development for Telemental Health

Telemedicine applications are software built especially for dispersing virtual medical care. It is a multifaceted application that is intended for multiple types of users. It has particular interfaces for patients, doctors, healthcare staff, pharmaceuticals, and administrative staff. Each interface has its functionalities, all of which when working in tandem provide a seamless user experience.

The telemedicine app or doctor appointment booking app has features like AI-powered automation which enables chatbots and other day-to-day activities. Data analytics and business intelligence provide valuable insights that can help make informed decisions. ERP capabilities in the telemedicine app help with management and business activities. When built to the specific need of a healthcare facility, a telemedicine app can become a powerful platform for virtual medical care.

Final Words

Building a telemedicine app is a significant business step. The ideal telemedicine app development company will provide the necessary features for your specific need, 24*7 SLA customer support, and will have experience and proven mettle with a seasoned team of experts.

EMed HealthTech is a leading name in providing scalable, cost-effective, and customized telemedicine app development services for healthcare facilities of all sizes. Our healthcare apps have a proven track record of optimizing operations. Talk to us today about your telemedicine app development needs.

How to Build the Best Healthcare App for Online Doctor Consultation?

How to Build the Best Healthcare App for Online Doctor Consultation?

Posted on | by Ami Kothari

The healthcare sector has lately experienced rapid developments, thanks to the recent pandemic. With this boost, patients from all demographics have begun adopting digital technologies for personal healthcare. This evolution in the market has revealed the power of Telemedicine and online doctor consultation apps to the masses. After all, when apparel, groceries, and household items can be viewed or ordered online, why not healthcare services?

However, like most other rapidly growing digital industries, only the best would survive in healthcare as well. In this piece, we explain how you can get the best digital application for doctor appointment booking built for your healthcare business and solidify your space in the market!

Understanding the Need for Online Doctor Consultation App

Online consultations are not a recent phenomenon – businesses have been taking advantage of the internet for decades. However, healthcare was a sector that lagged behind. The average consumer is used to one-click services and doorstep delivery these days. 

While most, if not all healthcare businesses are online, the ones winning the game focus on the quality of user experience! Realizing that people value easy access to timely and high-quality consultations is the key to success in the digital healthcare space. 

Doctor Appointment Booking App For Patients 

The foremost feature that an online doctor consultation app/Telemedicine app requires is peer-to-peer video calling, regardless of the device. This is especially beneficial for the elderly and patients suffering from critical conditions. If the patient can set and engage in a video consultation with ease, there is nothing like it. 

With a smooth-flowing interface on a doctor consultation app, patients would not just be able to book an appointment, but also follow up and see their medicine orders on their smartphones, laptops, or tablets. 

Doctor App For Healthcare Professionals

Features like group calls, screen sharing, and real-time chat let doctors connect with each other for virtual discussions. Group calls are a great way to hold online meetings with stakeholders and peers. Text chats, on the other hand, let doctors talk to their patients one on one for better clarity on both sides. Secure lines of chat communication instill confidence in the patients’ minds and help doctors do their job better. 

An additional screen-sharing feature would help doctors connect with pharma representatives from their devices and see their offerings on new medications. 

Doctor App For Healthcare Companies

Besides the usual data-sharing routine, in-house applications can do a lot for your business. If you are a doctor, hospital, or pharmacy, doctor consultation app development can be a complete game-changer for your enterprise. Bespoke development would allow multiple features integrated into the app according to your preference. 

Share your files with the group or even third parties directly through the app – no need for other file-sharing applications. Say goodbye to the risk of data theft or unauthorized access! 

 

How Does the Telemedicine/Doctor Consultation App Work? 

Pandemic or not, digital healthcare is the need of the hour! Digital healthcare is beneficial to every healthcare user. As more and more people interact with this technology, they would no longer feel the need to go back to the traditional ways. With a heightened level of interaction between doctors, patients, and stakeholders, these applications are paving the way for exciting opportunities for growth in the sector. 

Friendly User-Interface

Patients can get in touch with their preferred doctors in no time – all they need is a device and the internet! The application can be designed for personalized updates, tracking, and record-keeping, helping patients achieve their healthcare goals with ease. 

Increased Awareness and Retention

Companies that deploy cutting-edge applications into their healthcare business are reporting improved brand awareness that goes a long way. Add to that great service, and you have a winning formula for the retention of existing customers. The internet-based calling feature eliminates the need for cellular calling or text messaging. Why would patients go anywhere else when they have everything they need in one familiar place?

Improved Revenue

Increase your revenue with the inherent qualities of time management in the doctor consultation app. The application fosters anytime, anywhere communication between doctors and patients, saving time for both parties. With in-built medicine order ordering options, patients can order their medication in no time. All this inevitably leads to more revenue streams and hence, improved numbers for your business

Building the Doctor Appointment Booking App/Telemedicine

Building the right doctor appointment booking app requires a holistic approach that covers the requirements of both patients and doctors. Professional healthcare application development utilizes a well-calculated and step-by-step development methodology that keeps your business needs in mind. With an experienced app development company, you get a world-class application within a short duration. 

Online Doctor Consultation

It all starts with a detailed consultation that brings you and the development team on the same page about your goals, budgets, and timelines. Based on these factors, standard app features can be built along with additionally requested ones. 

The Interface of the Doctor Consultation App

Programmers code and bridge multiple app features like VoIP calling, file-sharing, and progress tracking in a synchronous application that works without flaws. Rigorous testing for bugs and incompatible features ensures a smooth user experience. 

Compliance

Professional application development also takes care of legal compliances that protect patient data. Patients are more likely to install trustworthy software which is compliant with the required regulatory guidelines. 

EMed HealthTech is a renowned doctor appointment app development company that specializes in developing customized healthcare applications such as Telemedicine apps, and doctor apps,  for all devices. We are proud to have worked with all kinds of healthcare businesses, right from local pharmacies to some of the largest corporations in the healthcare sector. Click here to contact us and get started on your journey to online success!