Are you considering investing in healthcare mobile app development? Before you develop an app, what are the things you must consider? You must conduct a lot of research and analysis before hiring a healthcare app development company for your business. We have worked with many healthcare organizations in our years of experience, and with that knowledge, we are pleased to acknowledge you.
The following article will outline all the factors and checklists you need to know before hiring a healthcare app developer. Our team will not leave you hanging with just a list of aspects; we will also explain what finding the best healthcare app developers entails. Here we go.
When mobile applications would not have become prevalent in the healthcare industry, doctors’ visits would take a lot of time. It was tiresome for doctors and patients alike to wait in long queues to see a doctor and then undergo tests. However, many healthcare organizations offer their services online today. You can manage your patients easier now, but you can also manage your staff more efficiently in clinics and hospitals.
When it comes to digitizing healthcare, here are some stats you should know. (Let me tell you why you should invest in healthcare technology.)
Some Healthcare Statistics
In 95% of cases, medical apps improve the health of patients.
About 75% of hospitals around the world are using apps instead of paperwork and find them more useful than paper records.
The healthcare industry in the USA generated $2,500 billion in revenue in 2019.
I am now going to tell you what you need to consider before hiring health IT developers. It’s very important to consider your app’s requirements first.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4029126/
Map out your Healthcare App Requirements
It is important to be cautious about your application’s type before deciding which developer to hire. Many business models are present and cater to different types of users, and it is understandable that the business models differ. Although healthcare apps can be categorized into two subcategories:
Providers of health care applications
Apps for end-users
Next, let’s look at how each segment is assembled.
1. Applications for Health Service Providers
A medical professional, for example, a doctor, a caregiver (part-time or full-time), or another professional can authorize this type of application. The following are some of the most popular health app ideas for your information.
• Online Health Record Software
• Diagnosis Software
• Hospital Management Software
• Medical Research Software
• Medical Equipment Management Software
2. Applications for End-Users
Most businesses that come up with healthcare app ideas start with this type of software. The following are examples of end-user applications:
• Health Check-up Apps
• Wellness Apps
• Medical Records
• Appointment Booking
• Medicine Delivery
Run a Thorough Competitive Analysis
It’s amazing that you already have a business model in mind and a basic idea of what the app will look like. You might also consider what kind of adversaries you would have to contend with closely. It is clear that the quality of the product, as well as its marketing strategy, would be impacted by the volume of competition.
Find out how others are excelling and what makes them stand out within your niche. Why do they have strong subscribers? Is it their reputation for giving value for money? You may be able to reorient yourself to what customers expect and how to successfully meet those expectations with the answers provided.
Unless you notice anything at first, you may be looking at the wrong places or you may need to refine your questions. Identify the relevant Agencies you will clash with by performing a SWOT analysis.
Here Are Some Tips on Hiring App Development Companies to help you with your Healthcare Startup
Choosing an app development partner involves answering 3 critical questions namely:
1. Should you entrust the project to an in-house team?
It makes sense to have in-house teams. Since they share the same workspace with you, coordination is no big deal and communication is prompt.
Furthermore, extending over-the-top favors is a plus if there is genuine camaraderie between your peers. However, if you are considering in-house teams, these challenges could come along with them:
• Due to the obligation of paying full-time salaries and even compensating employees for unplanned leaves, the company’s costs will increase.
• In order to meet deadlines, the workforce will work additional shifts, increasing maintenance and utility expenses.
• Managers should not be given special projects. Hiring experts in the field increases your expense woes.
2. Should you outsource the gig to an App Development Agency?
Time can be saved by outsourcing. You can leverage the following advantages by hiring a medical app development company with a proper hiring framework, given the fact that there are hundreds of choices available:
• Due to the fact that you have no geographic limitations, you can select the top medical app development companies.
• During contracting, you can specify the scope of the work, including how phases will be developed and how progress will be measured. If you do not like the results, you can outsource the rest of the development process.
• Contractors are hired on a pay-as-you-go basis and compensated on an hourly commission basis. By doing so, you may save a great deal on CTCs.
• In this case, you can opt to hire a healthcare application development company that can readily be vetted (we’ll cover this in a moment).
It may be challenging to communicate requirements across time zones when decisions may be delegated to remote teams.
3. Could Freelancers Help You Save the Day?
Independent app developers can fill in 11th-hour requirements for healthcare apps. Your in-house teams’ competency to manage tasks directly affects the work distribution. This is the question with the biggest drawback out of the three:
• You may lose all hope of going to market if a freelance healthcare mobile app developer abandons the project midway. Multiple projects could be taken on by freelancers, which could adversely affect your deliverables.
• This type of worker invests time and energy to their own will. Thus, real-time communication with them is impossible.
Based on all the pros and cons outlined in the preceding section, the best choice is to hire a healthcare app development company.
Which App Development Partner is Right for You?
Following the guidelines below will help you evaluate your soon-to-be technology partners on all of their essential qualities.
1. Develop a Comprehensive Understanding
• It is important to begin your search for healthcare app developers through social media when you are in the process of hiring them. The social media sites LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram ought to offer enough information for the development team to verify their identities. If they are local hires or do their work virtually, the company’s existence and especially their location are important details.
• Next, take a look at their portfolio and see if they have won or been recognized for anything. To see how developers have overcome challenges, try looking at the case studies typically posted on their website. In due course, you would be able to contact all the customers to verify their experience.
• All things considered, it’s time to start introducing yourself and bringing up possible meetings.
2. Enquire about the Team
• Customers can contact sales representatives using the information on the website. You should request to speak with the development team to appear serious (which you should be) in your quest to hire healthcare mobile app developers.
• Get to know your potential employees’ specialties, experience, interests, and creativity during the one-on-one conversation. In fact, you may want to ask them to send you their CVs, despite going too far.
• You can check their work in the App Store and ask for references.
3. Level-off Communication Gaps
• There are many issues you could face besides language barriers. People need to be sensitive to cultural nuances when expressing their opinion to foreigners. A platform should be available for easy communication, in addition to email. If you are looking to hire healthcare app developers, the rule of thumb is that the company must have English proficiency.
• Zoom, Cisco Webex, and Skype are all applications that can be easily used based on a consensus. In this case, however, the developers could also recommend their in-house tools for safety reasons.
4. Find out about the SDLC
• Software Development Life Cycle models should be clearly defined. Mobile app developers generally prefer Agile methodologies. Find out which developers will be assigned to your project, what their specialty is (Android, iOS), and how long each stage of the SDLC will take.
• Commitment during the troubleshooting and debugging phases is essential in order to avoid re-runs. In this regard, inquire about the players’ approach.
• Customer service must be included in the deal. The feedback from your user base would mandate constant interactive changes as you built a user base.
5. Preparation of service level agreements
• When outsourcing design work, NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) are always a good idea.
• It is never the last quote that is given. This is the first step toward finding a common ground through negotiations. It’s important to both open your minds and those of the design agency.
• Payment rates, payment timelines, payment methods (wire transfers, etc.) and the token amount should be negotiated prior to the project.
Top Questions to Ask before hiring ANY Health App Development Agency
In this section, we cannot stress enough the gravity of the situation. There’s no way you can clear your doubts like this every day. Before money changes hands between two parties, there are a few straightforward, uncomfortable, and difficult questions that need to be answered. You must be aware of what kind of relationship you will be able to forge with the app development agency. In the following, you’ll find questions you should memorize and fire at the health app development companies.
1. Who Owns the Code?
There might be a clause buried deep under the SLA that lets the vendor walk away with the code after a complete handover. In worst-case scenarios, you may have to work with your app agency to resolve recurring bugs and spend extra money. Rather than regret it later, it is better to be clear upfront.
2. In the event that deadlines are not met, what will happen?
If you’re sleepless, the time passes quickly. If you raise this question, you are preventing a blood pressure spike and emotional outburst when the penultimate delivery date is pushed back. Don’t let the devil lurk in ambiguity, especially when it comes to details.
3. Is It Possible to Exit at a Midway Point?
There would be no amicable resolution to this; however, it must be in writing. Smart people realize we’re all human (mostly) and things do happen, so they first look for an exit strategy. It is imperative that you prepare for the worst while hoping for the best.
4. Do they have any existing applications and can you see them?
You can easily determine a developer’s expertise by looking at their previous projects and outputs. Isn’t it better to focus on their words of how great they are at developing instead? The healthcare apps they publish must be used.
5. What is the process they use when developing apps?
It’s important to know how much time the last app took to develop, as well as what challenges were encountered in the app development process. How did they counterattack to overcome those obstacles was the most important question. You can use this to predict cost escalation parameters for development.
6. How is the availability of developers during a critical moment?
A developer must always be on hand to make changes in your developed app if necessary. That must not be the case, they have no time to work on other projects. Your developed app must be available to one or more developers at all times. In addition to the number of projects they are working on, you can assess it by their available manpower.
7. How much experience does the development team have?
If the developer has never built healthcare apps before, this is an important consideration. Have they developed any apps and what are their types? Health care apps can be described as follows:
• Apps for diagnosing or using in clinic
• Including ECG views, monitoring the heart, and telemedicine services to help people with serious diseases
• Reminder apps for appointments and prescriptions
• Life-sustaining apps
• Apps that reference medical information
In order to create such apps, developers need a solid understanding of API integration processes as well as features.
What is the UI/UX design process?
You cannot make your app interesting without a good UI/UX design. Using this design process will make your healthcare app stand out among others. Additionally, your developer must be experienced in design.
What are the Coding Standards?
Using web frameworks to organize the coding system helps the developer maintain the code. In the case of the developer not using this, there could be problems when updating and changing the app. Depending on the coding used by your previous developer, it may be difficult for another developer to understand this particular task.
Does the Company offer Quality Assurance service?
From time to time, upgrades and maintenance will be required for the app. Not only must your app development company develop the app, but they should also maintain it. Bug fixing, feature addition, etc., are among these services.
How to Avoid the Most Common Pitfalls When Choosing a Healthcare App Developer?
Here is one last consideration you need to consider before partnering with a healthcare application development company. It is possible to make mistakes. You need to be regardful of these.
1. Hiring the lowest-priced vendor
There is no such thing as a free lunch. The practice of fighting overpricing is one thing, but to reduce the asking price below the industry average is quite another. You shouldn’t be concerned about the price point of an expert healthcare app development company if you’ve done your due diligence as instructed above.
2. Choosing a product based on price
You shouldn’t join forces with someone based only on their money. Risk is determined by a combination of factors including company reputation, human capital, domain knowledge, etc. Reason must not be overridden by passion.
3. Not checking enough background information
If you have selected the right course of action after gathering information, you should make your first call. You should ensure the claims of market players are backed up by visual, verifiable evidence.
4. Apps are not optimized
This proves that code completion isn’t the end of the work when it comes to app store optimization. Check the app store for existing apps that have been previously developed. Take a look at how well it has been optimized.
5. Undervaluation of project expenses
It is essential to handle project estimation before developers corner you for more money. Prepare a summary of the functional requirements, the timelines, and the marketing strategy before you make your projections.
6. Developing the app post-launch without making an advance preparation
To market the product as well as to engineer it, the effort that has gone into its development is just as crucial. If your app is published in the app store, the question of now what shouldn’t arise.
Conclusion
You will undoubtedly be able to hire the best healthcare app developers if you follow this guideline. Execution is the only step left after reading this guide.
How Can Zestminds Help in Developing Healthcare Apps?
With our healthcare app development team, we offer high-performance custom healthcare applications developed by top healthcare app developers. Providing a tailored application strategy that meets your business goals is the responsibility of our medical app developers who are experts in the field and have a functional understanding of medical mobile apps. In order to stay ahead of the competition, we design remarkable and professional healthcare mobile apps utilizing trending tech stacks in accordance with the client’s specifications and philosophy.
