Telemedicine app: Meaning, Development, Benefits & Drawbacks

The global telemedicine market was around USD 55.9 billion in 2020 and is predicted to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 22.4% from 2021 to 2028. It makes sense to invest efforts towards  building a telemedicine app. A telemedicine app helps establish efficient patient communication app. In this article, we shall discuss the best ways to build a telemedicine app and everything that revolves around it. Read on! Let us first understand the meaning of a telemedicine app and what it stands for. 

What is a Telemedicine App?

A telemedicine app can be defined as a healthcare communication platform that tends to connect doctors, medical specialists,  patients, and other healthcare participants. It helps patients seek online medical treatment via quick communication with medical professionals and doctors. 

Telemedicine and Telehealth – What’s the difference? 

Do the terms telemedicine and telehealth confuse you? Don’t worry. We can help you comprehend both of them efficiently. Let’s take a closer look at their distinction.

• Telehealth is a much broader term when compared to telemedicine. It refers to telecommunication technologies to provide healthcare services remotely. On the other hand, telemedicine is the utilization of technologies to provide clinical services to patients. 
• Telehealth practices include non-clinical services, medical education and training for healthcare service providers. On the other hand, telemedicine deals particularly in patient treatment. 

Wondering How To Build a Telemedicine System? – Read About Some Popular Telemedicine APIs 

Are you planning to create a telemedicine app? Before starting your app development process, it’s essential to have a proper understanding of the best functioning APIs that make an app interactive and useful. Let’s take a closer look at some of the leading telemedicine app APIs. 

CONTUS MirrorFly 

Contus MirrorFly helps you build a powerful healthcare ecosystem with self-hosted chat APIs and SDKs. It helps you build a HIPAA compliant app with advanced chat solutions such as one-to-one conversations, video/audio calls, telemedicine, health report sharing and a lot more. 

It enhances remote diagnosis support to patients by leveraging IP based audio/video calls. With Contus MirrorFly, doctors and medical experts can expand their reach to non-local patients. They can perform consistent tracking of patients to level up treatment processes. HIPAA compliance makes MirrorFly the best and safest chat app API as it supports 100% healthcare data privacy. 

Sendbird 

Sendbird helps you build an efficient doctor-patient healthcare app that can make way for an advanced healthcare system. It provides the patient with the power to reach healthcare on-demand. It also tends to enhance doctor-staff communication for better workflow in the healthcare system. Sendbird’s APIs and SDKs help you build an impactful in-chat app to empower patients with online treatment via chats and audio/video calls. 

Teledoc Health 

Teledoc Health is a virtual healthcare communication system that helps connect doctors and patients online. With the right technologies, it aims to improve the healthcare ecosystem. Teledoc Health is committed to addressing diverse healthcare needs across the globe. It conducts virtual healthcare programs and helps build integrated healthcare models. 

How Do The Best Telemedicine Platforms Work? 

Have you ever wondered about the various functionalities of a telemedicine app? Let us delve deep into the details of the work process of a telemedicine app. 

• Virtual video conferencing 

This is one of the basic functionalities of a telemedicine app. Many times when the patients do not experience serious symptoms of a disease, they prefer having an online consultation with the doctor. In such cases, the doctors examine patients by leveraging the best benefits of video calling. 

• Online treatment via texts and calls

This feature is basically applicable to those patients who are already equipped with a treatment plan. In case of queries related to medicine dosage or other health questions, patients can simply text their doctors. They may even choose to call them depending upon the seriousness of the health situation. A good telemedicine app helps doctors prioritize their messages and calls to avoid missing appointments that need their immediate attention. 

• Effective prescription management 

This feature allows doctors to provide drug prescriptions online. Patients can purchase medicines at their local markets based upon their online printed prescription. 

So, if you’ve been thinking as to how to build a telemedicine platform – consider remembering the above-mentioned basic features for your app. 

Reasons to Develop a Telemedicine App 

The Development of an efficient healthcare app can make healthcare accessible to all and empower the healthcare ecosystem. Here are a few points that you should consider for understanding as to why a telemedicine app is beneficial: 

• Alleviates healthcare costs

The online healthcare system has multiple benefits. It helps save expenses on healthcare infrastructure and bridges the gaps between patients and doctors. Patients can reach doctors anytime from anywhere. Self-employed doctors can expand their reach via online platforms. Clinics can connect with more patients as more people opt for online consultations to save themselves from standing in long queues. 

• Ensure time-efficient diagnosis

Telemedicine helps avoid complex healthcare screenings. Patients can book appointments without leaving their houses. It tends to save a lot of time and energy on appointment hassles.

• 24*7 access to healthcare 

Telemedicine makes healthcare accessible across all corners, be it urban or rural. One can communicate with the best healthcare providers across the globe. 

• Enables doctors to manage time efficiently 

Modern features like in-app schedules and push notifications help doctors address all their appointments. Doctors can prioritize their consultations, shifts, and leaves accordingly. 

• Easy access to EHR 

With telemedicine, patients can get access to Electronic Health Records from anywhere. It helps doctors organize all records at one place, leading to an efficient healthcare system or app with build digital health chat app. 

What is the Technical Side of Telemedicine App Development? 

You need to choose the best tools and features for your telemedicine app. Let’s discuss them in detail. 

Relevant Features for Telemedicine App for Patients 

• Easy registration 

The telemedicine app should have a sign-up feature via which patients can leverage other benefits of the telemedicine app. 

• Patient profile

The patient should be able to set up his personal profile by updating his name, gender, age, treatment status and health condition status. 

• Up-to-date search filters

A telemedicine app should allow users to set their preferences and choose a doctor of their choice based on popularity, ratings, and other features. 

• Video calls

The App should have a video calling feature so that the doctors can easily examine patients’ health issues. The audio needs to be well-functioning too. You can utilize RTMC and WebRTC to create your app as they help enable hassle-free audio/video calling. 

• Text chat conversations

Text chats help in conducting quick interactions with the doctors. This is a must-have feature for any telemedicine app. 

• Patient calendar 

Helps patients manage their appointment, treatment and diagnosis on time. Features like push up notifications give way to efficient treatment of patients. 

• Smooth payments and transactions

Your app should have a custom payment feature or integrate with a third-party system to make way for secure transactions. 

• Review and ratings 

Your app should have a review section to rate doctors based upon their treatment methods and other parameters. 

• Push notifications 

Instant notifications help patients interact with their doctors at one go. Patients are quickly notified about upcoming consultations, appointments and many more. 

Important Features for Telemedicine App for Doctors 

• Doctor profile 

Here doctors can specify their specializations, years of experience and other important details. It helps build trust and credibility among patients. 

• Patient calendar 

It allows doctors to prioritize their patients’ list to manage the XD  schedules and consultations effectively. 

• EHR reviews 

A telemedicine app should enable doctors to browse through patients’ EHRs to effectively manage their treatment procedures. 

• Two-sided effective communication 

The app should support smooth communications between the doctors and patients. They should be able to contact each other at any hour. 

Best Technical Stack for Building Telemedicine App

You need to get the right technical stack for building your app. Here’s a list of best tools.

• Programming language  –  Use Kotlin/ Java for Android and Swift for iOS. 
• Backend development –  Leverage Node.js
• Video calling features – Utilize RTMP, Twilio, WebRTC
• Chat functions–  Use Twilio, Socket.io
• Database feature – You can leverage MySQL
• APIs and frameworks: Use Stripe, EC2, S3
• Search & filters: Use Elastic search
• Mailing advantage: Use Elastic Emails
• Geolocation: Leverage Google Maps Platform
• Notifications: Utilize Firebase Cloud Messaging

Points to Consider While Developing Telemedicine Apps

Here are the points that need to be considered.

HIPAA compliance – Make sure that your app is HIPAA compliant and prioritizes data privacy. 

Data security – Your app should have end-to-end encryption to ensure data safety. Utilize tools like AES 128 Bit and SHA 256. 

Video quality – Ensure good video quality via strong codes and bandwidth. Choose a developer who knows how to streamline good video features. 

Limitations for doctors – At times, apps limit the doctor’s functions. One cannot perform X-rays and ultrasounds on video calls.  

Conclusion 

We hope that our article helped you comprehend the meaning of telemedicine apps, their relevance and ways to develop them. Build a telemedicine app and make way for a robust and efficient healthcare ecosystem.