- Telemedicine vs. Telehealth
- What is Telemedicine Apps?
- Why is the Telemedicine App Required?
- What Does Telemedicine App Development Service Provide?
- How Do Telemedicine Apps Work
- Why Develop a Telemedicine App?
- What Features Should be There in a Telemedicine App?
- Additional Features in the Telemedicine App
- What Potential Technologies Should be Used for Telemedicine App Development?
- Payment Gateway Rates for Telemedicine App
- Examples of Telemedicine Apps
- Challenges with Telemedicine Apps
- Monetization Strategies for Telehealth Apps
- How Should You Build Your Own Telemedicine App?
- How Feasible is It to Create a Telemedicine App?
Telemedicine vs. Telehealth
The terms “telehealth” and “telemedicine” are often used interchangeably, however, there is a substantial difference between the two. Both of these encompass very similar services, including medical education, e-health patient monitoring, patient consultation via video conferencing, health wireless applications, the transmission of image medical reports and many more. Telemedicine is a subset of telehealth that includes all health services making use of telecommunication technology.
What is Telemedicine Apps?
Patients discuss the prescription drug, discuss health history or about any prolonged illness. The choice of doctors depends on the app that you use (as doctors might be registered with different apps based on the availability and commission criteria). Telemedicine or telehealth apps also assist to manage diseases like drug addiction, diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol etc.
Why is the Telemedicine App Required?
As people expect convenience in healthcare facilities, combined with the unavailability of many overburdened medical professionals (especially primary care providers) have sparked an awakening in the telemedicine companies. Many such telehealthcare companies offer 24/7 medical assistance to patients with an on-call doctor contracted by that company. Others offer hospitals and larger health centers access to extra clinical staff and specialists, for the outsourcing of special cases (followed by many teleradiology companies). Still, other companies provide a telemedicine platform for physicians to use to offer virtual visits with their patients.
What Does Telemedicine App Development Service Provide?
Telemedicine app development services provide increased access to care, improves the quality of care delivery (care for patients with both medical and mental health conditions), reduces healthcare costs, enhances traditional face-to-face medicine, improves patient engagement and satisfaction.
Healthcare Service Providers in Telemedicine offer a patient-centric comprehensive package of healthcare (mhealth) and clinical continuum solutions for healthcare organizations, clinicians and doctors to facilitate remote visits with patients, online appointment booking, appointment scheduling, health monitoring, real-time access to health data and much more. They offer Telehealthcare solutions like:
- Mobile Hospital Management Solutions
- Telemedicine and Doctor
- On-demand Apps
- Electronic Medical Records
- (EMR) Software
- Electronic Health Records
- (EHR) Software
- Clinical Management
- System Software
- HIPAA Compliant mhealth
- Web and App Solutions
- BI/Analytics Solution
- Health Insurance Apps
- Fitness Apps
How Do Telemedicine Apps Work
Telehealth apps are based on common video chat technology. Therefore, Telemedicine apps connect patients with doctors who provide consultation through video chat. The choice of doctors depends on the app you are using and the number of physicians registered with it.
Such apps also assist to manage diseases like diabetes, cholesterol, or addiction. The apps also send your prescriptions to chosen pharmacies so that you can pick up your medicines conveniently. These apps also provide help for getting the tests done at selected labs.
Why Develop a Telemedicine App?
- Reduced Healthcare Costs
- Time-Efficient Treatment
- Easier Access to Healthcare
- Effective Time Management for Doctors
- Convenient Access to EHR
What Features Should be There in a Telemedicine App?
A Telemedicine app will always have two sub-apps, one for the patients and the other one for the doctors:
Patient’s App
- Registration
- Profile Management
- Search and Filters
- Video Conferencing
- Text Chat
- Booking an appointment
- Sending Money
- Rating Doctors
- Notifications
Doctor’s App
- Registration
- Viewing EHR’s
- Indicating Experience
- Video Conferencing
- Text Chat
- Managing Calendar
- Receiving Payments
- Monitoring Grades
- Notifications
Additional Features in the Telemedicine App
- Chatbots
- Wearables
- Smart Health Devices
- Blockchain
What Potential Technologies Should be Used for Telemedicine App Development?
Programming Languages
- Swift (iOS)
- Kotlin, Java (Android)
Back-end Development
- Programming language: Node.js
- Videoconferencing: RTMP, Twilio, WebRTC
- Chat Messenger: Twilio, Socket.io
- Database: MySQL
- APIs and frameworks: Stripe, EC2, S3
Tools
- Search & filters: Elastic search
- GPS: Google Maps Platform
- Mailing: Elastic Emails
- Notifications: Firebase Cloud Messaging
Payment Gateway Rates for Telemedicine App
Service | Stripe | PayPal | Braintree |
---|---|---|---|
Standard fee | 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction | 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction | 2.9% + $0.30 per transaction |
Supported countries | 39, including UK, USA, Australia, Westen and Central European countries | 202, including the USA, Canada, Australia, UK | 46, including the USA, Canada, Australia, UK |
Chargeback fee | $15/transaction | $20/transaction | $15/transaction |
Examples of Telemedicine Apps
- me
- Teladoc
- Amwell
- MDLIVE
- Lemonaid: Same Day Online Care
- LiveHealth Online Mobile
- Express Care Virtual
- PlushCare: Video Doctor Visits
- Doctor on Demand
- Amwell: Doctor Visits 24/7
- Babylon: NHS Healthcare 24/7
- Talkspace Online Therapy
- Maple – 24/7 Online Doctors
Challenges with Telemedicine Apps
Telemedicine apps need to comply with these three factors:
- HIPAA Compliance that covers 4 types of HIPAA entities – Healthcare Providers, Health Plans, Healthcare Clearinghouse, Healthcare Business associates
- Video Quality
- Security
Monetization Strategies for Telehealth Apps
Most of the on-demand healthcare service providers follow these three business models:
- Freemium
- Subscription
- Fees
How Should You Build Your Own Telemedicine App?
A Telemedicine app with basic to moderate features must accommodate the following features:
- UI/UX friendly interface
- Pure video and audio connection quality
- Precise filters for the search system;
- Secure payment gateway integration;
- Safe storage for patients’ EHRs;
- Must have a transparent review/rating system
Besides, you have to comply to a set of laws and regulations:
- GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
- HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)
- IMLC (Interstate Medical Licensure Compact) is an agreement between 29 states, the District of Columbia and the Territory of Guam that allows licensed physicians to practice medicine across state lines within the Compact if they meet certain agreed-upon eligibility requirements.
- Telemedicine regulations in particular states
- Prescribing regulations in particular states
Conclusive: How Feasible is It to Create a Telemedicine App?
Telehealth and Telemedicine apps have shown to overcome the existing barriers to health services caused by the distance between patient and provider, access to reliable transportation of care due to gaps in time between appointments and lack of available providers. These have to provide remote doctor visits, increase medical service efficiency and monitor health conditions from a distance. Our experts can help you by creating a telemedicine app solution that is robust and customized by following significant security and stringent methods of HIPAA compliant solutions.