How to Develop a Telemedicine App like Doctor On Demand In 2024?

The Telehealth Market size is projected to reach USD 559.52 Billion by 2027 with a CAGR of 25.2%.

The concept of digital health start-up gets a big word of mouth as the world stands up to the pandemic. The COVID-19 outbreak makes people avoid public places as a response to disease spreading prevention.

In particular, hospitals and other healthcare establishments remain ground zero for coronavirus transmission. So, it’s no wonder that people shun in-person appointments even if they have health complaints.

But what if you need urgent care during a harsh lockdown on a Sunday evening? This is where medical app development companies come into play. They offer innovative solutions such as doctor-on-demand services and telemedicine platforms. By exploring how to start a telemedicine business and leveraging these technologies, you can receive medical assistance even if you are in the most remote location.

In this article, you will learn about -

• Need of best Telemedicine platforms
• Benefits of Telemedicine apps
• Best Telemedicine apps
• Core Functionality for Telehealth apps
• Telemedicine app development steps

Why do we need Doctor-on-Demand platforms?

The new realities have completely altered the healthcare sector's scenery. Therefore, the acute need for innovative approaches is the first thing that propels Telemedicine app development. But we’ve always had the demand for a new revolution in the medical landscape.

Benefits of Telemedicine apps for patients

According to a study, an average wait time for a physician’s appointment equals 24,1 days. The study featured 15 major cities in the U.S., including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Seattle. Besides that, the research has also demonstrated the following results:

• More than 8o% of patients affirmed the importance of adopting cutting-edge technologies to streamline healthcare processes and make them more accessible.
• Over 75% of respondents welcome the possibility of contacting their physicians via text messages.
• The majority of patients choose digital appointments over physical visits.

On top of it, mHealth applications can help patients schedule an appointment with a medical professional, get a consultation, and even get a receipt. Let alone the overall convenience of providing medical help no matter the current location.

Benefits of Telemedicine apps for a medical professional

At the same time, a telehealth app may help doctors to perform the following range of tasks:

• Efficient patient handling;
• Storing medical data;
• Complying with regulations;
• Improving clinical workflows and healthcare quality;
• Maintaining flexible work-life balance.

In general, Telemedicine mobile apps serve as a middle ground for both sides. Hence, we’ll see more of them coming this year, as the market size of Telemedicine apps is expected to reach 194,1 billion dollars by 2023.

Behind the solution

Not all digital health solutions are created equal. Nevertheless, the average working logic is mostly similar for the majority of doctor-on-demand applications:

• Doctor registration and profile creation are the first steps needed to connect patients with a qualified specialist.
• Then the doctor's qualifications get verified by admins or a team of experts.
• To get a consultation, patients need to register their accounts and fill out personal and medical information.
• Based on a person’s condition and medical field, the app locates the needed professional. 
• Then, the digital solution offers multiple options of interaction: a phone call, video call, or schedule an appointment.
• During the consultation, a doctor communicates with the patient, examines the health condition, and provides other medical assistance.
• After the consultation, the patient can access a digital prescription via the app.
• Finally, the user pays for the medical services using online payment transfers.

Best Telemedicine Apps/ Doctor-On-Demand Apps

Before initiating Telehealth app development, you need to perform a competitive analysis. It will allow you to assess the competition in the niche market and understand your competitors' strengths and weaknesses in comparison to your own. Besides, you can compile a list of must-have features present in other solutions.

With that said, let’s have a look at the most popular and best Telemedicine apps in 2023.

MDLIVE

iPhone rating: 4.7 stars
Android rating: 4.7 stars

Launched in 2009, MDLIVE is among the best telemedicine platforms that connect you to medical and pediatric doctors. Its features are equally beneficial for a wide range of users including patients, hospitals, payers, physician practice groups, and accountable care organizations. The application offers access to a specialist for non-emergency issues in around 15 minutes of wait time.

Doctor On Demand

iPhone rating: 4.9 stars
Android rating: 4.9 stars

Doctor On Demand is one of the top telemedicine platforms that connect patients face to face with a doctor, psychiatrist, or psychologist. It is available to all users with or without insurance and offers reduced rates through many major health plans. It is among the most popular telehealth apps that boast over 1,000 board-certified physicians and licensed psychologists.

The main functionality includes online video appointments, an advanced search feature, appointment scheduling, secure patient data storage, a built-in payment gateway, and in-app maps.

GoodRx Care

iPhone rating: 5.0
Android rating: 4.9

GoodRx Care is one of the top telemedicine platforms which was created by doctors who have hands-on experience in treating patients, thus knowing all the challenges of healthcare. The platform is accessible for all patients with no health insurance required and offers medical services at an affordable rate of under $30. The list of features is quite standard for niche applications and includes profile management, video conferencing, and online payment.

Core Functionality For Most Popular Telehealth apps

We always recommend starting small with complex and feature-rich applications. Therefore, before developing a full-fledged medical solution, you should curate a list of must-have features.
To save your time and effort, here’s the most popular functionality for an app's MVP:

Features of Telemedicine Applications for Healthcare: Patients

The patient side of the app typically includes the following features:

1. Patient and doctor profiles

First and foremost, the feature development process starts with creating accounts for both sides. Both doctors and patients must sign in to the application after filling in a couple of details. Thus, patients should include info about chronic conditions and the currents state of wellbeing as well as provide information about age, sex, and insurance.

2. Search doctors

To contact a necessary medical professional, patients use an advanced search feature. It allows users to filter the options according to specialization, degrees, ratings, location, etc. If you want to make your mobile platform HIPAA compliant, you need to integrate the Google Map platform. It identifies the patient’s position and locates nearby pharmacies.

3. In-App Chat Option

Enable patients to communicate with doctors via a messaging feature. This way, patients can receive updates and address any query.

4. Live video and call sessions

The patients can contact their doctor of choice through a live video or an in-app call. This is an essential feature for all doctor-on-demand solutions, thus it’s a mandate to develop. Make sure to make your app compliant by keeping your user's information safe from breaches. Therefore, you can benefit from already existing APIs for video calling.

5. Electronic Patient Records

This functionality allows users to upload and share their patient documents needed for a consultation. Again, you should emphasize superior security to keep all vulnerable information safe within your application.

6. In-built payment options

After the consultation, the patient selects a payment mode to pay for the medical services. To obtain this functionality, you need to use a payment gateway via API.

7. Reviews and ratings

Once the patient receives a consultation, enable the user to leave a quick review of their experience.

Features of Telemedicine Applications for Healthcare: Doctors

1. Doctor Panel

Via this panel, doctors can access health-related information about previous visits, prescriptions, and a calendar of doctor appointments.

2. Appointment management

Besides managing electronic medical records, doctors can accept and reject patient appointments. Also, the app should automatically show available time slots so that the doctors won’t need to manually fill in their schedules.

3. Document scanning and sharing

A mHealth solution should also enable the users to capture and share medical information in a secure way. Thus, users can exchange medical images, lab test results, treatment prescriptions, and others.

Now that we’ve got to grips with the basics, let’s see how you can develop a telehealth platform from scratch.

How To Build A Doctor-on-Demand Application: Telehealth App Development Steps

Below, you’ll see what it takes to brew up a custom medical solution. Let’s get to the steps to Telemedicine app development.

Step 1. Request a quote

During the selection process, you need to contact a software development company of choice. You can either contact them directly or use a mobile project cost calculator if any. Make sure to cover as many details as possible for a more accurate ballpark estimation.

Step 2. Compile a list of must-have features for your MVP

Once you’ve selected your tech partner, you need to sign a Non-disclosure agreement and discuss project details. After that, the team will create a project brief with core features needed to test your hypothesis. Next, designers proceed with project mock-ups and prototypes.

Step 3. Start the development stage

When all the details are settled, your app functionality will be divided into user stories. After that, the development process begins with coding, testing, and debugging.

Step 4. Approve the app's demo

Once your Minimum Viable Product is finished, you should approve the result during the project demo. If you’re satisfied with the demo, the team presents it to the marketplace and further enhances the functionality.

Step 5. Mobile app launch

When the project scope is achieved, the team performs the final product demo. You should also be presented with all project-related information. As a final stage, your complete telemedicine application gets uploaded to the app marketplace.

The Bottom Line

Telehealth is a niche full of promise. Doctor-on-demand solutions offer effective assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of patients from remote areas and during lockdowns.

Therefore, the timing is right to chip into the Telemedicine application development and build Telehealth mobile apps of your own. If you’re interested in this idea, we recommend performing a rigorous screening process of tech providers with similar experiences. Additionally, as leading healthcare developers suggest, the UI of the app should be personalized and intuitive to make patients’ journey seamless. This way, you can rest assured you’ll get a high-quality mHealth application that complies with medical regulations.

If you loved the concept of Telehealth mobile apps and are willing to develop one? You can check out the recent MAD report featuring the world’s best mobile app development companies in 2023. The report lists the best companies for app development offering custom app development for your unique business needs.