Integrating technology into intricate healthcare systems is no walk in the park for healthcare professionals.
To guide this journey, the article analyzes prominent trends, the scope of the healthcare web development industry, and solutions to primary roadblocks healthcare players may encounter before starting the medical web development journey.
Healthcare Web Application Development in 2024
Healthcare web application development has experienced remarkable growth in recent years. Market research indicates that the health IT market is anticipated to reach $974.5 billion in 2027, with a global CAGR of 19.8%.
Key Drivers
Growing adoption of e-prescribing, telehealth, and other health IT solutions, accelerated by the pandemic’s impact on healthcare organizations worldwide. COVID-19 has increased the demand for remote patient monitoring, hospital capacity management, and telehealth solutions. Apart from the pandemic impact on healthcare delivery, a range of other tendencies accelerate the healthcare web development market, such as:
- Technological advancements — healthcare AI adoption and integration with medical software are projected at a 44.9% CAGR from 2020 to 2027, with the IoT healthcare sector reaching $188.2 billion by 2026 and the mobile health market exceeding $189 billion by 2025, driving innovation in the given domain.
- Growing data security demands — growing data security demands in healthcare, with a 25% increase in cyberattacks in 2020, underscore the importance of robust cybersecurity measures and regulatory compliance.
- Consumer demands — 77% of patients seek ways to schedule appointments online, and 71% expect personalized patient care experiences.
Healthcare Website Development Trends
The medical web ecosystem is evolving at an unprecedented pace. Adopting these trends can enhance your entrepreneurial potential and help you create innovative solutions that improve medicine.
Remote Care Takes Center Stage
The pandemic accelerated the trend toward telemedicine and normalized online video consultation as a replacement for doctor visits.
Experts predict 40% of providers will shift 20% of hospital beds to patients’ homes within the next three years. Hence, healthcare entrepreneurs must adapt to the changing care landscape. Companies like DispatchHealth already invest in hospital care at home by leveraging medical web development to deliver remote monitoring, virtual consultations, and home-based medical care.
Technology Partnerships Streamline Greater Results
A new class of partners is emerging as the industry embraces a competitive advantage of digital transformation. For example, Microsoft partnered with GSK’s Haleon to improve accessibility for people with vision impairments, while Google Cloud teamed up with Hackensack Meridian Health to enhance cancer detection using AI.
The Demand For Strengthening Cybersecurity Measures Rises
The healthcare industry is particularly vulnerable to cyber-attacks. Recent statistics indicate that 89% of organizations experienced at least one attack in 2020, with an average of 43 attacks reported. The cost of a breach is high, with a single attack accruing as much as $4.4 million, and the average total cost of a data breach in healthcare reaching $10.1 million.
Top Types of Web Apps for Healthcare Providers
The rapid evolution of technology has brought forth a myriad of innovations in medical web applications. Each medical solution addresses distinct issues. Consider the following categories.
Telehealth
Telehealth apps address limited healthcare access in remote areas, enabling cost-effective remote connections between patients and professionals. Offering services from primary care to mental health, these apps help patients access timely care, thus enhancing patient outcomes and satisfaction.
EHRs & EMRs
EHR and EMR software solutions consolidate fragmented medical information, offering a unified access point for comprehensive patient data easily accessible from web pages. These solutions enhance patient safety and medical services efficiency through improved cross-departmental collaboration.
Appointment Scheduling Systems
Key features like real-time availability, appointment confirmations, push notifications on upcoming visits, and streamlined check-in procedures via medical websites contribute to a smoother, more efficient patient experience, all while aiding physicians in managing their schedules more effectively.
Patient Engagement Tools
Enhanced patient engagement tools, such as health trackers and access to quality online healthcare information, are an efficient way healthcare web applications can gain new patients and boost loyalty among the existing ones. These tools, integrated into web-based apps or patient portals, not only foster patient involvement in their own care but also serve as valuable resources for informed health decision-making among both patients and healthcare providers.
Mental Health Solutions
Mental health web apps provide a convenient and cost-effective platform for users to access support and resources, bridging the gap for those with limited access to healthcare services. These medical web solutions allow users to connect with professionals, track their progress, and receive therapy.
Medical Diagnosis
Medical diagnosis software uses AI and machine learning algorithms to provide an accurate and timely diagnosis based on patient forms, lab results, or other data. Coupled with medical devices and remote patient monitoring tools, it can efficiently help healthcare professionals in early disease detection and prevention.
Imaging and Visualization
Imaging and visualization web apps offer healthcare professionals a convenient way to access and manipulate medical images and create 3D models for surgical planning and medical education, thus revolutionizing how medical images are utilized in clinical practice and education by medical students.
AI-Driven Chatbots
Web apps supported with AI-driven chatbots improve the efficiency of patient care services by assisting patients with common inquiries via web pages and handling multiple requests simultaneously, thus enhancing decision-making processes and patient outcomes.
Main Medical Web Development Hurdles
Before embarking on a healthcare or medical web development project, it is crucial to evaluate the main challenges and explore solutions to mitigate potential risks associated with the adoption of web-based mobile apps. Here are guidelines that will help.
Locating Expert Healthcare Collaborators
Health tech investors and entrepreneurs face the daunting task of selecting the ideal partner with extensive healthcare industry experience and medical web design expertise. A lack of a proven track record in medical website solutions can lead to a suboptimal healthcare web development process, misunderstandings of medical industry requirements, and potential regulatory violations.
Ensuring Compliance in Health Data Management
Non-compliance might have serious repercussions, leading to operational disruptions, lawsuits, substantial fines, and a severe impact on financial stability and reputation. Therefore, adhering to stringent regulations is a must.
Depending on their industry and market segment, healthcare businesses may need to meet numerous compliances. For example, Riseapps is currently helping a client develop a comprehensive platform that will enable healthcare providers to automatically achieve 245D compliance, reducing the risk of multi-million dollar fines.
Must-haves of many regulatory requirements for any healthcare company include adherence to industry-standard security protocols and practices, strong authentication and authorization mechanisms, data encryption, regular security audits, and vulnerability assessments, to name a few.
Identifying the Right Business Model for Your Goals
Selecting the most suitable business model for medical website creation is critical; as an inappropriate one may result in inadequate market penetration, limited user adoption, and unsustainable financial performance. There are a few aspects to consider here, from understanding the target market needs to scalability strategy.
Securing Funding
More funding poses a major challenge for most healthcare website projects, especially for healthcare startup founders. It can compromise product quality, project delays, and even failure. Without adequate funding, essential features may be overlooked or rushed, leading to a subpar user experience and reduced functionality.
Healthcare Web App Development: From Idea to MVP
Developing a healthcare web application necessitates meticulous strategizing, implementation, and evaluation. Here is an all-encompassing blueprint for healthcare website development.
Step 1. Define Your Vision and Goals
Since the onset of your healthcare or medical website development process, clearly identify primary goals, target audience, and desired outcomes. Also, assess how the app fits within the healthcare ecosystem.
Step 2. Conduct Thorough Market Research
Analyze existing medical websites and healthcare competitors, determine market gaps and opportunities, and identify user preferences, needs, and pain points. Use these insights to refine your healthcare website concept and develop a unique value proposition.
Step 3. Assemble a Multidisciplinary Team
Collaborate with a diverse team of experts to ensure all aspects of web development are effectively addressed, from market research to functionality and quality testing.
When assembling a healthcare web development team, options include an in-house team, outstaffing freelancers, or hiring a development agency. Choosing the right option depends on project requirements, budget, and long-term goals.
Step 4. Develop a Robust Technical Architecture
Design a secure and scalable technical infrastructure for your healthcare web app, including the right tech stack, functionalities, and integration plan with existing healthcare systems. See an example of the healthcare web application architecture developed by Riseapps.
Step 5. Design an Intuitive and Accessible User Experience
To ensure a user-centric healthcare website, implement medical web design principles that prioritize the user, create user personas to guide design decisions, and develop wireframes and prototypes for user testing.
Begin with a design concept that, at optimal estimates, can be completed within 7 days and under a $1,200 budget for a basic feature set. As you move on, remember to further iterate on designs based on feedback and best practices in healthcare UX.
Meanwhile, if you’re uncertain about your current healthcare solution’s UX and user interface efficiency, a medical web design audit service can provide thorough recommendations within 3 weeks, allowing you to optimize your app’s appeal and user experience for a minimum of $1,500.
Step 6. Implement Agile Methodologies
Employ iterative and incremental development processes that encourage cross-functional collaboration and open communication. Also, regularly review and adapt plans based on changing requirements or user feedback, and ensure continuous delivery of high-quality, tested features.
Step 7. Start Your Medical Web Development
Follow a structured healthcare web development process ensuring optimal timeframes, budgets, and efficient scaling. Explore the Riseapps’ approach that guarantees client success.
Project Phase #1: Discovery
Riseapps recommends starting with a discovery phase with your chosen healthtech vendors, ensuring a solid foundation for your project. As a result of this stage, you’ll get a comprehensive set of deliverables including technical documentation, a product prototype, a business process diagram, a budget estimate, and a project plan. This comprehensive preparation minimizes risks and sets the stage for efficient and effective development.
Project Phase #2: PoC
Next, move on to creating a PoC (Proof of Concept) to get feedback from early users or present it to venture capitalists or investors. This phase allows you to validate the feasibility and potential of your healthcare product concept in a real-world setting.
Project Phase #3: MVP Development
After validating the PoC, an efficient strategy is to proceed to MVP (Minimum Viable Product) development. At this phase, focus on creating essential functionality with a well-thought-out architecture with your tech partner. Most importantly, prioritize features that address core user needs and deliver value while maintaining scalability and flexibility.
Project Phase #4: Full-Scale Web Development
Once the MVP is established and validated, proceed to full-scale web development services to refine and expand your healthcare product. This phase involves enhancing the product with additional features, optimizing performance, and ensuring scalability to accommodate growing user demands and evolving market trends.
Project Phase #5: Rigorous Testing and Quality Assurance
To ensure app quality and stability, implement automated testing processes for continuous integration and deployment, thoroughly test functionality, performance, security, and usability, and promptly address any issues or bugs found during testing.
Project Phase #6: Post-Launch and Maintenance
To maintain the healthcare app’s success, develop a comprehensive maintenance strategy. Monitor performance, user feedback, and market trends on medical website designs and features. Refine the app based on user needs and the healthcare landscape. Also, don’t forget to provide user support, promptly addressing technical issues.
Medical Website Development: $189M Raised
Riseapps is a leader in healthcare web development and one of the top 1000 global companies. Our team’s skills in building HIPAA-compliant solutions on the scale have amounted to $189M in funds raised for our clients.
Featured Healthcare Web Development Projects
Kego’s Telehealth Clinic
Under Riseapps’ guidance in hospital website development, Kego, a telehealth urgent care clinic operating under strict HIPAA regulations, successfully developed and launched a comprehensive telehealth platform from scratch in just 6 months. Within a short span of 3 months post-release, Kego gained significant market traction among other medical practice solutions.
Healthcare Document Management Platform
Riseapps development team built a web and mobile healthcare compliance management platform and portal that seamlessly integrates compliance documentation into providers’ daily medical practice workflows. The platform boasts an exceptional 99% uptime performance, supports 1,000 concurrent users, and loads in 3 seconds.
CareHalo RPM
With a tailor-made CareHalo remote patient monitoring web platform developed by Riseapps experts in under 3 months, physicians save 100,000+ hours yearly with patient data management automation.
Million-Dollar Funding of Healthcare Web Products
As the demand for accessible, efficient, and secure healthcare solutions grows, so does the interest of investors seeking promising ventures in the sector.
These innovative startups successfully drive further innovation, disruption, and value creation while securing revenues:
- Medwing, the Berlin-based startup offering a digital recruitment marketplace for healthcare professionals, raised $47 million in a Series C funding round and gained 5,500 registered medical employers and 500,000 healthcare professionals across the UK and Germany.
- Speedoc, a Singapore-based telehealth product, raised $28 million in pre-Series B funding, with major investors participating.
- HealthAtom, a healthcare organization management SaaS company, raised a $10 million Series A funding round under the mission to accelerate care delivery in Latin America for 300 million patients annually.
- 54gene, an African genomics startup that addresses disparities in the global genomics market, raised $25 million in Series B funding, totaling over $45 million in funding since its inception.
FAQ
What makes a good medical website?
A good medical website should have a user-friendly design, robust security and HIPAA compliance, informative content, and easy-to-use appointment scheduling. It should also feature prominently displayed contact information, professional aesthetics, SEO optimization, patient testimonials, and accessibility for all users.
How can the design of a healthcare website build trust among users?
Any healthcare company aiming to build trust among users should ensure a professional and user-friendly medical website design, provide informative content showcasing industry expertise, display positive patient testimonials, and showcase expertise through educational materials for patients easily created with the help of an integrated content management system.
How much does it cost to build a healthcare website?
A healthcare app or medical website with backend infrastructure and design costs approximately $100,000, including product management, QA, and team communication services, with final price variations depending on complexity and the development company location. Outsourcing medical website developers in Western Europe (Ukraine) can be more cost-effective than in the USA.
What are some factors that can influence healthcare development cost?
The cost of healthcare or medical website development can be influenced by factors such as the tech stack, the complexity of health portal features, healthcare web design requirements, and development company expertise.
How can healthcare websites be optimized for mobile devices?
Building medical websites with consideration of mobile-optimized experience is a must. To enhance the usability of healthcare websites for patient experiences on mobile device, use responsive techniques for your medical web design, ensure opting for the right technology stack, develop mobile-first features, integrate mobile health apps for a user-friendly experience, and conduct a regular extensive research on user behavior and emerging mobile UX trends.
What software does the healthcare industry use?
The healthcare industry uses various software types, including Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems like Epic and Cerner for managing patient records, Practice Management Software (PMS) like Athenahealth for administrative tasks, and telehealth platforms such as Teladoc for remote patient consultations. Additionally, healthcare organizations utilize medical billing software, patient engagement tools, and specialized diagnostic software for specific medical fields, Content Management Systems (CMS) like WordPress and Drupal for managing and publishing digital content on their websites, and tools like Google Analytics to track and analyze website traffic and user behaviors. These features mentioned can ensure operational efficiency and, consequently, enhance patient outcomes.
