Doctor On-demand App Development: The Future of Healthcare Domain

Imagine. 

You went to Paris for a meeting. 

On waking up one morning, you – all of a sudden – experienced a high fever. The one so high that it felt like your body would burst like a volcano in no time.

What action will you take immediately – search for a local doctor or send a message for help to your associated agent? Right?

Well, if I would have asked this question a few years back, any of these two would have been the correct answer.

But, thanks to the rise of tech-based healthcare, scenarios have changed.

Now, one can “call a doctor at home” and get the right assistance at their place – all thanks to Doctor On-demand apps.

These mobile applications, in the past few years, have changed the landscape of the healthcare industry. They have not only prompted consumers to install them on their smartphones, but have also encouraged many doctors, healthcare institutions, and medical organizations to invest in doctor on-demand app development. Let’s take a quick look at the facts below: 

• The global market of healthcare apps is expected to reach USD 111.1 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 38.26% between the forecast period (2019-2025).
• As per Statista, the global mobile health market is expected to grow in the future to cross USD 300 billion by 2025. 
• The global telemedicine market is projected to be valued at USD 460 billion by 2030.
• 93% of patients would use telemedicine apps to manage prescriptions, as per a survey.

Mesmerized with these numbers, if you are a doctor or healthcare practitioner who wishes to enter this market segment but, at the same time, wants to take the decision smartly – you’ve landed at the right place.

Here, in this article, we will talk about how doctor on-demand apps are revolutionizing the healthcare industry, what’s the near future of the telehealth market, and things that will aid you reap the benefits of investing in this idea.

So, let’s begin with a glance at what’s the driving factor behind the emergence of telehealth apps.

Reasons Why Doctor On-Demand Apps are Getting Popular

In this current digital landscape, smartphones play a crucial role in the overall consumer purchase journey. With the increasing number of mobile users, consumer trends are also on the rise as now users want everything with a tap on the screen. Another important reason for the growth of doctor on-demand apps is the COVID-19 pandemic. With users bound to stay at home and maintain social distance, consumers looked for ways to efficiently connect with doctors and healthcare providers to get apt services during the pandemic. Below are a few more reasons why doctor on-demand apps are getting popular.

1.  More convenience

In many areas around the world, especially local and remote ones, there are not many medical specialists. So, they have to travel far to see a doctor and get the right treatment. Or wait for weeks for a doctor to visit their place. And this situation becomes even more critical when the patient is a kid or an elder person.

A remote doctor consulting application, in this case, lets patients connect with reputed doctors in real time. This delivers them the convenience of getting the right consultation and healthcare services with a few taps.

2.  Improved patient outcomes

A telehealth mobile application gives patients an escape from visiting clinics and hospitals for follow-ups, having medications, missing appointments, or asking about prescriptions again and again. 

This, on one side, reduces the number of appointments and related tasks. While, on the other side, let doctors provide better assistance to all the patients in real-time in the form of a call or message, which eventually improves their experience level and outcomes.

3.  Reduced paperwork

One of the prime advantages of Doctor on-demand platforms is that they let healthcare practitioners and patients keep a record of all the details on mobile. This cut downs the time and hassle associated with maintaining in-office administrative paperwork.

The ability to store all the crucial information like prescriptions, reports, diagnoses, etc on the mobile has created an influx of technologies like blockchain and cloud in healthcare. Multiple health services can be availed through mHealth applications without the trouble of managing paperwork as everything related to the consultation is updated and available on your mHealth application. 

4.  Lower hospital readmissions 

As already hinted, a doctor on-demand mobile app gives people the freedom to enjoy better healthcare services from the warmth of their homes. They no longer have to get admitted to hospitals. This has ultimately reduced the number of hospital readmissions without affecting the quality of the services offered.

Mostly, when doctors diagnose a patient, they recommend medications for a few days. A patient can directly connect with their respective doctors for further diagnoses via the doctor on-demand mobile applications.

5.  Cheaper services

By making healthcare services convenient and available in real-time, while cutting down the costs associated with ER trips and hospital admissions, telehealth solutions have also made these services cheaper and accessible to all. Most healthcare apps are free to use and are developed to benefit users in their overall healthcare journey.

6.  Better work-life balance

One of the top advantages of these applications is that they enable doctors to consult with patients even when working from home or traveling. In fact, these mobility solutions let them make virtual visits to patients’ homes and deliver the right health and care services. Something that helps doctors and medical practitioners enjoy a proper work-life balance.

7.  Higher ROI 

Such applications let doctors have a regular flow of patients without spending more in terms of hospital staff, infrastructure, and equipment. This way, these apps aid doctors in enjoying higher ROI.

The rise in telehealth applications showcases that more people are trusting the apps and availing the services via the app. This in turn generates higher revenue for doctors, healthcare institutions, and caregivers.

8.  Competitive advantage

Last but not least, not all doctors and healthcare organizations are offering such facilities. So, by investing in telemedicine app development, you can get a competitive advantage and gain better market benefits.

Bonus: These applications are proving to be a weapon to slice out the negative impact of Coronavirus on the healthcare industry. They are helping patients consult with specialists while maintaining the decorum of social distancing. Also, it is aiding doctors and healthcare professionals to manage all the processes at the hospital and treat more people without making them go through the risk of infection in the building. With such benefits, the doctor on-demand app industry is flourishing exponentially.  An impact of which is that the global telehealth market, which was valued USD 71.1 billion in 2021, is anticipated to be worth USD 233.49 billion by 2028 with a CAGR of 18.75% during the forecast period.

If you are someone looking to enter this business space and enjoy profits from the significant growth of the Doctor on-demand app market, it is good to be acquainted with the competition.

So, taking the same into consideration, let’s have a look at the most popular doctor-on-demand mobile apps in the market.

Top Doctor On-Demand Apps Prevailing in the Market

There are various apps available in the marketplace, however, a few of the apps have excelled themselves and are recognized as the top market players in the industry due to the functionality, navigation, benefits, and ease of use they deliver. Here are some top doctor on-demand apps prevailing in the market you must know before diving right into app development.

With this covered, let’s focus on what factors to watch out for while investing in doctor on-demand app development.

Things To Consider While Investing In On-Demand App Development

Building a mobile app for your business seems a natural progression keeping the current market trends in consideration. However, before investing in doctor on-demand app development, you must explore components that would help you make the right application. Your focus should be on creating unique apps that meet the varied needs of your stakeholders. Here are a few things to consider before investing in on-demand doctor app development solutions.

1.  Know your target audience

Patients from different walks of life have varied needs and expectations from the healthcare industry. In such a scenario, having a clear and comprehensive understanding of who your target user base is, and their demographic content is an answer to how to develop an app for doctor on-demand solutions. Otherwise, you might end up developing an application no one prefers.

2.  Maintain a good doctor network and database

To ensure that people connect with the best doctors and physicians on your telemedicine platform, it is necessary that you firstly have a connection with the certified vHealth doctors and organizations, and have created a database of the same.

An updated strong healthcare database will help stakeholders access in-depth health data without delay. A healthcare database management system is an essential tool and can’t be overlooked by healthcare organizations.

3.  Introduce the right set of doctor on-demand app features

Another thing that is must to consider while focusing on doctor on-demand app development is to bring the right set of features and functionalities into your development plan. The ones that fit your app‘s purpose and caters to the needs of the targeted audience.

4.  Choose the right technology stack

The right technology stack adds life to the telemedicine app features for doctors and patients made available on the platform. They perform the associated task and let users enjoy the finest user experience. Because of this, it is again good to look ahead to picking the right technology stack for your mobile app.

5.  Follow the necessary compliances

From HIPAA to HL7, FDA, HITECH’s meaningful use stage 1 & 2,  HHS, and certification with EPSC, there are various compliances, medical acts, app integrations, and certifications that one must look for when building an app like Doctor On demand. So, do not overlook this step as not complying with the standards can lead to app rejection and can publish a case of the organization on the basis of the data breach.

6.  Hire a reputed healthcare development company

An on-demand healthcare software expert can help you with refining your idea and launching an application that rules everyone’s hearts. So, turn towards the best healthcare app development company – the one that has expertise and experience at in creating telehealth applications and has a strong familiarity with the compliances and hidden market challenges.

7.  Prepare the right budget

Since the lack of the right budget can put your project on hold or compel you to postpone the idea of adding the top doctor app features and tech stack of the doctor on-demand, be sure you have an estimate of how much doctor on-demand app development costs.

8.  Devise the right business and revenue model

While the previous pointer will aid you in calculating the overall cost of a doctor on-demand app, it is again a good thing to have a knowledge of how to earn this money back. So, perform market analysis and see what type of doctor on-demand business models top in the market. A robust doctor on-demand business model will give you insights into why on-demand platforms fail and how you can solve the issues. A few of the business models commonly preferred are:-

• Commission-based – Here, the platform charges a certain commission on the fees that the patient pays directly to the doctor.
• Featured listing – Focusing on this revenue model of a doctor on-demand app development is a great opportunity when doctors and labs are ready to pay some amount of money to get featured listed on your platform for attracting more patients.
• In-app advertising – As stated by the name, the platform earns a certain share of the profits doctors and organizations earn by advertising their services. 

By focusing on these factors, you would be able to create an app like doctor on demand effortlessly and gain momentum in the present market. But, to make your app future-centric and get a bigger slice of the telehealth market, you need to introduce the best technology into your doctor on-demand app plan.

While focusing on the same, let’s understand how a doctor on-demand app works and what tech stack you must integrate to build a top-notch on-demand medical assistance application.

How does Doctor On Demand Work?

Similar to Twitter, telemedicine applications utilize patient location information to offer a decision of accessible experts inside their area. The average user journey resembles this:

• The patient downloads an application, sets up his profile, and submits a description of the side problems and illness.
• After gathering the data, the application at that point proposes a selection of specialists in the close–by area.
• A patient picks a doctor and a date and time of an online visit depending upon the specialist’s availability.
• A thorough consultation takes place, and the doctor recommends treatment or tests to the patient.
• The patient pays the doctor or a clinic through online payment and receives the doctor’s prescriptions in a different folder or file. 

Tech Stack Needed for Healthcare On-demand Consultation app

While we have covered everything related to doctor on-demand app development, it is now time for you to get in touch with the best healthcare app development company that can take care of all your technology-related needs. The tech stack that is usually used to make doctor on-demand apps include:

Technologies to Integrate Into Your Doctor On-Demand App

Apart from the tech stack mentioned above, you should also be aware of the cutting-edge technologies that you can integrate into your application to get an edge over your competitors. 

1. Artificial intelligence and ML

With the increasing demand for personalized healthcare content and services, the role of AI and ML will become more significant. The technologies should be incorporated into your ‘Uber for doctors’ project to gather and analyze the patient data to determine if they are suffering from any disease, how their bodies are reacting, what treatment can be the right, and more.

Also Read: A Guide to Implement AI and Machine Learning in Your Existing Application

2.  Blockchain

Seeing the role of blockchain technology in healthcare, it is again a profitable deal to introduce the power of decentralization in your doctor on-demand mobility solutions. The technology will make the whole system more authentic and transparent and speed up the internal process.

3.  Virtual reality

Virtual reality is also one of the top technologies to consider when it comes to developing an on-demand mobile app solution for doctors. This will help in transmitting patients to a virtual world where they can fight with their anxiety, loneliness, and other depressing emotions and ultimately, recover soon.

4.  5G technology  

5G, with better network connections and speed better than 4G, can also be considered for making your doctor on-demand apps successful. Coordinate with your healthcare app developers to ensure that your on-demand doctor app development solution leverages the 5G technology.

5.  Augmented reality

This technology will let doctors introduce medical augmented elements within the real world, which will eventually empower them to streamline their processes and serve patients with the finest of doctor on-demand services.

6.  Voice search

Last but not least, introducing voice search technology into your doctor on-demand app development solutions is also a profitable method. It is expected that the voice recognition market will reach $27.16 billion by 2026. Voice search technology is affecting the way people search for services and providers. It has been rooting deep in the healthcare industry for the past few years. The enhancements in the voice search field are increasing. For instance, what was once used as a vague or general search of “Doctors near me” is more specific now, such as finding the best gynecologists near me.

How much does the Doctor On-demand App Cost?

The average doctor on-demand app development cost is subjective to various factors and elements. Different elements are related to fostering an e-solution application and these elements the overall app development cost. A few of the elements are geographical area of the application development team, accessibility of apps on various platforms like iOS, and Android, wearables, complexity, and so on.

Healthcare app development company’s location

The topographical area of the selected mobile on-demand app development company plays a significant part in influencing the general expense of an application. For example, the cost of a healthcare app development company in the US would be different from the ones in Europe or Asia.

The per-hour cost of a healthcare app developer in the US is around USD $200-$300, in Eastern Europe, this expense is down to around USD $150-$200, while in Asian nations like India the hourly cost of a developer is in the window of USD $60-$100.

Features Included

The quantity of features that an application will contain is likewise instrumental in ascertaining the overall expense of the e-prescription application. For an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) variant of the doctor on-demand application, the cost ranges from USD $30,000. In the event that the application is to be developed for different platforms and with cutting-edge features, the expense of the application will climb by more than $80,000. We have created an in-depth guide on the development cost of telehealth applications. Now that you are familiar with on-demand doctor appointment app development and the factors that contribute to its cost, let’s wrap up this article with insights into how Appinventiv can help. 

How Appinventiv can Help with Doctor On-demand App Development?

As a leading mobile app development company that has developed many on-demand apps, we have aggregated a highly skilled team of on-demand app developers who have mastered the technologies which are needed to develop top-notch On-Demand Apps. We have partnered with various healthcare brands for their app development requirements and have successfully delivered high-end solutions. For instance, YouComm, an efficient healthcare system is bettering the patient-caregiver relationship by empowering users to access real-time medical help. Currently, over five hospital chains in the US, run on YouCOMM solutions. With over three hospitals getting high CMS reimbursements, the platform has seen 60% growth in nurses’ real-time response time. 

Another notable healthcare app that Appinventiv has developed is Health-e-people which allows users to create comprehensive healthcare records while assisting advanced science in finding cures. The app offers a platform where users can store and monitor all their healthcare apps and device’s data, find medical caregivers, and connect with people to build a community.

Conclusion

The future of the healthcare industry is full of technological advancements as businesses will move forward with the users’ requirements. It will help them understand and integrate all aspects of healthcare under one umbrella. Technologies like blockchain, Big data, and artificial intelligence will enhance healthcare by implementing transparency, enhancing security, and gathering the right information to share with healthcare representatives.

For building an efficient doctor on-demand app, make sure to connect with a reputed healthcare app development company that can make the doctor on-demand app development process seamless for your business. 

FAQs

Q: How to add an on-demand doctor appointment app development solution to an existing business?

A: The best way for implementing an on-demand healthcare solution is to get an MVP developed and validated with the stakeholders. It will provide you insights into how comfortable they are while using the app and what elements could be improved for a better user experience. Partner with an experienced healthcare development company to assist you throughout the implementation process.

Q: What is the cost of on-demand doctor application development?

A: The cost of healthcare app development varies on multiple factors like development team location, the functionality of the app, development model, budget, and more. The most reliable way to estimate the development costs is to contact a healthcare app development company and request a quote based on the project needs.

Q: What characteristics of a telemedicine application are necessary for the best user experience?

A: The most critical aspects of a telemedicine application necessary for an ultimate user experience may include profile management, e-prescription, billings, notifications alert, 24*7 availability, etc.

THE AUTHOR

Dileep Gupta

DIRECTOR & CO-FOUNDER