Last Updated | August 8, 2023
Introduction – Doctor Appointment App Development Company?
Are you looking for a doctor appointment app development company? Let’s start. Doctor appointment app is part of larger healthcare technological apps like custom patient record-keeping software in the USA, or custom medical device software development in the USA, which enable healthcare practitioners to leverage disruptive technologies to streamline and improve healthcare services for patients. A doctor appointment booking app will leverage modern mobile technologies to ensure patients are able to easily book appointments and stay connected with their doctors/physicians.
When it comes to functionalities of the appointment app, this will depend on the preferences of healthcare practitioners, as well as, the professional expertise of a doctor appointment app development company. Nonetheless, to get the process started, you need to consult a professional telemedicine software development company the USA or a custom healthcare app development USA agency and inform them of your needs for a doctor appointment app.
With a doctor appointment app, healthcare practitioners are in a better position to streamline their practice, improve patients’ healthcare quality and increase their efficiency. A modern doctor appointment app development company should be able to come up with an intuitive design and interactive interface for the application. This will make it easy for patients and doctors to interact and use all features of the applications. Below, in this blog, we will be discussing everything you should know about hiring healthcare app developers in the USA, the process involved in doctor appointment booking app development, and how to find the right doctor appointment app development company.
So, without any ado, let’s get started…
When Do You Need a Doctor Appointment App Development Company
Each year, no-shows on part of patients result in hundreds of billions of dollars in losses for the healthcare system, while individual practitioners lose millions of dollars separately due to large no-show numbers. Going by the data, there were some reportedly 7.8 million patient no-shows reported by NHS Digital data. This comes to almost 40,000 no-shows per day in the UK alone. Similar numbers may be traced to the USA and other countries.
To cope with these massive losses, healthcare practitioners are now turning to professional appointment app development solutions, including doctor appointment booking app for Android, iOS, and other major operating systems. These apps come with built-in notifications, reminders, and alerts for patients, which may lower the number of no-shows by as much as 36%. These apps aren’t just great for hospitals and clinics to streamline appointment scheduling and ease the burden at reception areas, but they also harness the benefits of healthcare software development. For once, by sending timely alerts and reminders, such apps help reduce the no-shows (subsequently cut on losses for practitioners), while also improving doctor-patient coordination (thus improving overall patient healthcare). Also, patients today prefer to go with convenient healthcare solutions, which greatly influence their choices for practitioners and hospitals. Thereby, with doctor appointment apps, healthcare institutions also improve their chances to attract more patients.
Read more about how to develop a Telemedicine App in 2023
Benefits of Mobile Application for Doctor Appointment Scheduling
In recent times, patients are increasingly looking forward to technology for convenient and smart healthcare solutions. That’s one reason why doctors and healthcare institutions have turned towards telemedicine, and other healthcare technology solutions to attract more patients and increase the profitability of their practice. Below are some of the benefits doctors and hospitals can rejoice with doctor appointment scheduling applications:
- 24/7 online scheduling system
A robust doctor appointment scheduling software acts as a 24/7 scheduling system for hospitals and patients. Such systems make it highly convenient for patients to get an appointment with the desired specialist at a moment’s notice, without having to talk through the reception and booking persons for a long period. Thereby, doctors and clinics with such systems can expect a high influx of patients with 24/7 booking and scheduling.
- Fill the appointment gaps
With an online patient scheduling app, doctors/physicians are able to keep their schedules to maximum capacity and avoid any appointment gaps. A robust online appointment booking platform would be able to automate the booking schedule and refill any empty slots due (this includes empty slots due to cancellation by patients). Thus, with an automated app, healthcare practitioners got better control over and high profitability for their practice.
- Reduce Administrative Tasks
With an online appointment booking system, clinics can significantly lower the administrative burden for doctors and relevant staff. Since such systems automate the entire appointment booking process, it releases pressure from doctors to manage administrative tasks and concentrate better on their practice.
When Hiring a Doctor Appointment App Development Company, And How Can You be Sure They’re The Right Fit For Your Project?
Ok, now that we know the reasons and benefits of having an online doctor appointment booking system, let’s move on and see some of the crucial aspects you should consider when hiring a doctor appointment app development company.
- In-depth Knowledge of the Healthcare Sector
Healthcare is a highly regulated and technical industry and while the developers may have adequate coding experience, they may not necessarily be knowledgeable about the technicalities involved in the healthcare domain. Thereby, before you move on with a doctor appointment app development company, make sure the company got the right skills and knowledge of the domain.
Ideally, the company should have prior experience working in the healthcare app development sector. This way, they will be able to understand requisite doctor appointment app features and laws regulating the sector. They will also be able to come up with a better doctor appointment system design that adds real value and maximize ROI for your practice.
- Client’s Review and History
When you are looking for a functional and patient-oriented appointment system, you need to choose a development company that had a strong portfolio in the healthcare app development domain. For this, you need to review what the previous clients say about the company and their work history. The best approach is to shortlist a few relevant companies and reach out to them for more details.
You should question them about their previous experience in the industry and if they can show you a demonstration of any previous project. Also, you should read out clients’ reviews about the company (make sure you read reviews on third-party platforms and not on the website).
- Ability to develop cross-platform applications
With Android and iOS as the major operating systems, you can’t just miss out on any of these without risking lost revenue. Cross-platform apps are a brilliant technique for doctors and healthcare institutes to save on time and costs involved in app development. In fact, some of the best apps for booking doctor appointments are cross-platform apps; enabling doctors to maximize ROIs for their practice.
Thereby, when looking for the right doctor appointment app development company, make sure the agency has the ability to develop a cross-platform app.
Learn how to develop a healthcare app
How Much Does it Cost to Have a Doctor Appointment App Development, And What’s Included in That?
Honestly, it is hard to put a number on the cost of doctor appointment app development, since it will depend on various components. For instance, the features and functionalities you want, the size, the complexity, and the cross-platform functionality are some of the factors that will influence the overall cost of the app development.
Nonetheless, since you are here to get answers, let’s try to come up with a realistic estimate for the cost of doctor appointment app development. Let’s consider that you are going all-in with the app development with the following features;
- Online doctor appointment
- Appointment reminders
- Medicine reminders
- Medicine delivery
- Medical records storage
- Experts Blog
With all these functionalities and features, you can expect the app to cost somewhere around USD 300K.
However, as mentioned above, the final cost will eventually depend on your preferred features and functionalities. For instance, you may only wish to go with a doctor appointment booking live chat app. Thereby, on average you may expect to pay anywhere between USD 100K to USD 200K for a mid-sized and mid-features doctor appointment app development.
Read more about medical app development costs here
How Long Will it Take for The Doctor Appointment App Development Company to Create Your App, and What Happens After it’s Finished?
The time required for developing the app will depend on the size, scope and features required. However, on average a doctor appointment app built from scratch without market-ready APIs may take up to 12 to 24 months to develop.
However, since many components for appointment scheduling systems are available in the market, expect 3 to 6 months for development.
Are There Any Other Costs Associated with Developing An App, Such as Marketing or Ongoing Maintenance Fees?
Yes. Maintenance is a compulsory recurring cost, similarly, marketing is an important expense that adds up to the overall cost of the app. The best practice is to hire a professional doctor appointment app development company that can deliver end-to-end services; from development to design, maintenance and marketing.
How Can You be Sure That Your New Doctor Appointment App is Successful? What Are Some Tips for Promoting it?
To be sure of the success of your new doctor appointment app, you need to implement best practices to promote it and encourage users to utilize the app for their healthcare concerns. Some pro tips to promote your new appointment scheduling app include;
– Guarantees
As mentioned before, healthcare is a highly regulated and sensitive domain. Things get even more complicated when we are talking about telehealth applications since the threats get manifold with all cybersecurity concerns. Thereby, when you are looking to promote your new appointment booking app, don’t shy away from offering safety and security guarantees to patients.
Apart from security guarantees, you would also need to reassure patients about your brand and its worth. Like in many other fields, personal branding is one of the safest and most viable approaches for medical app marketing. Take on board the leading specialists, doctors, and physicians as your app ambassador. This will significantly improve the trust and reliability concerns of patients for your app.
– Regulatory Compliance
Last but not least, whenever you venture into developing a medical app USA, make sure you comply with the national and international laws that regulate the domain. For instance, in the USA all telehealth apps must comply with HIPAA and GDPR, which essentially obligate healthcare practitioners and hospitals to ensure the privacy and protection of patients’ sensitive information (personal information, medical history, etc.).
Frequently Asked Questions
How to check references and reviews online?
Before you hire healthcare developers the USA, make sure you go through the references and reviews online for the company. Just make sure you don’t rely on the reviews available on the agency’s website; rather, check out reviews and testimonials on third-party platforms like Trustpilot and others.
Sign a contract specifying what is included in the project.
Once you have decided to go with a specific agency for your app development needs, make sure you create and signed a detailed contract that defines the complete scope of work for the agency, including the modules, features, functionalities, tech stack, costs, and timeline.
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