Arguably the essential tool for any healthcare organization is a website. That’s right, a healthcare web app is an invaluable thing that’s only been made more necessary in recent years.
Only in 1965 Americans got a general hospital and medical care. And now 80% of people search for healthcare-related information online. 20% of EU citizens make an appointment with a doctor over the internet.
As people go digital more and more, it’s important for medical organizations to communicate healthcare information in a new, digital way. That’s why healthcare web development is getting so much attention now. Even if you have 1000 patients requesting their blood test results at the same time, a healthcare web app can save you so much time to assist a patient remotely and automatically.
In this article, I’ll explain to you all the nuances of healthcare web development. We’ll check the main trends in healthcare website design and look at the average cost of healthcare website development.
Why to Build a Healthcare Web App?
We at Uptech, like asking ‘why’ first, before jumping right into the development. So let’s take a look at the reasons why you should actually start a healthcare development. Here are a few of the big reasons:
Get credibility
For many patients, doctors remain the most trusted sources of healthcare information. Yet, the survey showed that 47% of Internet users search for doctors online, and 63% choose one healthcare provider over another because of a strong online presence. No doubt left that to exist, you need to be online. And a healthcare website is always at the core of it.
Be present 24/7
People may need medical help in the early morning or in the middle of the night. It's especially common among hospitals as patients may need guidance or directions asap. If you have a healthcare web app, you give the clients 24/7 support. It means they can book an appointment, access the information, and get consultancy in minutes without going to the hospital.
Be competitive
To compete in the market, healthcare providers must meet patients’ needs better or at a lower cost than their competitors do, or both. And developing a healthcare website is one of the important steps along this way. As I mentioned earlier, the majority of patients choose one provider over another based on a strong online presence. In addition, healthcare (41.2%) is the top fast-growing startup industry by volume of investment, so the market is not only competitive but prospective.
Healthcare Web Design Trends
Love it or hate it, but healthcare web app development isn't possible without a good healthcare website design. Many websites have all the bells and whistles, but they don't provide value for the patients. What's worse, the healthcare web design can be confusing.
Here are a couple of trends to keep in mind when doing your healthcare web design:
Data Visualization
Showing the test results and a dynamic of the treatment is good, but it's a must. One of the things that can differentiate you from other healthcare websites is visualizing all this data in an informative, clean, and well-designed way.
Uptech Tip
Here is how to make data visualization on your healthcare website right:
- Show only useful information for the users. Don't clutter the screen;
- Keep the visualization simple, clear, and clean;
- Don't reinvent the wheel. Use ready but working solutions. There's nothing bad about it;
- Add the description to the data;
- Mind the color of the charts and graphs. The elements' contrast level should be high enough.
Website Accessibility
Whenever you develop a medical web app, you should tailor it to people with disabilities, so they can use it without a struggle. It means adding size adjustable text, voice readers, text transcripts for podcasts, HTML tags & captions, color contrast, and alt text on images. For more information on healthcare web design accessibility, check out the ADA compliance checklist.
Uptech Tip
Here's how to make your healthcare website accessible:
- Follow the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, depending on your target audience;
- Optimize your website design to mobile.
Bright Colors
This one is a bit more obvious, but using pale colors on your website can influence user engagement and conversion. So, direct your healthcare web designer to use high-contrast colors and select the text that’s larger and easier to read at lower contrast for your web pages.
Uptech Tip
Here's how to use colors in your healthcare website wisely:
- Use 2-3 main colors;
- The colors shouldn’t be of a high contrast level;
Simple Navigation
Even though patients can use your website for different purposes, the truth is they should find all the information fast and easily. The study shows that 94% of people name easy navigation as the most useful website feature.
Uptech Tip
Here's how to make the navigation on your healthcare website simple:
- Include a menu for your most important pages;
- Add clear CTAs;
How to Develop a Healthcare Web App?
You can find different approaches to healthcare web development, but at Uptech, we are following the next 5 steps.
Discover The Market
I'll not reveal any secrets to you, but healthcare web development starts with market research. Before moving further, you should ask yourself the key questions:
- What problem am I going to solve?
- If people look for a solution?
- Are people ready to pay for it?
We at Uptech love Discovery because this is the stage where you meet your users and learn their real needs. We help with researching the market, competitors, and target audience. Our Product Managers work in tandem with the Design team to create proto-personas to understand the type of your customer. To understand the audience better and identify deeper insights, we conduct user interviews. And the last step is creating CJM to analyze the user's experience and behavior through all steps.
Design & Test Prototype
When you stop finding new information about the market, users don't tell you anything new and insightful, it's time to design prototypes. But it doesn't mean that you should stop researching at all. What I'm saying is to devote 25% of resources to research and put all the rest to prototyping.
Your healthcare web app prototype should already envision the idea of the product and embody its basic functionality to test it with real users. It's not about healthcare website design only but a general business logic and the basic functionality. For example:
- How do the payments work?
- How do we verify patients?
- What is the best way of communication between patients and doctors?
We find the users of the target group and test prototypes with them. The key is to be as objective as possible and don't let your initial assumptions blind the real customer's decision-making process.
Design & Develop Web App
I've said earlier that medical website design weighs a lot in the healthcare web development process. You should hire a good UX&UI designer to take care of both parts.
For us, design isn't just pixel-perfect icons, it's about the research and human experience. We deeply study user behavior to create a consistent and intuitive healthcare web design. Such design aims to smoothly lead the user to the endpoint and reduce your app's cognitive load to the minimum.
The coding part consists of two stages: frontend and backend. You should choose the technology stack very wisely for both as it affects time, quality, ability to scale, and the cost of development. Yes, it matters a lot. If you’re not a tech person, you should hire a professional web developer to help you choose the best tech stack option.
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Before every project, we arrange a meeting for the Uptech team and the client to meet each other and discuss the details. Our Solution Architect always takes part in this meeting, so we propose the solutions that we think will work best for your project specifically.
In general, recommend using the following tech stack for a healthcare web app:
- For Backend: Node.js, MySQL, AWS,
- For Frontend: HTML5, React, CSS3, D3.js, JS
Make Your App Compliant
When you develop a healthcare web app, you'll have to follow all HIPAA regulations. In Europe, all apps that process personal information must comply with the GDPR.
The idea of HIPAA is to ensure the protection of personal healthcare information for both parties: patients and healthcare providers. I have described how to ensure that your app follows HIPAA requirements in the previous article on Healthcare mobile app development. Check it out, there are many useful resources.
When we were developing a healthcare web app for one clinic from the USA, we provided data backup for client information, worked with compliant 3rd party providers, and used data encryption. Data privacy was our top priority.
Launch & Improve
Finally, after all the time and effort you have put into discovery, testing, designing, and development, we approached the final stage – the product launch. Usually, the moment of the launch is the point where you get the most important insights.
- What analytics should you add to your web app?
- What are the most usable features?
- What should you add to the next app versions?
It is essential to take all the feedback and learning into account, test, and improve the existing functionality.
8 Key Features of a Healthcare Web App
In the case of healthcare web development, the features should be essential and simple. Here are some of the key healthcare web app features that you should consider.
Cost of Healthcare Web App Development
The average price of building a healthcare web app with full backend infrastructure and a design is approximately $100,000. The price includes product management, QA, and team communication services.
Of course, the final price depends on the website complexity and the type and location of the team. For example, outsourcing a healthcare web design&development company in the USA will cost you more than in West Europe. But hiring a company from Eastern Europe, like Uptech, will be even more cost-effective. The average price of a web developer here is $50/hour compared to $150 in the USA and $100 in Western Europe.
Bonus Infographic on Healthcare Industry
- Healthcare is the #1 fast-growing startup industry by volume of investment. (Thrive My Way)
- 5% of all searches are healthcare related (Google)
- 47% of Internet users search for information about doctors or other health professionals. (Pew Research)
- Of all internet users, 66% look online for information about a specific medical problem or disease. (Pew Research)
- 63% of people choose one healthcare provider over another because of a strong online presence. (Doctor.com)
- Search drives 3x more visitors to hospital sites compared to non-search. (Google)
- 2.4% of healthcare appointments are scheduled online. (Accenture)
- Over 60% of consumers run a search before scheduling an appointment. (Invoca.com)
Sum Up
Healthcare web development isn't a smooth and easy-to-go road. It takes a lot of attention to detail, such as competing in the market, creating a trendy and user-friendly design, choosing the right tech stack, and making it compliant.
The development of a medical web app requires good tech expertise and a professional team. We at Uptech are ready to help with both. With the six-year experience and profound expertise in healthcare app development, we are eager to become your solid partner and make your idea come alive. Contact us to get your project off the ground.