Healthcare Messaging App Development for Patient-centered Engagement
05 May 2022
Improving patient engagement is a priority for healthcare organizations, physicians, clinical practices & care facilities today. While outdated and low-security methods of communication are definitely on their way out, a secure messaging app is the need of the hour. It offers both – patients and healthcare providers a way to quickly and securely communicate with one another.
The new wave is about adopting secure messaging solutions to enhance patient care and facilitate better doctor-to-patient communication. And within telemedicine or other related apps, chat messaging often contains protected health information (PHI), therefore when building the in-app chat it is crucial to consider HIPAA compliance and HIPAA regulations.
Through this article, we’ll talk about the various aspects of the healthcare messaging app. And, if you’re an independent medical practitioner or an established facility wanting to build the best HIPAA compliant texting app, then read on to learn what specifics to keep in mind for healthcare messaging app development
Let’s dive right in!
Key Contents
Why Invest in A Healthcare Messaging App?
Digitalization has revolutionized every industry and healthcare is no exception. In an ever-changing healthcare landscape, today’s digital solutions are increasingly enabling the creation of a more fluid health experience ecosystem for consumers and data-driven workflows with insights for providers and payers. Patients today expect to be notified about every detail – from their appointments to lab test results and prescriptions to follow-up visits. From getting in touch with patients after discharge to sending reminders for reexamination schedules to sharing information on new treatment options, hundreds of daily calls and messages can be automated with a healthcare messaging app!
Benefits of a Healthcare Text Messaging App
- Direct Engagement: Texting is a preferred mode of communication over direct phone calls. And, in certain cases, you might not even reach the patient during that time and might have to call again. For medical professionals, it has the potential to free up approximately an hour per day that would typically be taken up by calling.
- Increased staff efficiency: A digitally stored and saved message becomes a way to track communication and confirmation. This allows the staff to optimize their time on tasks that make the practice profitable.
- Convenience: Texting has proven to be the ideal secure messaging system for healthcare. Using encryption to securely connect ensures that only the intended recipient can view the message(s).
- Improved Patient Safety: Texting avoids potential exposure to infectious diseases. Text-based messaging can accommodate digital patient intake forms, consents & touchless payment options without the patient needing anything but their mobile device.
Differentiate Your Brand & Deliver Better Care
We can help you move to a healthcare messaging app that streamlines communication while adhering to the mandates of HIPAA.
Medical Texting App Development - Key Features to Consider
For Patients
| Feature | What it Does | Purpose |
| Instant Messages | Send messages to physicians/care providers/specialists | Patients with chronic diseases may need care but visiting their GP may not be feasible at all times. In such cases, they can share images and videos to improve their health outcomes. |
| Appointment Scheduling | Book or cancel appointments and follow-up visits | An instant messaging app is synced with the doctor’s calendar to feature vacant time slots for easy appointment booking. |
| Automated Reminders | Receive instant notifications for scheduled visits, cancellations, service offers & more | Patients can receive push notifications from their GPs and never miss an update on their visits. In case of delays or unavailability, they’re saved from the hassles of visiting the clinic for no service. Additionally, they can also receive discount offers, precautionary messages and health advisory issued by the government. |
For Doctors
| Feature | What it Does | Purpose |
| Data Sharing | Doctors, nurses, and care teams can share vital healthcare information | Any healthcare information is subject to HIPAA guidelines and so, a secure clinical messaging app allows you to share information with patients while staying compliant. |
| Location Sharing & Online Presence Indicator | Doctors can share their location information in real-time | Any clinical messaging app should integrate location & availability sharing features that doctors can turn on & off based on their online and offline availability for consultations. |
| Store & Retrieve Patient’s Data | A doctor can easily access patient reports on the app | A clinical messaging app must have massive storage space to store and retrieve patient healthcare data. |
Rishabh’s Experience in Clinical Messaging App Development
Case Study – Healthcare text messaging app development
Explore how we developed a cross-platform clinical messaging app that enables instant and encrypted communication for an established NZ-based general practitioner.
They were in pursuit of offering patient-centered engagement with a healthcare messaging app. It would enable doctors & medical facilities to;
- Broadcast messages to all their patients – regarding appointment availability, upcoming health camps, tips to maintain a better health regime & more
- Support easy appointment booking and secure payments
- Create bucket lead invites for free health consultation, events, offers, workshops and more
- Implement digital noticeboards with key information, emergency notices & more
- Integrate reporting capabilities to track messaging campaigns and their success rate
Solution
We developed a SaaS-based platform that enables swift and seamless communication to enable the right connect between doctors, and medical facilities with patients.
Essentials Module included;
Clinical Message Board (Mobile App for Patients)
- Appointment Booking
- Find a doctor
- Payment Module
- Message Board
Medical Practice Center (Web & Mobile Panel)
- Messaging Management
- Appointment Calendar Management with Calendar Synchronization
- Healthcare Marketing
- Location-based Push Notifications
Business Benefits Delivered
- 100% streamlining of patient-doctor communication
- 40% increase in staff efficiency
- 50% improvement in appointment scheduling
Tech Stack We Leverage for Comprehensive Medical Messaging App Development
Based on our experience here’s the tech stack we recommend for medical texting app development to offer superior performance, speed, scalability and app.
- Cross-Platform Framework: React Native, Flutter
- Web App Server: NGINX, Apache
- Database: MySQL, MongoDB
- Frameworks: Laravel
- Cloud Hosting: AWS
Concluding Thoughts
Engagement of patients is crucial for modern-age healthcare institutions & individuals. By utilizing both conventional and new communication techniques, healthcare app development companies are providing services to develop messaging apps to help hospitals, physician practices and healthcare organizations to manage the processes in a simple yet systematic way.
A healthcare mobile app development company like Rishabh Software can put to practice the right development technologies, frameworks and compliance required for creating a healthcare messaging app. You can learn more about our digital healthcare software development focus and how we enable creating a compliant (HIPAA/GDPR), secure, user-friendly messaging solution that improves communications across the board.
Want to Connect With More Patients?
We can help build a secure healthcare messaging app that amplifies your reach, enhances brand loyalty & increases revenue
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