The healthcare department has gone through some significant improvements. Once telemedicine was thought to be a dream. But now we are seeing practical usage of telemedicine by a great number of healthcare providers. so, these are things you need to know before building a healthcare platform.
Especially in this challenging time of the Covid-19 pandemic, a lot of hospitals and the healthcare industry are working on making healthcare platforms for patients. But is it simple? No, there is a lot to take into consideration. So, let’s have a look at them and make sure you put them on your platform.
What is a Healthcare Platform?
Let us make sure that we are on the same page of knowing what exactly a healthcare platform is.
A healthcare platform is a group of applications working together to deliver healthcare services to users. It is usually an end-to-end communication solution. But that does not mean completely transferring the health industry to the digital world. That is not possible for technological limitations.
Our technology allows us to exchange information through the network. We cannot transfer any physical object through it. So the type of health service delivered in a healthcare platform is doctor’s advice via video conference and other electronic means.
Must-have Features of Healthcare Platforms
The healthcare platform apps are required to have some features as a must. Without those features, the app will be incomplete.
So if you are on the path of making a new medical health app, then make sure to include the following functions.
A User-friendly Interface
The first feature to include is a user-friendly interface. As we are talking about a healthcare platform/ medical app, it does not have to be fancy. You just need to keep it simple so that a patient can directly click on the function he/ she is looking for.
Imagine a situation where a medical patient has to enter her medical data every two hours. She needs to have a convenient way of doing that. If the app is a little complicated, then she will find it tiresome and may quit entering the data regularly. This will create a problem for her doctor to assess the situation.
So make sure to include a simple interface.
User Profile
You will also have to create a user account/ profile system in your healthcare platform. SO that a user’s medical history is automatically recorded in the platform and helps in future doctor appointments.
This will also help the user to keep track of her health activity.
Video Conference
This is a must-have feature. Without this feature, your doctor cannot have direct communication with you. This feature will be used to deliver telemedicine and detailed explanation by the doctor to his patient.
So your platform must be equipped with the latest technology of video communication. Also, make sure that the conference system can support multiple calls together because sometimes it needs two or three doctors together to work things through.
Other Communication Methods
Video conferences should not be the only communication method. You must include a live chat function. SO that the doctor and patient can have a chat together about small issues. Moreover, the live chat feature allows them to pick up the topic from where they have left it.
If possible, take the doctor’s consent and include a phone call option. But be sure to give the doctor the liberty of choosing a time frame for that. Because they don’t want their private life to be interrupted by patient phone calls.
Appointment Making System
Sometimes, telemedicine is not enough. That is ok. So you will have to integrate an appointment-making system in your app. So, whenever a doctor sees the necessity of a live session with the patient, he/ she can set up the appointment directly from the app.
Map Integration
Map integration means integrating Google maps with your platform. Now you might ask why do we need Google maps in a healthcare platform? Two reasons.
The patient may have a hard time finding the doctor’s clinic. So that is why the map is needed.
The second reason is home visits. Sometimes the patient is not in any condition to visit the doctor. So having her address visible to the doctor can make it easy for the doctor to come.
Database
As we said earlier, users in your platform will need to create their own account/ profile so that their medical history can be recorded.
But for that, you will need a database system. S make sure you have managed the database system and storage for the platform first. Then move on to the next things.
The database you will need has to be advanced, fast, and more importantly secure.
Medical Reminders
Medical reminders are not something special. It is like your regular reminder, but for medical purposes.
For example, a patient has made an appointment with the doctor for September 1st at 8 pm. It is future data and both the patient and doctor may forget about it. But with a reminder via push notification, both of them will be informed and they will be on time for a video conference or a live chat function.
Payment
Some doctors won’t be encouraged to give their service for free. So they will want payment. In this case, you will have to do some research and see which payment methods are common among doctors and patients. Then integrate the payment system into your platform.
So, these are the must-have features you need to know about healthcare platforms. Make sure that you include them in your platform. If you have any other interesting features in mind, then have a chat with a software expert company like Enozom. They will see if the feature will be practical and acceptable to the users or not.
Conclusion
Healthcare platforms should be made with care. Any looseness in the features can cause a great effect on the user’s health. That is why you should hire experts like Enozom. More importantly, you should test the software as many times as possible with different aspects to make sure everything is functioning properly.
Then you should make it available for public use.