iOS App Development for Healthcare – Advanced Features & Cost

Gone are the days when the only way to avail healthcare services was by visiting hospitals and clinics. The advent of healthcare applications has now made it easier to book appointments with doctors and provide timely care to patients even in remote areas. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global mHealth apps market size was valued at USD 40.05 billion in 2020 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.7% from 2021 to 2028.

While both Android and iOS are the most preferred platforms for healthcare app development, the latter has gained more popularity in recent years due to several benefits such as high revenue, enhanced security and less development time. If we talk about the latest stats, there were 53,979 iOS healthcare apps in the Apple App Store globally in the first quarter of 2021. Talking about Android apps,  there were 53,054 healthcare apps available in the first quarter of 2021.

These stats prove that iOS apps are more in demand and a preferred choice for healthcare professionals. 

Now moving further, let’s take a look at a few healthcare startups that have impressed users with their innovative app ideas.

1. Healthe People: Using this healthcare app, users can store and monitor all their healthcare apps and devices’ data. Healthe People also allows users to find medical caregivers for their friends.

2. Soniphi: Soniphi uses vocal information to provide you with a complete well-being analysis report on your personal health.

3. Teladoc: This healthcare app allows users to connect with doctors or surgeons at their convenience. Users can book appointments and even update their medical history.

4. K Health: It’s an AI-powered healthcare app for iOS that helps to chat with a doctor. The app also offers a symptom checker for free.

These were a few healthcare app use cases that are making big in the healthcare sector with their user-friendly and innovative features. These apps are helping to connect patients with doctors and speed up treatment procedures. 

Now let’s move on to the next part of this article where we will discuss the different types of healthcare apps. 

Types of healthcare apps

Healthcare apps are generally categorized on the basis of patients and healthcare institutions. Let’s take a quick look at the most common types of mobile healthcare applications that fall under both the categories. 

Apps for Healthcare Providers 

• Patient monitoring apps
• Reference and database apps 
• Appointment and clinical assistance apps
• EHR solutions 

Apps for Patients

• Education and self-diagnosis apps 
• Health monitoring apps 
• Mental wellness apps 
• Nutrition apps 
• Women health apps
• Reminder apps

Must-Have Features in iOS App for Healthcare

When developing an app for healthcare, it’s important to decide which features to include in your app. You must make sure to include such features that make the whole experience immersive and user-friendly for the users. Below are a few common features that you must include in your healthcare mobile app.

1. Sign up/log in: This feature allows users to sign up or log in easily via email, phone number, or social media accounts like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. The sign-up process should not be too complicated as it will frustrate your users, and they might end up leaving your app. So think carefully about what information you need from them and don’t add unnecessary fields.

2. Health tracking: It is one of the most crucial features to include in a healthcare app for iOS. This functionality enables the monitoring of a patient’s health conditions such as blood pressure, sugar levels, heart rate, calories intake, etc.

3. Appointment Booking: It is one of the most basic iOS healthcare app features to find and book appointments with doctors. This functionality will help patients to easily check the doctor’s visit timing, book an appointment, and even set a reminder. It will make the booking procedure stress-free for patients. For doctors, this feature will help them to quickly see their upcoming appointments and change their availability as necessary.

For instance, Zocdoc is a popular mobile app for iOS that allows patients to find a doctor in urgency and book appointments at their convenience.

4. Doctor and patient profiles: Healthcare apps must include Doctor and user profiles. The doctor’s profile can have details like their area of specialization, location of the clinic, visitation charges, etc. This will allow patients to find appropriate doctors in their area.

The user profile, on the other hand, can include the user’s name, age, gender, and basic health data like weight, height, blood group, etc. This will help doctors to get a quick overview of patients, their conditions, or medications.

5. Siri integration: If you’ve never integrated Siri into the application, now is the time to evaluate it. Siri’s functionality now offers a better voice experience, additional customization, and more. For example, your healthcare app can allow people to search for hospitals using voice or ask Siri to remind them to take medicines on time. Integrating Siri can add significant value to your user experience. 

6. Video calls: Integration of video calls allows real-time communication between patients and doctors. With this feature, people living in suburbs or far-flung areas can get timely care without having to travel to a hospital. 

For instance, Doctor On Demand allows you to video call a doctor or therapist at your convenience. After the consultation, your prescription will be uploaded to the app itself. 

In case you want to build an app like Doctor On Demand, read here.

7. Online chat: With this feature, you can give users an option to communicate with healthcare professionals who will be available to offer valuable consultations. The chat feature is a great solution for both patients and doctors. While patients can easily send their questions or files required for consultation, doctors can address their issues and upload prescriptions.

Nowadays there are several apps that are used within the hospital to connect patients with doctors or nurses. They help to provide quick care to patients and enable them to notify the staff of their needs through simple texts or voice commands. 

For instance, YouComm is a popular healthcare app for in-hospital patients developed by Appinventiv. It helps patients to send messages to nurses in case of an emergency. In this way, they receive timely care and attention. 

8. Geo-location-based search: Adding a geo-location search functionality enables patients to look for doctors and clinics in their areas. You can make use of Apple Map functionality to add the location-based search feature in your healthcare mobile application.

9. Doctor’s ratings and reviews: Doctor’s ratings and reviews will help users decide whether it’s worth contacting a particular doctor or not. For your healthcare app, you will have to ensure that you have a good lot of genuine ratings and reviews for your partnered doctors.

Patients only click on those doctors’ profiles who have a good set of ratings and reviews backing them. So, in case they find profiles with no ratings and reviews, chances are that they won’t interact with those doctors and ultimately with the app as a whole.

10. Payment gateway: Adding payment gateways to your app will allow users to easily pay for the doctor’s services and consultation. Offering payment gateways such as Stripe and Paypal make paying bills simple for users and collecting payments easy for healthcare professionals.

11. Reminders and notifications: You can add notification and reminder features to keep users up-to-date on their prescriptions and medicine intake. These notifications can be not only time-based but also location-based. 

12. Personal coaching: This feature helps you provide a personal coach for your app users to help them achieve their fitness goals. A personal coach can help you with your exercises and nutrition.

Next-gen features in iOS Health apps

Let’s now discuss a few additional features that can significantly upgrade user experiences and guarantee higher adoption rates among patients and doctors.

1. Artificial Intelligence: AI is becoming absolutely instrumental in various medical spheres. The global AI in the healthcare industry market is expected to reach USD 45.2 billion by 2026 from USD 4.9 billion in 2020. Integrating AI technology into your app can help with early disease diagnosing, identifying health trends, and analyzing massive sets of health data. If you want to learn more about how AI is transforming the healthcare sector, read here.

2. Blockchain: Blockchain presents a great way to create an innovative healthcare app for iOS. It can be used for managing EMR and EHR data, conducting research, medicine tracking, and bettering the insurance and hospital billing process.

3. AR and VR: Augmented reality and virtual reality can help patients get better through the mode of virtual simulations and practitioners bettering their procedures through a virtual environment. If you want to learn how AR/VR is transforming the healthcare industry, read here. 

For creating a healthcare app for iOS, you need to hire the best mobile app developers having a good track record of creating such kinds of applications with the latest features and functionalities.
Moving further, we will discuss the cost of developing an iOS app for the healthcare sector and the factors that contribute to the ultimate cost of developing a healthcare app. 

[Related blog: 10 Healthcare Trends That Will Redefine Industry in 2021]

How much does it cost to develop an iOS healthcare app?

The average cost of developing an iOS app for the healthcare sector might range from $40,000 to $50,000. If you are looking to add advanced features like AI, it can cost somewhere between $100,000 to $150,000. However, this is a very rough estimate. There are a number of factors such as the type of mobile app that you want to build, the location of healthcare iOS app developers, and features of your app that can increase or lower the final price. Make sure to consult reliable companies like Appinventiv that help in developing world-class iOS apps to create new milestones. 

Factors that determine the cost of iOS healthcare apps

Some of the factors that affect the cost of building a healthcare app for iOS are given below: 

1. Features and functionalities: The first important factor that decides the healthcare app development cost is features. The more features and functionalities your iOS application has, the more expense you need to bear for your app development.
So, it is advisable to concentrate only on the core features in the initial version of the app. It will help you offer a great customer experience at affordable costs. As the features advance, the cost entailed in the app development process also increases.

If you want more insights concerning features for your healthcare app, get in touch with an iOS app development company.

2. Categories of app:  There are endless types of iOS mobile apps, and the cost of each app depends on its category to a major extent. Each category comes with its own functionalities, demographics, security criteria, etc. For instance, if you are building a healthcare app, it must possess all the features to make healthcare services easily accessible to both doctors and patients.
It’s crucial for these apps to serve millions of users at once and have a robust security system. All these features add to the final estimated cost of the app and require more development time.

3. UI and UX: User interface (UI) and user experience (UI) are vital for the success of your healthcare application. It is tough to create a simple yet unique UI/UX app design and it will have certain additional costs. UI/UX components such as push notifications, icons, and customization need to be added to your application if you wish to make an impression on your users. A good design will make your users want to use your app more and not drift away from it in the long run.

4. Development hours: The total time taken by healthcare iOS app developers to build an iOS app also plays a huge role in deciding the cost to make the app. The time taken to develop an app is directly related to the number of developers. If your app is complex and you want less development hours, then your team needs more professionals to achieve the tasks quickly. And this means you need to shell out more money. 

On the other hand, if you want a basic team, you need to pay relatively less as compared to the above case. 

5. Choice of app development company: The cost of your healthcare app development will also depend on the app development company you choose. A reliable app development company has expertise in multiple domains and offers expert resources to deliver excellent services. While it will add to the development costs, the quality of service will not be compromised and it will definitely speed up the development process.

6. App maintenance: The work does not end with your app getting launched in the store. There are other additional elements that contribute to the increment in the cost of developing an iOS healthcare app, like app maintenance. Once the app is launched in the market, you need to constantly maintain and update it.

Enterprises need to revamp the app integrations and functionalities as per their users’ demands. You will also require regular technical assistance from professional developers to ensure the smooth functioning of your app. This, in turn, leads to an increase in the price of mobile app development.

7. App security: Many companies undermine app security even though it is essential. Your app must keep the data of users safe and confidential. If you compromise on security, your existing and current users will not trust your application. Thus, it is wise to invest in data security as a major security breach can break your business.

8. Location of app developers: Location plays a crucial role in deciding the iOS app development price. For e.g. the price of iOS app development for healthcare in California is different from iPhone app development companies in Texas. It is due to the fact that services around the world vary significantly in terms of quality as well as cost.

FAQs

Q. Why choose iOS app development for your health app?

iPhone app development is an ideal choice for your health app as it offers several benefits such as instant global exposure, higher ROI and revenue, robust security, and more. 

Q. What is the need for a healthcare app?

Healthcare apps have become the need of the hour because of the several benefits they offer such as enabling immediate access to care, streamlining the clinical processes, saving time, reducing diagnostic errors, and more. 

Q. What are the popular reasons for healthcare app failure?

Some of the reasons that lead to the failure of healthcare apps are:

• Lack of appeal in UI/UX design
• Lack of rigorous testing
• Choosing the wrong app development company
• Not following legacy and privacy rules

How Appinventiv can help

As a leading healthcare mobile app development company, we have developed many apps for our users. We have a highly skilled team of iOS app developers who have mastered the technologies that are needed to develop top-notch healthcare apps. 

So, in case, you also have some interesting app ideas on your mind, feel free to contact us. Our experts will offer the best healthcare mobile app development services and bring your idea to life.

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