Mobile Healthcare apps have been revolutionizing the healthcare ecosystem for many years now and have not just improved the communication and connect but also the quality of service and increased availability of resources. A report by Statistic, released in March; 2020 marked that the total market size of the mobile health industry is expected to reach USD 60 billion by the end of FY 2020. 

Mobile apps have now touched almost all the aspects of the medical business which the offline stores had at the offer. We have medicine delivery, appointment apps, patient healthcare storage solutions, schedule management apps and whatnot.

In this blog, let us explore how these medical apps evolved during the COVID-19 pandemic. But, before we touch the innovation bit, let us have a look at the mobile app market in the Healthcare industry and a few important facts pertaining to that.

Important Facts about Healthcare apps

Healthcare Apps Market Snapshot

• The current number of medical apps in all app stores combined stands at 318,000 globally
• Roughly 200 new healthcare apps are launched daily across the world
• The healthcare mobile app market is expected to hit a revenue of about 111.1bn USD in the next five years

Changed Perspectives

• AI-powered apps are becoming more and more famous and the consumers are willing to experiment with them
• 74% of the users who experienced any virtual health service were happy with it
• Nearly 50% of the users globally, prefer to have their appointments or consultations done through healthcare apps if given an option

One thing which can be ascertained from these data points is that the mobile healthcare app business is in a way reaching its prime and hence the growth will be immense.That being said, let us have a look at the various technological innovations which the medical app sector has seen since March;2020 i.e. the time since the COVID-19 pandemic began spreading its roots

Tech Innovations in Health Care Apps

The major technical advancement in the medical apps sector was seen in the following domains

• Telemedicine
• Health Insurance
• Mobile Payments
• Patient History Storage

And the technologies which brought the sea of changes for healthcare apps are:

• Blockchain
• Big Data Analytics
• Artificial Intelligence
• Internet-Of-Things

Types and Features of a Healthcare App

The background, data points and innovations being listed, we will now talk about the advancements point by point. For easy reference, we have categorized the healthcare apps as Patient apps, Doctor Apps and Information System apps.

Patient App

A patient app, as the name suggests is the app which is of more utility for the usage of a patient. Apps like 1mg, Netmeds, DocsApp etc are the apps which are aimed at helping the average user or the patients to get better facilities on demand.Let us have a look at the features which saw improvement during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Appointment Feature

Across all the medical apps, the appointment feature was fast improved upon to adjust for the COVID led contingencies. A lot of apps such as DocsApp and mfine started including a questionnaire before making the appointment.This was especially helpful since more private hospitals were instructed by the Government to not take any patients in OPD. By filling up the questionnaire, the patients were allowed to share their history with the doctors who could then decide on whether to go for an online consult or if that was an emergency situation that had to be catered to.

Telemedicine

An extension of the point mentioned above, telemedicine helped the doctors to treat the patients who were in the containment zones during the COVID-19 Pandemic. The adoption saw an increase of over 59% for this with DocsApp from Tata seeing a growth of roughly 28% in its telemedicine arena in the two months starting March 20th.The HIPAA compliance was one major issue faced for resolving this concern but the same was promptly provided for the emergency. Most of the healthcare apps which provided Telemedicine solutions used real-time text, audio or video powered through WebRTC and cloud infrastructure.

Pill Reminder

Even the apps specific to the hospitals such as Apollo hospital healthcare app or the 1mg app developed and used this feature. This addition itself resulted in a medicine order increase of close to 27% for both. A lot of this increase was because of the panic that people were in and also because of the need for sanitiser purchase. Overstocking was done which resulted in the apps having to put a cap on the amount of the OTC drugs which an individual could purchase or could be delivered to one account.

The Periodic pill reminders were also made to alert pre-schedule just to make sure that any last-minute hassles could be avoided.

Ambulance on Call

A lot of medical apps, especially the ones which catered to hospitals in specific like the ones for Apollo also introduced the option to book an ambulance on call. Earlier this service could be availed only upon a call, however, given the changing needs, the same was incorporated in the apps on the click of a button too!

Way-finding Apps

Most of such apps were launched by the Government of India to provide for the needs of the patients caught in the lock-down. One of these newly launched apps was the Mera Aspataal or My Hospital which would point out to the closest hospital for the person. In addition to these, Google Maps included a separate section for hospitals right in the main menu to ensure easy usage and reference for its users.

Multiple other apps for temperature measurement, COVID patient detection, symptom checking as well as online consultation were launched too. Aarogya Setu app combined multiple such features and became one of the most commonly downloaded medical app during this COVID 19 Pandemic phase.

Doctor App

We discussed the apps which were of use to patients. However, the apps which cater to Doctors’ needs saw a lot of development too. Some of these notable developments include the following.

Patient Health Dash-boarding

To give a real-time update to the Doctors about the patient’s health, the apps included features whereby the COVID related symptoms of the patients could be sourced into the usual schedule calendar and appointments be moved accordingly.

While this might seem like not a great advancement given how the data could be sourced, yet it gave the doctors a lot of time to ensure that the COVID positive patient could be removed from the list and the relevant authorities could be alerted about their condition.

In addition to this, e-prescriptions were also included in the apps to ensure that the patients could take that to the chemist shop to get the prescription drugs too. The e-prescription works by using a stamp of the issuing doctor on the letterhead of the hospital or the clinic. In some cases, the registration number of the doctor is also mentioned to ensure that no discrepancy gets involved.

The app allows only verified doctors to give prescriptions online to avoid any kind of unscrupulous activities

Clinical Photo Capture

The Clinical Photo Capture system allows doctors to examine their patients more closely. Some of the apps such as DocsApp and multiple others in the US also experimented with the idea of an online medical app-based X-ray but it did not receive much success.While the availability of resources and the time were a major constraint for the development of such an app, one can be hopeful that the same shall be included in the apps soon.

The HIPAA compliance shall have to be taken into consideration as well but given how the need for the same was exposed during the COVID-19 Pandemic, one can hope that getting the necessary clearance will not be much of an issue.

Decision Support Systems

More like a replacement of usual telephone calls but even better. mFine came up with a pilot of this idea. The process involved that after every interaction, the doctors will make a note of questions that remain to be asked for better diagnosis. Parallelly, the patients could also put out their questions for the doctor.The doctor could then, whenever they had time respond to these questions.

Healthcare Information System

The third level of advancement in healthcare apps came in the form of Healthcare Information Systems. Since the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in heavy online usage, the data available on these apps became immense too. Let us look at some of the advancements that were worked upon during this phase.

Patient Management Systems

A patient management system combines the medical data and the analytical aspects in conjunction with the administration tools to make the hospitals more operationally efficient. During the time of COVID where the ward and doctor availability was severely constrained, multiple patient management systems based healthcare apps were launched. The data on the success of the same is yet to be determined

Doctor Availability Management

Pretty much in line with the patient management system, multiple Doctor availability management apps were developed too. Some apps on this note were developed earlier as well although with limited success.However, COVID-19 pandemic period saw a spike in such purchases. The data for the same is yet to be ascertained.

Inventory Management Systems

The mobile apps for inventory management systems are also like the patient and doctor availability management medical apps. The only difference is that these require a much faster updation and up-gradation and usually come with multiple user solutions.

A Few Healthcare App Ideas to Look At

The advent of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Big Data Analytics, IoT etc in the domain of healthcare apps has increased the number of possibilities at the offer for the developers as well as businesses. Pursuant to this, we are listing down a few app ideas which we feel should be incorporated to not just feel the need that is but which also have a high probability of becoming cash positive soon.

Sharing 5 such COVID-19 specific healthcare app ideas for the reference of our readers. These ideas can be modified to suit the relevant business interests.

App Idea #1: 

The very first idea is about the development of a dashboard which can monitor data from multiple sources and create an alert system whenever a new COVID-19 case is detected in the vicinity. The platforms for pulling data can be Twitter, online news services, WHO website or the website of the various Government organisations. With minimal development cost, such a healthcare app can prove to be very effective, especially in the times when the world is trying hard to get back to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic.

App Idea #2: 

Another idea of such an effective and efficient healthcare app would be a medical app which can receive real-time updates on the waiting time at the medical service provider’s location. This will help the hospital employees to not just better manage their resources but will also ensure that unnecessary crowding at the hospitals can be avoided. This will thus help in reducing the spread of the infections.

App Idea #3: 

A quick financial solution mostly for the hospital accounting team. Usually, a lot of cost-related deliberation is required to figure out if one should go for online consultation or not and if they should, then how much volume or footfall will help them with this change.A financial planning app like this can save multiple hours of assumptions and excel sheet calculations. The data stored can be used as a case study.

App Idea #4:

Especially relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic scenario, a healthcare app which makes sure that people wash their hands every time they touch something outside their homes or at regular intervals. Connected with office sanitisers, such an app can help with remote operation of such disinfection stations too.

App Idea #5:

Just like a washing hand alert, another app of special significance can be an app which reminds you to not touch your face all the time. Using motion sensors of the phone, the app can sound an alert to the user every time their hand reaches in the proximity of the face. While this sounds too overwhelming, yet in the case of a pandemic like COVID-19, such a solution can be very handy

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Then Italy fell prey to the pandemic and the images of trucks full of coffins scared the world. Still, the nations and businesses felt that maybe the Italian Government did not handle it well and the same will not replicate itself for the others. However, the next in line became the United States of America and with the increasing number of dead bodies by the day, people realised that things were serious.

While President Trump did not really close the economies but the ripple effect of the pandemic had started showing already. Major resource economies such as India and China were significantly hit.

In India in specific, the Prime Minister had imposed a country-wide lockdown. Which means a lot of businesses were hit. Economically speaking, the coffers of all the firms, big or small took a hit. The pandemic situation was controlled but the continuous extension of the lockdowns resulted in significant losses. In one form or the other, the world economy which had already been struggling with the impending recession started bleeding. 

But, the COVID-19 pandemic came with its set of learnings too! One major learning from COVID-19 pandemic was that one can have a business which is not so dependent on the external factors. Another major learning from the COVID-19 pandemic came in the form of the several areas which need work i.e. several opportunities were opened. A lot of these opportunities came in the form of mobile app business growth.

So, let us explore how the market changed during the time of the pandemic and how now that the things are open will the situation improve!

A few scenarios of Mobile App Business

To begin with, let us first take a look at the factors which were shared amongst all the Business models which saw growth during the COVID-19 pandemic:

• All of the mobile apps or businesses which saw growth were catering to some critical need
• Some of the mobile apps which saw a surge got so because they filled in a void
• Some other mobile app businesses which saw growth were because they were quick to change their business model
• All of the mobile app businesses which saw growth, saw it because they went the extra mile to ensure that the customers’ needs were put at the front
• All the businesses which suffered,(and not talking about Mobile apps here) suffered because of the nature of their offering or because they could not reinvent themselves when the opportunity opened.

These points being mentioned, we will now look at some specific cases of why certain mobile app businesses saw growth while others did not

We will also discuss how using a Mobile App will allow your business the necessary flexibility to combat any such untoward situation in the future.

The cases of Mobile App Business growth

We will discuss the apps on a case to case basis respective to the sectors where growth was seen. Consider few mobile app case studies

Mobile App Business Growth in Delivery Sector

Dunzo

Dunzo has been known to be a famous delivery service provider in the metros. However, the company had been suffering huge losses given that most service providers maintained their own fleet. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, resulted in major changes in fortune for the app. As the world hit a lockdown, Dunzo had its fleet doubling up for others. The mobile app business for Dunzo was known among the circles anyway and hence even if someone hadn’t used it earlier, they were now using it to get their supplies.

Needless to say, that by the end of the two and a half months of the lockdown, Dunzo had become a known name in the households.

Mobile App Business Growth in Medicine & Healthcare

Netmeds, 1mg, DocsApp

Netmeds and 1mg are aggregators for medical services while DocsApp is about Doctors on Call for consultation via a video. While Netmeds and 1mg have been known for a while and there increased usage was only obvious; DocsApp saw a significant rise in its popularity, thanks to its on-time marketing.

With the COVID-19 pandemic at its peak, regular patients weren’t being allowed to get admitted in the hospital. Private practitioners were also not allowed to consult. DocsApp became a bridge between the two and ensured that the needy could get the consultation.

The app saw about 80% increase in its installation during this period.

Mobile App Business Growth in Office Services

Zoom, Google Meetings

Despite all its security concerns, Zoom still remains one of the most commonly used app for meetings and webinars. Is that because there are no other options? Well, no because there are but Zoom was always known and easy to handle. The app is very easy to use too.

Google Meetings, however, sort of broke into the perimeter and built heavily on the privacy concerns which Zoom was posing.

The result- most of the office going population has either of these two apps installed on their phone now.

Mobile App Business Growth in Education & Skill Development

UpGrad, Udemy and Others

Well, upskilling became all the rage and literally took over LinkedIn. Udemy gained a lot thanks to its inexpensive and yet effective courses. UpGrad did add clients but not so much because it is really expensive.

The lesson here: You may be fulfilling a need but you also need to know your audience well.

Mobile App Business Growth in Essentials & Daily Needs

Big Basket

When Grofers and others faltered to meet the demand and manage their supply chain, Big Basket went over and above to ensure that everything was delivered to their customers. They even tied up inorganically in the chain i.e. with small-time vendors, delivery services such as dunzo and even other private small-time players to ensure that their supply chain kept working.

All that being said, consider this- Had these businesses not had a ready app, would they have gained all this business and customers? Would it have been possible to sustain such a tough time at such short notice for survival?

Probably not!

But still, some of these mobile app businesses faltered. Let us look at the cases below to understand how and why

The Business Which Saw a Decline

Almost all non-essential services or luxury products and services saw a decline. However, it isn’t that it couldn’t have been averted or mitigated. Let us see how.

What Could have been done differently

A probable integration with delivery providers such as Swiggy or having their own app could have helped. We agree that the business would have been cut significantly but it would have remained in some percentage. 

The lack of an app completely wiped off all the revenue because there was no way they could aggregate and process.

• Let us take the example of the restaurants, all the restaurants or food providers such as Freshmenu or Oven Story Pizza or even Dominos which had their own mobile app could still manage some revenues because the customers could order there. They could communicate with their customer base privately and assure them of the safety measures. Being on an aggregator app like Swiggy wouldn’t have helped much because Swiggy was shutting down its operations. Having an app on their own saved these providers from such a dependency.
• Event Management firms such as WedMeGood, while they have a mobile app, failed to utilise it to the best of the use. They could have used it as a platform to engage users and provide whatever little service they could offer. Instead, the app displayed messages about how they have been affected and hence out of service. It was a clear case of lost opportunity which could have clearly been avoided.
• The Travel firms, now, we understand that the looming uncertainty did hit the sector hard but these firms could have worked by building content on their mobile apps and started a new revenue stream of mobile ads to fuel their mobile app business growth. Sadly, these businesses too fell prey to the complete haplessness of the situation and lost an opportunity. Offers could have been run for tentative pre-bookings or new engaging features could have been introduced but not much was done.

How to Ensure a Good Mobile App Business Growth

The very first requirement is that the Business Model has to be good and it should always have the room for some flexibility. We saw above how a lot of businesses sustained because they added newer revenue streams or twisted their business models for one of relevance.

Hence, one needs to understand and plan such that their business is not just workable on good days but is also well prepared for contingencies.

The second bit is that one should be aware of all the probable technologies and hence should be ready to leverage whatever opportunity presents itself. Let us look at a few examples below:

• A lot of medical apps which could take in your symptoms as an input and then comment on your well-being were created
• A lot of apps which could locate and notify you of the nearest COVID-19 cases were created and installed
• A lot of apps which connected you with others to give or receive help got a lot of traction

So, it is not that the mobile app businesses in specific were hurt, its just that a lot of diversification happened. That being said, let us look at a few things which we feel will ensure that your business or your mobile app business will sustain and grow:

• Always have a good developer on call. You can have an in-house resource or you can get in touch with an agency like Vibeosys Software which will ensure that you are quick to make any technological advancements or changes
• Be on the Know and Go i.e. do everything that you can to survive. Adding a few features to your app will only broaden your scope and not necessarily take you away from the target audience
• Be in touch with a Mobile App Consultancy. At Vibeosys, during the COVID-19 Pandemic times too, we ensured that our clients knew what all they could diversify in and what all features were or were not working. Hence, we helped them with not just gaining newer clients but also an effective retention
• Keep the option of inorganic growth open! You can always collaborate.

Conclusion on Our Learnings from the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic times, almost everyone has been on their phones. The average screen-time for almost every person has gone up by more than 63%. Now, what were they doing on their phones, one may ask. Well, most of these people were browsing through multiple apps. Not necessarily were they always logging in to work, and not every time was it social media. People were browsing through almost anything and everything on their phone.

As per reports, almost all the app installs saw an average of 30 to 40% increase from their usual numbers. The screen time and log-in time for every single app on the phone increased by about 27% too. The Call-To-Actions on these apps saw an increase of roughly 42%.

Imagine, that it could have been your app. Imagine if your restaurant had an app and your loyal customers could have ordered. Imagine, if your grocery mart had an app and you could have provided the bare essentials. The possibilities are endless and even though we have in a way gotten over the COVID-19 pandemic affects, it will not be too much if we get ready for tomorrow’s contingency!

That being said, we have tried to touch almost all the possible aspects of ensuring a Mobile App Business Growth during the COVID-19 pandemic times. We hope that we have helped you understand how a mobile app allowed so many businesses to sail through these tough times.

We are, however, open to any further questions and discussions. If you have any, you know how to reach out to us!

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