Healthcare apps have changed smartphone into a digital hospital. Just open the app and track your health & fitness status. Google Fit and Apple Health have already started engaging people in their health management by mobile applications.
The widespread use of smartphones all across the world has made everything available on fingertips. Healthcare applications are working as a digital assistant of medical professionals to care patients more intuitively.
A patient from India can consult a doctor sitting in the US. Therefore, healthcare apps are now creating more opportunities for doctors, medical organizations, and developers.
Recently in 2020, a digital health startup from Portugal Nutrium app made $4.9M investment. This is because of their success of mobile application that has innovative features to guide people on their nutrition and diet.
So, if you are a startup, healthcare app can be a great idea for your business because its future is guaranteed.
Healthcare applications will change every smartphone into a virtual hospital in the future- Alekh Verma, CEO & Co-Founder, eSearch Logix.
What is a healthcare app?
Healthcare apps are mobile applications that offer health-related services for smartphones or mobile phone users.
Some apps are meant for physicians themselves- many applications combine mhealth with Electronic Medical Records (EMR), enabling doctors to maintain accurate records that are easily accessible.
Types of healthcare apps
For Doctors and Medical Professionals
- Doctor on demand apps
- Medical reference apps
- Medical records apps
- Doctor appointment & clinical assistance apps
- Patient medical health tracking apps
For Patients
- Healthy Lifestyle apps
- Mental health apps
- Monitoring apps for chronic diseases
- Diagnosis apps for preventive purposes
- Reminder apps
- Patient medical education apps
For Normal Users
- Healthy lifestyle apps
- Nutrition & Diet apps
- Women’s health apps
- Fitness apps
What is the current demand for healthcare app development?
The global healthcare mobile application market size was measured $17.92B in 2019 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 45% from 2020 to 2027.
Massive adoption of smartphone and extended accessibility of internet connectivity has impacted the healthcare system.
Fitness and medical apps have skyrocketed over the past few years. Fitness bands, smart watches, wearable devices, IoT devices, and VR gadgets are enhancing the market of healthcare applications.
An overview picture:
Here is the latest data on healthcare mobile application market size of US-
Data Source: Grandviewresearch
As per Statista report 2021, total market revenue of healthcare applications is expected to reach USD 11 Billion by 2025.
Which type of app is growing fast?
The rise of fitness products has led healthcare application market accounted for more than 36% share of the global revenue in 2019.
Appointment booking and consultation, nutrition and diet apps have gained momentum in the last few years. The online pharmacy app segment is estimated to gain higher CAGR in the upcoming time.
Which technology is gaining momentum?
AI-based mHealth apps are expected to grow at CAGR of more than 50% from 2020-2027. This has been achieved due to immense adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in smartphones. The use of AI in the healthcare industry has benefited both consumers and developers.
Key Players in Healthcare Applications
There are 4.2 million apps on Google Play Store and App Store, and out of them, 165,000 apps are in the healthcare category alone. These numbers are increasing rapidly and empowering patients and physicians.
Several key market players including Google Apple are offering innovative healthcare solutions through mobile applications. Here are prominent key players in healthcare mobile application:
- Epocrates Inc.
- Google Fit
- Apple Health
- Fitbit, Inc.
- Nike, Inc.
- 8FIT
- MySigma
- Practo
- 1mg
Top Healthcare and Medical Apps 2021
Medical Apps
The best medical app currently is Epocrates which is a medical reference app owned by Watertown. This app provides information about drugs, diagnostics, diseases, and patient management.
Top 10 grossing medical apps:
- Epocrates
- Sanford Guide- Antimicrobial Rx
- Davis’s Drug Guide
- Vargo Coexisting -Diseases & Surgery
- Migraine Buddy – The Migraine and Headache Tracker
- Monash University FODMAP diet
- mySugr – Diabetes App & Blood Sugar Tracker
- Sanvello- Anxiety & Depression
- Complete Anatomy- ‘21 – 3D Human Body Atlas
Top 10 grossing healthcare apps:
- Calorie Counter – MyFitnessPal
- Fitbit
- Calm
- Headspace: Meditation & Sleep
- WalkFit: Walking & Weight Loss
- Calorie Counter by Lose It! for Diet & Weight Loss
- Peloton – at home fitness
- Strava: Track Running, Cycling & Swimming
- WW Weight Watchers Reimagined
- Replika: My AI Friend
Why startup should invest in healthcare apps?
A startup usually lacks resources at their initial stage that is why they need a solution which doesn’t require heavy investment.
Healthcare app stands here as one of the best startup ideas for those who are looking to do something extraordinary with ordinary resources.
Not convinced?
Learn from a recent example
Nutrium: An app which has been developed by a Portugal based Startup Company.
Nutrium is a digital health startup that links dietitians and their patients via a mobile application. This app recently raised USD 5.06 Million investment led by Indico Capital Partners, alongside other investors.
It offers nutrition software or application to 80,000 professionals and patients in more than 40 countries. With Nutrium app, patients get integrated nutrition counseling which combines expert advice, on the go monitoring and access to commercial products.
So, the question arises how did this simple app manage to achieve huge investment from market?
This is because of the innovative solution that Nutrium app provides. It not only gives solutions to normal people but also provides more employment opportunities to health professionals by integrating them into a mobile application and interacting directly with the patients.
However, the startup was slow at its beginning period but with proper app marketing and effective strategy, their app managed to win the health of people.
This example can be an inspiration for startups which have robust solution that can take care of people’s health & fitness.
If you are still not convinced, below are the reasons that will give insights into the business scope of healthcare apps.
Smartphone can be a game changer
According to a WHO Report 2020, 40% countries have less than 10 medical doctors and over 26% countries have less than 3 medical doctors per 10,000 population.
This data is shocking because the total global population is 7.9 Billion as of March 2021 and there are only approx. 10 million doctors available in the entire world.
Therefore, the medical industry needs a robust solution which can streamline maximum people with better healthcare system. And here is the opportunity for startups.
There are 3.8 billion smartphone users at present time. Startups can bring healthcare solutions that can help people through their smartphones. Not everyone can access every doctor, but a mobile application can definitely enable a patient to connect with doctors available all around the world.
Isn’t it amazing?
5G will boost the Internet connectivity
As the production of smartphones will grow, the need for Internet connectivity will also increase. Since the Internet came into existence, it has transformed every electronic device.
And now with the advancement of 5G, Internet will boost the functioning of software and hardware. Healthcare apps will take great advantage of 5G as it will provide better internet speed and help people connect from remote areas to mainstream healthcare system.
Expansion of Digital Healthcare
Setting up a hospital requires a great amount of resources. It has limited facility and reach to provide better medical treatment.
Whereas, digital health is equipped with wearables, AI, health informatics, and other cybernetic technologies that help medical professionals to achieve radical improvements in measuring as well as monitoring health and diseases.
Everything is going digital today, so digital health is not an exception. As digital healthcare doesn’t require a large amount of investment as compared to a hospital, startup can easily establish their digital venture that offers innovative healthcare solutions to people.
Consumers are more aware of health & fitness
With the introduction of new technologies, people are getting tech-savvy and smarter. They are now aware of their health & fitness than ever.
People are using fitness trackers, smartwatches, wearables, and mobile applications to monitor their regular health activities and keep them fit. Specially, smartwatch is boosting the demand for wearable apps.
This is increasing opportunities for businesses. Technicians and app developers are now working together to offer solutions that can enable a person to maintain his health at his own.
If you have some unique idea which can solve today’s consumers’ needs, you can do something different than others.
To help you, here are some suggestions that you can use as a startup idea:
Healthcare App Ideas for Startups
Applications that are meant for doctors-
1. Doctor on Demand App
This is one of the emerging app ideas. People generally don’t have sufficient time in their busy life. That is why the trend of doctor on demand app has increased significantly in current time.
Demand: Doctor on demand applications have received funding of $74 million, and as per Statista, the telemedicine market is expected to reach $175 billion by 2026.
Hence, this app can be a good startup idea.
Examples: Doctor on Demand app, Amwell.
2. Health Reminder Apps
People are extremely busy in modern life. They hardly find anytime to pay attention to their health status. Therefore, creating a health reminder app for people could be a useful idea for healthcare or medical startup.
Alarm and calendar apps are still impacting users’ life despite how long they are running in the market.
Demand: People are using multiple applications on their smartphone. Offering such a reminder app will help them to keep their health on track.
Example: Medisafe is a US based app that informs users about their medication raised $14.5 million in 2017.
3. Self-Test App
Smartphone is getting smarter day by day. They are coming with sensors and other technology that can be used to test health at home or on the go.
Therefore, such cases have given birth to ideas to build a mobile application that can enable users to test health at home or on the go.
Demand: People generally have to wait longer for medical test reports and face many appointment delay issues. This problem can be sorted out at some level by developing self-test apps.
Examples:
1. uCheck is an app that helps the user check urine samples.
2. Ada analyzes health issues based on a questionnaire.
4. Medical Record App
Medical record apps are essential for both doctors and patients. Documents and files are prone to be lost and deteriorated. But keeping records on the application will protect vital information and strengthen medical system.
Demand: mHealth market is predicted to grow up to $111 Billion by 2025.
Example: Capzule, Healthspek
5. Medical Reference App
Medical reference apps are among the top healthcare app ideas. The purpose of this app specially meant to provide a plethora of valuable medical information to practicing or young doctors.
Demand: A doctor’s Job is always complicated. They need to stay highly focused while analyzing the health condition of patient. So, a medical reference app can help in various medical procedures.
Example: Epocrates, Visual DX
6. Medical Training App
Apps are becoming great medium to educate learners. Doctor’s job involves many surgical procedures which require great precaution and high training. Here, Startup Company can develop a medical training app like eLearning for a particular subject.
Demand: With the integration of augmented reality, virtual reality and mixed reality, intern doctors can use the power of mobile application to learn surgery and other medical procedures.
Virtual Reality healthcare market is expected to mark $33.72 Billion by 2027. This is a learning sign of the demand for such startup ideas to transform the healthcare sector.
Example: SentiAR is an online platform equipped with AR technology that enables doctors to analyze patient’s anatomy through holograms.
7. Health & Fitness Tracking App
This is already a trending app idea which is helping users tracking their daily health & fitness. With the inclusion of emerging technologies such as smartwatches, fitness bands, wearables, and IoT, many difficult things are getting possible on smartphone which weren’t imagined before.
You can create a health & fitness tracking application for smart wearables that can be used to track real-time information of users such as:
- Heart Rate
- Pulse
- BP
- Blood glucose
Demand: Smart wearables and IoT is a joint market segment of health & fitness tracking application. As most smart devices are connected to the Internet, these application ideas can help Startup Company to enhance the workflow of the healthcare sector and empower every individual in their overall well-being.
Example: QardioCore app, Lybrate app.
8. Medical Translation App
Healthcare app is undoubtedly a great medium to connect a patient to doctors all around the world. It sounds nice but comes with a language challenge.
An African patient will be happy to consult a US based doctor. But what if they both don’t speak the same language? So, there is high need for a medical translation app which can ease the communication between doctor and patient and remove the language barrier for better medical consultation.
Demand: According to a report by BWS School UK, there are 6912 languages spoken in the world and 94% of the world’s population does not speak English as their native language.
So, even if some companies bring best healthcare app solution for global audience, language barrier will a strong issue that needs to be focused on the same time.
Example: Medibabble is a professional medical translation app.
Conclusion
Healthcare apps are definitely great startup idea. If you bring some unique solution that can link medical sector to normal users, you are going to win the race in the market.
At the same time, because you are a startup company you must hold the knowledge of market trends and technology to fully utilize your investment and resources.
Failing to understand what key elements should be included in healthcare app development for your idea may lead to app failure.
eSearch Logix is a leading healthcare mobile app development company which helps you build a healthcare app that goes through idea validation, designing, market evaluation, wireframing, and quality testing.
We have a dedicated team of developers and designers who take every little aspect to build an advanced application. If you find us the right one for your app, schedule a free consultation.
