Examples Of Popular Virtual Healthcare Apps: A Gift From Technology

Diseases and health-related problems are directly proportional to the increasing population. Plus, with the number of patients greatly surpassing the number of doctors, it is becoming difficult to treat everybody with the full focus and attention. But thanks to the technology, there’s a solution in the form of virtual healthcare applications.

These healthcare applications help doctors assist their patients remotely with no visit. There are various advantages of such an app. Hence, as an app developer, a healthcare application as your next project is a fair idea. But it’s important to know what features to include in the application plus some references. 

We broadly classify these features under two categories:

1. Features of a patient’s app
2. Features of a doctor app

So, without further ado, let’s first discuss the key features of any healthcare application. 

Features of the Patients’ App

Here are the features of the patient's app:

1. Booking An Appointment

Online appointment booking helps both the doctor and the patient. It saves time, eliminates the queues, and is the need of the hour.

2. Telemedicine

With an annual increase of 59% every year in this field, telemedicine is changing the way doctors and patients interact via a voice/video call. Also, telemedicine is better and effective in curing chronic health issues seamlessly.

Apart from this, a photo-based consultation is another important feature of healthcare apps. In this, the patient takes a photograph that gets stored on a separate server and is accessible to the doctor. However, this is beneficial for only eye-related problems, skin allergies, etc. 

3. Electronic Healthcare Record (EHR)

Managing the health records of patients is the most difficult task in front of a doctor. An electronic healthcare record allows the doctor to access the patient’s health records in a single place with ease. The information present in the records includes: 

• Problem lists
• Medication lists
• Documents and notes
• Patient-specific instructions
• Care plans, etc.

4. One-Click Ambulance

A one-click ambulance is another great feature of healthcare applications. It allows the patient to request an ambulance, either for his/her personal use or for anyone else. This is highly helpful in emergency situations where a quick response is needed.

The feature regularly updates the nearby hospitals with your precise current location. Additionally, the feature lets you locate nearby laboratories and pharmacies to seek help in case of an emergency.

Features of the Doctors’ App

Below are the features of the doctor's app:

1. The Doctor’s Profile

Healthcare applications should have a separate section for the doctor’s profile. This is because locating an appropriate physician for the particular emergency is a crucial aspect of a patient’s journey. Here’s what to keep in mind while developing this feature:

• The section must display the doctor’s expertise, qualifications, professional degrees, certificates, and experience in the field.
• The app should provide the exact location of the doctor with their updated contact details. The details include email ID, phone number, etc.
• Doctor’s reviews and ratings from the past patients are an added advantage for first-time patients.

Also, using ML for suggesting a doctor based on the symptoms can be an added advantage.

2. Patients’ Dashboard

The patient’s dashboard on the doctor’s app must display the information of the patient. This information will further assist the doctor in prescribing medicines and treatment plans to the patient. Further, the dashboard may cover information like the patient’s history, previous lab results, nutritional values, upcoming treatments, prescriptions, etc. 

3. E-Prescription 

We know electronic prescriptions as e-Prescriptions. This feature helps the doctor to send a prescription to the patient online. According to a Surescripts report, 44% of the prescriptions written in the past years were electronic ones. The feature nullifies the errors caused because of the bad handwriting of doctors and pharmacists. Plus, since e-Prescriptions are digitally stored, no worries of misplacing them. 

Top 3 Healthcare Applications

Here are some examples of popular virtual healthcare apps as follows;

1. Doctor-On-Demand

As the name suggests, the app assists patients to book an online appointment with a doctor via a phone, tablet, and computer. The app is worthwhile for both patients and doctors. To make the app more functional, filters enabling the patient to search for doctors based on name, location, and practice can be added. 

Example:  Doctor on Demand

2. Medication Reminder App

The working of the application is as simple as its name. It reminds you about your medicines either in the form of beeps or vibrations. Plus, the app also displays reminder notes like “take after lunch”, ” take on empty stomach”, etc. Hence, if you have a habit of missing your medicine dose, the app is for you.

Example: Medisafe Medication Reminder 

3. Symptoms Checker App

This application lets you identify the symptoms of any health-related issue, helping you to manage your health easily. With Symptomatic, a symptom checking tool, you can check your health status in three simple steps. Enter the noticeable symptoms, answer a few questions, and take the results. 

Example: Symptomate- Symptoms Checker

Conclusion

Hence, virtual healthcare applications are the need of the hour. They are time-saving, reliable, and a blessing in emergencies. Be it the doctors’ app or patients’ app, most of the useful features are available with new ones lined up. In the coming future, patients getting online treatment won’t be a rare sight, courtesy of these virtual healthcare applications.

Also Read: Top Largest Healthcare Companies in the USA