The healthcare industry is evolving and growing faster. A deep dive into the numbers shows that the telehealth market will reach almost $380 billion by 2029, currently at almost $141 billion.
As new age practices enter the healthcare space, custom healthcare software will be at the heart of care delivery. In that case telemedicine software will be virtual care.
This trend has been on the rise since COVID-19 and is slowly becoming the new norm. But with telehealth software resisting the change many are opting for a customized approach. And for the right development of your telemedicine app, the first step in the development life cycle defines the functionality of your software, hence the success or failure of your telehealth solution or virtual healthcare practice.
In this post let’s dive into the discovery and requirements gathering stage of telehealth software development and how it’s crucial for your virtual healthcare practice.
Understanding the Target Audience & Their Needs
Your telehealth software success doesn’t depend only on how many users are using the software but also on how pleasant and user friendly the telemedicine software is. That’s why knowing everything about your target audience or target group is key.
To help you through the first stage of the telemedicine software development lifecycle here are some of the questions you should ask yourself:
Who are the primary users of the telemedicine app?
After all you will be developing the custom healthcare software for your staff members, administrators and patients right? And this is where it gets tricky; for instance your patient user group is not that tech savvy and for that the design and navigation of your software should be smooth and seamless. And administrators and staff members will be the core user group of your telemedicine app. So knowing their pain points while using software and delivering care virtually should not be ignored.
What are their pain points and challenges in accessing healthcare?
While their question is patient centric you should consider this aspect as well. Depending on the stakeholder the pain points and challenges differ. For instance patients might have challenges in accessing their medprovider ical health data or navigating through the application to receive care. Providers might be comfortable with the pre-existing workflows and methodologies. In such cases addressing their unique challenges is critical.
What features and functionalities would they find most valuable?
Being a telemedicine software solution, providing all the necessary means of communication is one of the features that you must have. Furthermore, other features depend on the unique clinical workflow of your changes. For example, you might require along with consent you might require a patient eligibility checker feature to deliver some unique care service, whereas being a generic physician, you might only require the features of digital consent. However, to ensure the security and ethical use of healthcare data, role-based access control must be implemented.
How to gather user insights?
User insights help you in developing an intuitive and user-friendly telemedicine application, and there are several ways to gather user insights. Some of the most common ways are to conduct surveys and interviews and research the market trends. All the means mentioned offer unique perspectives and problems. Last but not least, choosing an appropriate way to gather user insights should be solely based on the type of user base you are targeting.
Defining the Scope & Objectives of the Telemedicine App
Once you have understood your target group in the best possible way, the next step that you need to pay attention to in the discovery stage of telemedicine app development is defining the scope and objectives of your telemedicine app. Again, here are some of the important questions that you need to ask yourself to ensure that all the needed objectives of care delivery are met, along with the growth arc of the custom telemedicine app.
What specific problems does the telemedicine app aim to solve?
As you’ll be developing a custom telemedicine app, the main problem should be solving the accessibility. The software should act as a platform where providers and patients can connect to provide and receive healthcare services in a remote environment, respectively. Also, the communication between them should be seamless, with high-quality and clear audio and video quality. Along with that, depending on the unique needs and requirements that you gather in the earlier stage, this software should be able to solve those problems as well.
What are the key functionalities and features that will be included?
Once the objectives of the software are decided, it becomes easier for you to decide the features and functionalities of the software. As a telemedicine software, it should include the features of real-time video calling, audio calls, secure text messaging, etc. Along with that, during the consultations, you can also include the features of SOAP notes, patient portal, EHR integration for accessing healthcare information, etc.
What are the expected outcomes and benefits of the app?
The main outcome of your telemedicine app should be to close the accessibility gaps in care delivery. As for benefits, it should be able to streamline all the communications between care team members. For a complete transition to healthcare delivery, the application should be the point of contact for any kind of care delivery.
How to create a detailed project scope document that outlines the project’s boundaries and deliverables?
The project scope document should contain detailed goals and expected outcomes from the app. Along with that, a list of essential features and functionalities of the app and an outline of the expected outcomes the software will be able to deliver. Along with this, you should also establish a clear document of what is to be included and excluded from the development to avoid any scope creep.
Competitive Analysis
Telemedicine has been around for a while now, and the first examples date back to the 1960s. You have to understand you’re not the only one who will be offering telehealth services. And that’s why you need to do a competitive analysis to understand the opportunities in the telemedicine space. Here are some questions you need to ask yourself during a competitive analysis:
Who else is in the telemedicine market?
Since you’re new to your telemedicine software solution, you already know the main competitors in the market. This will help you understand the trends in the virtual healthcare space. And also help you understand the virtual healthcare delivery landscape better and set a benchmark to overcome challenges.
What are their strengths and weaknesses?
Once you’ve identified and know everything about your competitors, it’s time to analyze them. Since during your research you’ll identify their strengths and weaknesses, you have a ton of opportunities where you know where to go and how to capitalize.
What’s your app’s unique value proposition?
Every app has a unique selling proposition that sets them apart from the rest of the competition. And to survive in the fast paced telemedicine market you need to identify the unique proposition that your software can offer to your core user group.
How to do a competitive analysis to find opportunities and differentiators?
Some of you might be able to do a thorough analysis of your competition, but there’s a chance you might miss something. The best way to know your competition is to use their telemedicine software solutions and what tools they are using to capture their users’ attention.
TIP: Using your competitors’ custom telemedicine software is the best way to know how their software works and the unique proposition that it offers.
Technical Requirements & Constraints
Now that you have everything you need to build your telemedicine software, it’s time to identify and address the technical requirements and financial constraints.
● Technical requirements for the app: Know your patient demographic and decide what kind of software you want to build. Decide on what platforms you want to offer and all the integrations you will need for care delivery.
● Budget and timeline: Discuss your custom software development budget and adjust accordingly. Ask the healthcare IT vendor for the development timeline so you know when the software will be ready and you can start offering virtual healthcare services.
● Development risks and challenges: Identify the risks and challenges you might face during the software development. This includes security risks or integration or interoperability challenges.
● Feasibility and scalability: Make an odd agreement and document everything you agree with the healthcare IT vendor. This will ensure the development process is feasible and the software is scalable.
User Personas & Journey Maps
The last stage of telemedicine software development is creating user personas and mapping the user journey to understand the user behavior better. First understand who are the users of the app. Then their goals and motivation behind using the app. Then document and map their entire behavior on the app from registration to post-consultation.
End Note
The first stage of the telemedicine software lifecycle is as important as the development phase of the software. It helps you to decide the very nature of the telemedicine software and understand your unique needs and gather all the things you need for development. So let’s get started with your telemedicine software and see what kind of virtual healthcare services you can offer to your patients.
