Any modern healthcare provider relies on some form of technology to provide their services, improve their level of care, and organize their operations. Though there are certain programs and forms of software that are widely used by many medical institutions, others prefer using software tailored to their specific services and operating structure. This makes it a challenge to find the right healthcare development partners.
Why finding the right partner is important? A good development partner will not only build a functioning app, but also implement advanced and unique features based on their expertise. They won’t just ensure that your services get administered through the app, but also reduce your costs and boost your efficiency. If you want to know more about finding such a partner, you have come to the right place. We are taking a look at the best practices and tips for choosing healthcare app developers.
Looking for healthcare development partner?
What to Look for in a Provider of Medical App Development?
Before you put your trust in a company and task them with an ambitious project, you should make sure that they are up to the task. This involves not only examining the approach they present for the project, but also looking at several other factors:
Experience
While this is a rather obvious consideration, it is nonetheless important to mention. You can make sure that a company has the skills and qualifications to handle your project by checking their portfolio and having an in-depth conversation about their expertise.
In regards to the portfolio, check whether they have worked on any medical projects and if they have experience with telemedicine. It should be possible to look at the features and functionality implemented in these previous apps and gauge them against the needs of your software.
Confidentiality
There are two different thoughts that go into the concept of confidentiality here. Firstly, there is the matter of legal compliance. Some countries have established stringent regulations and rules about how patient data can be used, so it is important for medical providers and developers to take precautions to preserve patient confidentiality and comply with regulations. For example, the relevant law in the U.S. is called HIPAA, and the E.U. has GDPR.
Secondly, there is the delicate matter of publicizing your use of another company’s services. In some regions and businesses, it is frowned upon to outsource projects to agencies in other countries, so you can just sign an NDA with them that will prevent them from showcasing the project as something they worked on, thus giving you the confidence to present it as your own.
Communication and transparency
Good communication and transparency are imperative to an efficient working relationship. In regards to communication, this means frequent and regular messaging and calls between the two sides working on the project. Sometimes, vast time zone differences impede regular communication, so urgent issues get addressed on the next day simply because the developers have already gone home. A responsible partner will not let any time zone issues hinder the project, and will respond to issues within hours or minutes after learning of them.
As for transparency, this simply means that a business is honest in its communications with another person or company. It will be upfront about their rates, the progress of the project, and any setbacks they face over its course, even if sharing this information is not advantageous to them. As they say, honesty is the best policy.
Reputation
Although picking a company to work with should not boil down to a popularity contest, it can be helpful to get a reading of its reputation and rating before you make up your mind. This means taking a step back from all of the wonderful statements that they feature on their website and looking at real customer testimonials.
For example, you may refer to the reviews and data provided by research agencies like Clutch and Goodfirms. Not only do these services provide basic information about businesses all over the world and the role they occupy in their respective markets, but they also feature unbiased reviews from real customers that have worked with these firms.
Your To-Do List Before Choosing
Prior to making a selection, there are multiple minor (and some major) tasks that you might want to complete. Doing these things will save you time and money, as well as help you kick off your cooperation on the right foot. These to-dos include:
Form a vision for your app. Every application is built on a core idea or vision. That is why people who build apps simply for the sake of building apps rarely encounter success, while visionaries who put efforts into making something intangible real are often rewarded with greatness. When you sit down at the negotiating table with your partner-to-be, you should have some vision for the software in mind, though the details can be murky initially. With time, this vision will be fleshed out and possibly transformed into something different, but it will all be done at your behest or approval.
Choose your platform. One of the biggest decisions applied to your software is which platform(s) it will run on. The most common choices are mobile (Android/iOS), desktop (Windows/MacOS), and Web, though it is not uncommon for certain niche platforms (i.e. special operating systems for medical equipment) to be used in this field.
If you want your application to be available with no prior installation, Web should be a very convenient option. Conversely, desktop and mobile software can be accessed even without an internet connection. Each platform offers unique pros and cons, and deciding which of them you want to target will have a major impact on the development process. You can opt for development for a single platform, multiple platforms with a single app (cross-platform) or unique versions for each individual platform (native).
Determine key features. It is recommended to come up with a list of features you want added while you are coming up with a vision. The reason for this is that a prepared set of features will help the developing side make an estimate for the time and resources that they will require for the project. Naturally, the feature list may go through some drastic changes from the time that you first present it, but its mere presence will already tell a lot about the kind of program that you want to make and give developers reference points for their proposal.
An example of features of healthcare mobile app developed by Program-Ace
Budget and timeline. Before development begins on a project, it can be very hard to establish an accurate budget and timeline, but a ballpark estimate should be much more accessible. For example, you can firmly decide that you do not want to spend more than X on the project, with X being an amount of time and money. These basic figures will play a big role in how the project is planned out.
OR…Leave it to your partner. Though getting the things that we have listed done should be beneficial, they are not mandatory. Even if you are not sure about some of the considerations, a good partner should be able to fill in the gaps through communication with you or relying on their own experience. Thus, as long as you have some inkling about the future app, the rest can be clarified down the road.
Finding Healthcare Development Services
There are a lot of avenues available to those in search of their development partner, but not all of them lead to a good destination. For example, some companies conduct their search through professional social networks like LinkedIn, but the search function shows a limited assortment of relevant results, and you still need to research the candidates’ websites to get in-depth information about them. Another popular approach is to refer to the ratings provided by research agencies (which we previously mentioned) and make a pick from the leaders of a particular category.
However, the most common approach (and likely the one that brought you here) is through Google Search. There is no denying that submitting a specific request for healthcare software development services will net you dozens of results, while more detailed searches can provide even more value. Since you are already here and looking for a partner, we thought you might want to read a thing or two about one of the viable options – Program-Ace.
About Program-Ace
Program-Ace is a software development company based in Ukraine and founded in 1992. Over the 2+ decades that we have been around, we have branched out our development to various technologies (XR, Digital Twins, Visualization), platforms (Web, mobile, desktop, VR), and industries (healthcare, education, retail, manufacturing).
Our healthcare experience
In the medical field, we have particular skill in developing telemedicine applications, which bridge the communication gap between patients and doctors and make remote care possible. The most recent example of such an app is our All-in-One Telemedicine app.
This program is one of the few mobile apps for healthcare professionals and patients alike. It was built for a U.S.-based startup and focuses on health monitoring. There is a convenient and fun system in place which lets patients communicate with their doctor, input various data on a daily basis, and check relevant information pertaining to their treatment at any time. We even integrated a cuddly virtual assistant and various game elements to make routine processes more enjoyable.
Our cooperation models
We are quite familiar with the diverse forms and conditions that apply to development projects, and so, have made it our priority to provide flexible cooperation models to our customers. These models include:
- Dedicated Team (or Team Extension): Our dedicated developers join and augment an existing team, working remotely or relocating. We can also dedicate an entire team of developers who assigned to work exclusively on your project.
- Time & Material: Specific rates are applied to time and resources in the project, with the costs being tallied by these rates.
- Fixed Cost: You provide a concrete budget and set of specifications, we carry everything out with no deviations.
- Hybrid: If you prefer to use 2 models at once or start with one before switching, we can do this through the hybrid model.
- Time/Budget Cap: The project timeline is split into parts or sprints, with payment for the work being released in increments parallel to its completion.
We feel that we should reiterate that our company tries to provide optimal flexibility to our customers, so if you prefer a model that has not been listed here, we will certainly consider it and do everything in our power to accommodate.
How to contact us?
Have we piqued your interest? Do you want to learn more or discuss your project? If so, all you have to do is contact us through the available form, and you can expect our specialists to get in touch with you shortly. We look forward to meeting and cooperating with you!
