Developing a healthcare application is no simple task. Most applications in the healthcare space need to be HIPAA-compliant, ADA-compliant, and user-friendly for every type of patient that comes to you seeking help. 

Crowdbotics provides managed app development to help healthcare providers build patient-facing, vendor-specific, or administrative tools. Our custom software solutions for hospitals and independent physicians can improve operations, simplify billing, and deliver better patient outcomes.

One of the first steps you need to take before embarking on a healthcare app development project is to define the purpose of your app. You need to know from the first day of work who your application is intended to serve and how it will help. 

The features of a healthcare app will differ depending on whether you’re trying to help healthcare professionals or patients. 

Healthcare app solutions for professionals and providers usually include features that increase efficiencies, enable better team collaboration, enhance communication, and create stronger relationships between doctors and nurses and the patients they encounter while on the job. 

Healthcare apps for patients usually include features that make medical records more accessible, facilitate appointment scheduling, improve patient experience, enable communication with care providers, and provide helpful resources and guidance to people when they need help.

Crowdbotics can help providers develop these healthcare applications and more:

• Telehealth & Telemedicine - enables patients to receive care from anywhere using a computer, tablet, or smartphone
  
• Hospital Staff Scheduling - enables hospitals and employees to manage and revise shift schedules
  
• Patient Scheduling Portals - enables patients to schedule appointments and visits
  
• Hospital Wayfinding - enables patients to navigate hospital campuses
  
• Patient Messaging and Communication - enables patients to communicate with doctors, nurses, and specialists
  
• Health and Wellness Education - enables hospitals and clinics to provide resources and education about health and wellness topics
  
• Medical Records & Data Collection - enables hospitals and patients to access digital copies of  medical records, appointment history, lab results, and more ‍
• Secure Medical Record Sharing - enables healthcare organizations to share secure, digital medical records with patients, schools, and insurance companies ‍
• Medication & Prescription Management - enables patients to keep track of prescriptions, get reminders to take or refill prescriptions, and learn about different medications‍
• Self-Diagnosis and Symptom Checkers - enables patients to self-diagnose illnesses and check symptoms on their own‍
• Integrated Healthcare Billing Solutions - enables hospitals and clinics to send invoices to patients and securely process billing‍
• Medical Provider Maps and Directories - enables clinics and hospitals to provide contact information and directions to patients planning to make a visit ‍
• HIPAA-Compliant Software - enables healthcare organizations to build custom software that meets HIPAA compliance regulations ‍
• Medical Practice Reporting and Marketing Tools - enables clinics to incorporate reporting and marketing initiatives into their practices

Healthcare apps can include many different features depending on the intended purpose and audience. 

Telehealth apps include features such as text messaging, emailing, audio and video calling, photo and video sharing, appointment reminders, appointment scheduling, and more. 

Staff scheduling apps include features such as shift management, shift reminders, shift trading, team messaging, and more. 

Hospital wayfinding apps include features such as GPS locating, interactive maps, photos of hospital wings and buildings, contact information, and more. 

Medical records apps include features such as medical records management, doctor/patient communication, lab result history, medication history, and more. 

Health and wellness apps include features such as content management, video hosting, appointment scheduling, topical education, and more. 

In general, most healthcare apps will be required to stay compliant with HIPAA and ADA regulations.

Building a healthcare app can be a lot of work, but there are clear benefits that can come as a result of going through the process:

Improve Patient Experience‍

Developing healthcare apps can help you provide a better experience to patients coming to you to receive care. 

Differentiate From Local Competitors‍

Developing healthcare apps can help you provide more services and value to patients, which makes it easier to differentiate from other local competitors. 

Improve Hospital Efficiencies 

Developing healthcare apps can help you improve efficiencies throughout your organization, such as scheduling staff, managing patient appointments, keeping records up-to-date, or managing billing. 

Accelerate Patient Throughput 

Developing healthcare apps can help you accelerate the time it takes to move patients through the process of receiving care and services from your hospital. 

Create More Revenue Through Innovation

Developing healthcare apps can bring new innovation to your organization, which in turn could help you create more revenue opportunities. 

Crowdbotics enables you to easily build the following healthcare API integrations in to your app:

• Electronic Health Record (EHR) software integrations, such as eClinicalWorks and Allscripts
• Medical database software integrations, such as RXNT
• Medical research software integrations, such as PubMed
• Diagnosis app integrations, such as HumanDX and OSP Labs
• Medical imaging apps integrations, such as Materialize and Vepro
• Electronic prescription software integrations, such as MediTab and ScriptSure
• Telemedicine software integrations, such as Doxy.me and ZingTree
• Appointment scheduling software integrations, such as SimplyBook.me
• Medical billing software integrations, such as Epic Care
• Hospital management software integrations, such as Availity
• Medical equipment management software integrations, such as Sortly
• Health tracking app integrations, such as 8fit or Oura
• Personal Health Record apps, such as Tulipa

Based on our internal data, an average health care app usually costs $30,156 to build. However, the total cost can be as low as $9,000 or as high as $76,000. A health care app with a low number of features (also known as a "minimum viable product", or MVP) will be more affordable than an app that includes all intended functionality.

Consumer-focused health care apps, such as medication trackers, will be more affordable than business applications, such as an ERP system for a large hospital network.

A health care app usually takes a little over 300 hours of development time to build. However, a health care app can be built in as few as 70 hours, or in as many as 500 hours. The exact timeline mostly depends on how complicated your app is. As a general rule, it will take longer if you require highly custom designs, niche features, or non-standard release platforms.

As with any type of innovation, there are risks and challenges associated with developing a healthcare application.

Common Risks & Challenges Include:

• Lack of HIPAA or ADA compliance 
• Not user-friendly enough
• Lack of patient engagement
• Overspending
• Not enough awareness after launch
• Lack of development resources
• Doesn’t play nice with other existing tools 

Crowdbotics can help you mitigate or completely avoid these risks and more. 

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Benefits of Partnering with Crowdbotics

Why do healthcare companies choose Crowdbotics as a partner when they need to bring a new idea or innovation to life? Here are a few benefits of working with Crowdbotics:

You Retain Ownership of the Code

Crowdbotics gives you complete ownership of the code used to build your app, allowing you to audit, customize, and stay compliant long after you’ve launched your app.

You Stay HIPAA-Compliant

Crowdbotics ensures that the app you build and launch is fully compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). 

You Get to Build & Launch Faster

Crowdbotics has an ever-growing library of app modules that allow you to build faster and focus more time and energy on unique features. 

You Spend Less Time & Money

Crowdbotics enables you to work more efficiently than you would with a traditional app developer, which can save you time and money over time. 

You Get Access to Industry-Experienced Developers

Crowdbotics can connect you to a network of healthcare app developers who can help you take your project to the finish line or entirely off your shoulders.

You Get Dedicated Team Members

Crowdbotics can pair you with a dedicated team of Crowdbotics experts who will work with you directly as you develop and release your app.