How much does it cost to build a communication app for the health care sector?

Standard price for a communication app for the health care sector: $37,500

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What is a communication app for the health care sector?

Messaging and communication apps are popular among hospitals and clinics looking to engage with patients, improve the experience, and provide faster updates from doctors and nurses. Messaging apps are HIPAA-compliant and include features like instant messaging, appointment reminders, appointment scheduling, and appointment follow-up instructions. Some also include the ability to upload photos and videos and make phone calls. A communication app for the health care sector should allow medical patients to communicate directly with their doctors and other healthcare providers. A communication app for the health care industry may include features like secure messaging, scheduling appointments, sending pictures of symptoms or injuries to providers, and other features that help streamline communications between patients and their caregivers. Hospital staff communication apps give nurses, doctors, and administrators the ability to instantly send messages to each other throughout the day.

Communication apps for health care are similar to most other chat apps. Messenger, HipChat, and Slack are three popular examples of communications apps.

Here are some recent communication app for the health care sector examples built with Xperts:

  • A maternal health app with to-do lists, scheduling, video chat, push notifications, and a content library that connects expecting mothers to medical professionals and prescribes various activities based on a user's due date. This app also supports users during the pre-conception and post-partum stages as well.

  • A HIPAA compliant mobile Covid-19 testing app that allows users to book appointments and enables staff to submit patient test results and automatically generate email and text notifications that take patients to a patient portal to view, download, and email their PDF test results. This app also generates Excel/CSV template reports for mandatory Department of Health reporting with patient test results that can be filtered and sorted by individual data fields.

What is the typical cost to build a communication app for the health care sector?

A communication app for the health care sector usually costs $37,500 to build. However, the total cost can be as low as $25,000 or as high as $50,000. A communication app for the health care sector with a low number of features (also known as a "minimum viable product", or MVP) will be more affordable than an app that includes all intended functionality.

For example, here are some recent price quotes for a communication app for the health care sector from Xperts:

  • $25,499

  • $16,374

How long does it take to build a communication app for the health care sector?

A communication app for the health care sector usually takes 279 hours to build. However, a communication app for the health care sector can be built in as few as 333 hours, or in as many as 467 hours. The exact timeline mostly depends on how complicated your app is. As a general rule, it will take longer if you require highly custom designs, niche features, or non-standard release platforms.

For example, Xperts produced the following recent hourly estimates for a communication app for the health care sector:

  • 340

  • 218

How to successfully grow your communication app for the health care sector

Spend time promoting and educating people about your app in the weeks and months leading up to launch day and once it’s officially live. Help people understand why it exists, how it can help, and where to go if they need more information about it. Help reluctant patients understand that your app is fully compliant and that their personal health information and communication with doctors are being stored and managed securely. Ask your staff to mention your new app in appointments with patients.

Risks and challenges of building a communication app for the health care sector

Communication apps for the health care sector must be concerned with the privacy and security of sensitive personal information. HIPAA standards apply to any app that stores or transmits PHI (protected health information), and it is recommended that all apps used by medical professionals comply with these standards. It is also recommended that communication apps implement encryption measures and password protections to prevent unauthorized access to PHI, and they should support end-to-end encryption to protect user data from third parties.

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