The healthcare industry has changed dramatically over the past couple of years. One of the main aspects where the field has seen a drastic evolution is telemedicine. The telehealth market blew up during the COVID-19 pandemic as the majority of people needed their doctors but couldn’t see them in person.
The market is expected to grow by 44.4% by 2028. Telemedicine tools like Electronic health records (EHR), Remote patient monitoring (RPM), and telehealth apps have also increased in popularity among healthcare providers. Telehealth app development has also seen big success in the healthcare industry, and the idea of combining the two seems perfect.
Being able to mix multiple telemedicine solutions in the industry together may be a great idea, but a difficult one to accomplish alone. In this article, we will walk you through exactly how telehealth services can function together to improve the workflow of any healthcare institution and benefit patient care.
What does telemedicine software serve for?
The fundamental function of telehealth software development is to facilitate remote healthcare services by enabling virtual consultations, patient monitoring, and data exchange between patients and healthcare professionals. Telehealth software solutions improve accessibility to healthcare, reduce operational costs, and enhance patient engagement.
Key features include:
- Teleconsultations;
- E-prescriptions;
- Appointment scheduling;
- Chronic disease management.
This is all accomplished while providing excellent data security for patient information. Telemedicine platform development can be a long and arduous process but one that holds many benefits for the ones who reach a successful implementation.
How to plan your telemedicine software development?
Proper planning is the foundation of successful software development.
The first step is to define clear project objectives. The objectives should align with the needs of healthcare providers, patients, and other stakeholders. A well-defined goal helps keep the project on track and ensures that the final product meets expectations.
Let’s take a closer look at all the necessary steps to consider when developing telehealth platforms.
Identify stakeholder needs and requirements
One of the most important points we must touch upon when trying to answer the question of how to develop custom telemedicine software is to identify key stakeholders. Stakeholders may include doctors, nurses, administrators, insurance companies, and patients. Each group has unique needs and expectations. Engaging stakeholders early in the process helps in gathering valuable feedback and setting clear priorities.
A great way to find out more about your stakeholders’ needs is by conducting surveys, interviews, and workshops to gather insights into user pain points and preferences.
A big part of your telemedicine software features can be easily defined if you consult your potential users. The quality of the virtual health delivery is something that can be best determined by the patients that receive it, after all.
Define key features and functionality
Telehealth services are usually there to offer health professionals options to treat and help patients at distant locations. Through the use of a telemedicine app, doctors can remotely consult patients, keep track of vital signs and blood pressure, monitor chronic diseases, and provide educational resources.
Before the pandemic, the use of telehealth services was something not unknown to the world but not big enough to cause an uproar in the industry. Afterwards, however, telehealth app development skyrocketed. The use of telemedicine software was 38 (2) times higher as of July 2021 than it had been before the pandemic.
A successful telemedicine platform includes features such as:
- Video and Audio Consultations for real-time communication;
- EHR Integration for seamless medical data access;
- Appointment Scheduling to streamline bookings;
- Secure Messaging and File Sharing for better communication;
- e-Prescriptions and Billing Systems for complete telehealth solutions.
Customization should align with specific use cases, such as mental health teletherapy, urgent care, or chronic disease management.
When creating custom telemedicine software solutions, we must consider the specific needs of the patients. People needed a way to receive remote healthcare during the pandemic, so the practical application of telehealth services was unquestionable.
In the same way, when developing such software, the business owner must make sure they can define the key aspects of the software solution in regard to how it helps patients interact better with the institution. For example, if your business deals with patient data storage, then the telehealth solution that you should be orienting your resources toward is EHR.
Design a user-centric interface
The future of telemedicine apps and medical services in general will be determined by the parts that make it easier and more efficient. A big question in this case is how easy is a given system to use, both by the healthcare professionals and patients that have to incorporate it in their daily lives.
The software should prioritize intuitive navigation, accessibility, and a seamless user experience. Design wireframes and prototypes to visualize the workflow and test usability before full-scale development. Mobile responsiveness and ADA-compliant accessibility should also be considered.
Furthermore, the method of consulting your user base is one of the best ways to know if you’re on the right track with your design. People who have higher-stress jobs, like healthcare professionals, and people who are suffering from various medical conditions are more prone to have less patience when it comes to the apps and systems they are using. It is the goal and incentive of the developers to make the telemedicine software as easy to use and understand as possible.
Ensure compliance with regulations
Another important aspect when considering custom telemedicine software development is the fact that the technology must comply with the proper regulations. Healthcare software must follow strict regulations to protect patient data and, of course, safety.
There are, naturally, laws and guidelines that ensure privacy, security, and interoperability in telemedicine platforms. Developers must understand these regulations before building the software. Failing to meet compliance requirements can lead to legal penalties, fines, and reputational damage.
Every country has its own healthcare rules, so to say, but there are a couple of broader ones that most countries in the given region tend to adopt. HIPAA (U.S.), for example, mandates secure patient data handling through encryption, access controls, and audit logs.
GDPR in the European Union ensures that patients have control over their personal data, requiring software to allow access, modification, and deletion of information.
HL7/FHIR standards enable interoperability, allowing seamless exchange of medical records between systems. Furthermore, if the software integrates with medical devices, FDA (U.S.) and CE Marking (EU) regulations ensure the devices meet safety and effectiveness standards before entering the market.
Compliance should be a priority from the start of development. Legal experts can help interpret regulations and guide implementation. Regular audits, security updates, and user access controls help maintain compliance over time. A well-regulated telemedicine platform builds trust with patients and healthcare providers while ensuring safe and legal digital healthcare services.
Choose the appropriate technology stack
Now that we have examined the steps a healthcare organization must take to develop telemedicine software, we must consider the technology that powers it. To ensure scalability, security, and performance, we must first select the right technology stack.
A well-structured tech stack supports smooth user interactions, secure data processing, and real-time communication. The choice of technologies should align with project requirements, budget, and expected user load. There are many different technology stacks and their respective specifics, but let’s take a look at the really important ones.
The front end is one of the first things to consider responsible for user interaction. It is the first thing any user will see from the telemedicine system. There are a number of technologies, like React, Angular, and Vue.j, that help developers build intuitive and responsive interfaces for patients and healthcare providers.
The back end, on the other hand, handles data processing and server-side operations. Frameworks such as Node.js, Python (Django), and Ruby on Rails provide stability and scalability for handling patient records, video consultations, and appointment scheduling.
The way to store all of the data the telehealth platform has to work with are the databases. They store critical medical data, with PostgreSQL, MongoDB, and Firebase offering secure and efficient solutions.
Furthermore, with cloud computing technology like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure, we can securely assure uptime, reliability, and disaster recovery. All these different parts have to come together seamlessly to ensure an excellent final product.
Test for quality and performance
The penultimate step that a healthcare organization needs to make in order to build a telemedicine platform is rigorous testing. It ensures that telemedicine software is reliable, secure, and user-friendly. Each component must function correctly on its own and work seamlessly with other modules.
There are a couple of different testing procedures that most developers utilize:
- The first is Unit testing to check individual features, ensuring that core functionalities like appointment scheduling and video calls operate without errors.
- The next is Integration testing, which verifies that different parts of the software, such as the patient portal and EHR system, communicate smoothly.
- Another one is Performance testing. It evaluates how well the system handles high user traffic, ensuring stability and responsiveness during peak usage.
- Security testing helps identify vulnerabilities that could lead to data breaches or compliance violations. There are also certain checks that can be carried out with the help of other systems. Automated tools, for example, allow for continuous testing, catching errors early in the development process.
- Then, there is the manual QA testing done by experts, which is meant to ensure that real-world use cases are thoroughly evaluated.
A combination of automated and manual testing helps refine the product, reducing the risk of failures after deployment and ensuring a smooth experience for both patients and healthcare providers.
Launch and deploy the software
Once testing is complete, the deployment phase begins. The best way to start is by setting up the necessary cloud infrastructure, ensuring it is scalable and optimized for anticipated user demand.
Load-balancing and auto-scaling configurations help maintain stability under varying traffic conditions and naturally allow the platform to grow in the future. Furthermore, server performance should be fine-tuned to minimize latency. Security measures such as encryption, firewalls, and compliance with data protection regulations (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA) must be in place to safeguard user data, as we mentioned before.
A soft launch—where the software is released to a limited user base—provides an opportunity to gather real-world feedback. This phase helps identify unexpected bugs, UI/UX issues, and performance bottlenecks before a full-scale launch.
Beta testers can be a great help when it comes to reporting usability concerns. On the other hand, analytics tools can track early adoption trends, ensuring a smooth transition to a full production rollout.
Monitor, maintain, and update regularly
The post-launch phase is just as critical as deployment. A way to smoothly handle this step is by continuously monitoring the process to ensure that performance issues, security threats, and user experience concerns are addressed in real time.
AI-driven analytics and machine learning algorithms are another way to provide deep insights into user behavior, system performance, and potential points of failure. Setting up automated alerts for performance dips, security vulnerabilities, and unusual usage spikes allows for proactive issue resolution.
Regular updates should follow a structured approach to maintain security, functionality, and compliance:
- Security patches: Address vulnerabilities as they arise to reduce the risk of cyber threats.
- Feature enhancements: Implement new functionalities based on user needs and industry trends to keep the software relevant.
- Regulatory compliance updates: Adapt to evolving regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, or FDA guidelines to avoid legal and operational risks.
- Performance optimizations: Improve backend efficiency to enhance speed, reliability, and scalability without disrupting core operations.
The software stays competitive, secure, and aligned with user needs and industry standards by actively collecting feedback and making continuous improvements.
Discover how we can help your Telemedicine projects Ensure your telemedicine software is secure and compliant today by scheduling a call with one of BGO Software’s experts.
Custom Telemedicine Software Built to Fit Your Needs
Being able to customize the software or even build it from the ground up is what is truly valuable.
The only way to make sure of that is to have a partner with years of experience in the custom healthcare software development process and one that has the means to build a telemedicine platform the right way. Your way.
