The Ultimate Guide On Telemedicine Software Development In 2023

The events of recent years have shown us just how much potential technology has. In a time when you had to stay home and hospitals were overloaded, getting medical care offline was dangerous to your health and tricky. The silver bullet in such circumstances was telemedicine software development.

Telemedicine has gained widespread recognition for solving acute problems and is still relevant today because of its convenience and other advantages. It is proven by Mckinsey’s survey, according to which 40% of respondents intend to continue using telemedicine software. In the meantime, the telemedicine market is expected to reach $168.4 billion by 2026.

The Notion and Advantages of Telemedicine Software

What is telemedicine software? It’s the process of creating software designed to provide remote healthcare services via the internet. In addition to accessing healthcare in times of pandemics, there’re other advantages of telemedicine software.

Convenience

Thanks to telemedicine software development, healthcare services have been made accessible at any location through an internet connection. Also, patients don’t have to waste time in queues or commute when they get medical help via telemedicine software solutions.

Accessibility

Telemedicine is a marvel for people with disabilities. It allows them to access healthcare hassle-free from wherever they are. Custom telemedicine software solutions take away the hardships of making it to the healthcare institution. Also, telemedicine software development is done keeping in mind the accessibility principle in mind. Thanks to modern technology, the software can be set up to be used by people with various disabilities.

Cost Efficiency

Health services provided through telemedicine software are lower than those provided offline. At the same time, the health care quality is not weakened, and sometimes, on the contrary, it only increases due to the possibility of quickly getting access to a health care provider.

Improved Monitoring

The patients may access healthcare quicker, which is especially important when their health condition worsens. It allows them to contact the healthcare provider and take the required measures rapidly. Also, the patients may log the health parameters to monitor dynamics better. This opportunity helps to correct the treatment if needed and evaluate its effectiveness.

Medical Records Access

Telemedicine software stores the EHR and gives healthcare providers quick access. Since Doctors can view all the tests, examinations, diagnoses, and other information hassle-free, telemedicine software facilitates better diagnosing, prescribing more efficient treatment, and monitoring the health dynamics.

Less Paperwork

Besides the advantages related to healthcare services, telemedicine also benefits administrative work. Since the information is provided through the software and stored in it, there’s no need to fill in multiple papers. It reduces the medical staff’s workload and helps to focus on the work with patients. In its turn, it increases efficiency.

Challenges In Telemedicine Software Development

telemedicine software is not something everyone can do because the process comes with its challenges. After all, if you are warned, you are armed. Presented below are the challenges that arise even for experts in the field of professional software development.

Strong Security

Since patients' personal data is entered and stored in telemedicine software, proper protection of confidential data must be ensured. Ensuring adequate security involves several steps:

• Encryption helps protect data from leaks due to cyber-attacks or negligence.
• Assessments are performed to detect vulnerabilities by yourself.
• Educating patients about the need for solid passwords, non-disclosure of passwords, and other security aspects also falls upon the responsibilities of software developers.

Compliance

As with other types of medical app development, telemedicine software developers must ensure compliance with specific regulatory and medical standards. Compliance with standards is necessary because the laws require personal data to be protected.

Make sure the telemedicine software is subject of compliance with the following documents:

• HIPAA for software to be operated in the US
• PIPEDA for software to be used in Canada;
• Directive 95/46/EC for software designed for the EU.

The rest of the standards are international ones:

• GDPR;
• IEC 62304;
• DICOM;
• HL-7;
• ICD-10.

Telemedicine Software Development Technical Aspects

Features and functionalities make the app function in the way in supposed to and address the problems it was developed for. The list of features may vary depending on the needs and particular context in which the telemedicine software implementation is designed. However, there’s a telemedicine software features that are must-haves for all. If you’re going to start telemedicine software with MVP development, they are to be introduced first.

Patient’s Interface

• Register and log-in;
• Creating and managing profiles;
• Filtered search for a physician or service;
• Pick a doctor or nurse from the provided list;
• voice and video calls;
• In-software calendar to browse upcoming appointments and see a doctor's availability;
• payment system with a variety of payment options;
• Notifications.

Healthcare Provider’s Interface

• Join and sign in;
• Creating and managing doctor's profiles;
• Calendar and timetable;
• Approval of the appointment;
• Notifications;
• Video and audio calls, text messaging, and voice messages for communication;
• EHR access and referring.

Admin’s Interface

• Healthcare provider’s workload management tools;
• Patient record management tools;
• AI-driven appointment scheduling.

Telemedicine Technology Trends

Telemedicine is also evolving and is eager to use advanced technology. The use of technology trends in development is helping to provide even better and more comprehensive medical services.

• Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to implement chatbots, where patients can quickly get a consultation based on their symptoms, find out the availability of a doctor, make an appointment, etc.
• The Internet of Things (IoT) connects various devices that track health indicators and transmit data to software.
• Augmented reality (AR) is used for the multidimensional visualization of health data.

Process of Developing Telehealth Software

Telemedicine software development is a serious undertaking, as it deals with people's health. Therefore, developers face the challenge to make telemedicine software that works quickly, smoothly, and continuously and can bridge different patients and medical professionals with no sense of being lack of offline presence.

#1 Pre-Development

If you are familiar with software development, you know it's more than just about coding. Before you write code, you need to understand what the software will be, i.e., define the software's purpose and find out what problem it is supposed to solve, determine what features the application needs to achieve the goal, make a portrait of the target user, and so on.

To make the application solid and competitive, you can look at the similar solutions of the competitors, find their strengths and identify the weak points to fulfill them in your software.

The details gathered at this stage are put in a paper called SRS. SRS will significantly simplify the development and give the team a mutual picture of what the software will be.

#2 UI/UX Design

In addition to basic design principles, it is critical to pay special attention to people with disabilities in telemedicine software development. Since the design is visual, solutions for people with visual impairments should be introduced. For example, different font sizes, the use of special color schemes, audio playback of content on the screen, etc.

#3 Development

It is clear that throughout the development phase, code is written, testing is done, bugs are fixed, and testing is done again. When an application shows that it works as required, it is ready to be released and uploaded to the stores.

#4 Deployment and Maintenance

After the release, work on the software goes on. The development team works on software updates, develops new features, fixes bugs if they occur, scales the software, and works to eliminate them in the event of a failure.

Telemedicine Software Development by a Trusted Partner

If you decide to build telemedicine software, you face a significant, challenging, but noble task. To create such software, a telemedicine software development company with a high level of proficiency is needed to ensure that it runs smoothly and at the highest quality. After all, when it comes to human health, there can be no shortcuts or mistakes.

Celadon is a team of experts with a strong background in software, including healthcare software development. Our team knows the intricacies of such software and how to implement them. Look out for the hospital app development to see our work in effect.

The main focus of our team in providing software or mobile app development services is the project's set goals, which is why we work diligently to achieve them through the software under development.