How to Build a Healthcare App: Step-by-Step Guide for 2025

As you deep-dive into healthcare app development, the prominent question is, Why develop a mobile healthcare application?  Since the COVID-19 pandemic, real-time patient monitoring and mHealth have become top priorities. And people are embracing mobile health apps and using them effectively to get treatments. As rightly said by Apple CEO Tim Cook, it is time that we must use technology to bridge the gap between healthcare and accessibility. 

So, let’s start this in-depth learning about healthcare app development with some fascinating statistics. 

• If we look at the market projections, the global digital healthcare market is expected to cross $ 800 billion by 2030. 
• According to the Insider Intelligence research, nearly two-thirds of the US adults use mobile health apps.
• The National Library of Medicine survey showed that 59% of participants have used 1-3 health apps. 
• There are more than 90,000 health apps, 250 per day released in 2020 on top app stores worldwide.- IQVIA data.
• 32% of the increase was observed in the number of health app users during the pandemic. 

This suggests that we are already moving into an era where people are rushing towards new & modern healthcare solutions. 

Consumers are increasingly utilizing healthcare apps, driving a surge in market demand.

To help you with the healthcare application development journey, we have planned this comprehensive guide. This guide focuses on providing you with the best knowledge and practices required to develop a healthcare mobile application. 

To start with,

What Is a Healthcare App? 

A healthcare application is a digital solution that provides a variety of mhealth services such as tracking of patient’s health, monitoring of health, doctor’s appointment booking, telemedicine, etc. Various categories of apps come under the healthcare apps umbrella. 

Here are a few health categories that fall under healthcare apps:

• Health tracking apps;
• Doctor appointment booking apps;
• Telemedicine apps;
• Networking apps;
• Electronic medical/health record apps;
• Fitness apps. 

These applications enhance patient well-being and enable seamless communication with medical professionals. Users appreciate the convenience and immediate access to these apps’ quality healthcare services.

As the demand for digital healthcare solutions continues to grow, investing in a well-designed healthcare app can significantly improve patient care and accessibility.

Why Should You Consider Healthcare App Development? 

Healthcare apps are helping healthcare institutions to streamline medical care while accelerating medical care for patients. The above numbers clearly show how a mobile health app would be a game-changer in the industry. Here are a few other reasons to consider healthcare app development. 

• It provides timely healthcare support irrespective of the location;
• It helps in increasing customer loyalty and boosts engagement;
• It reduces the chances of human error;
• It allows the integration of advanced technologies like AI, ML, and blockchain;

This highlights the prominent use of mobile apps and how the market will evolve in the times to come. 

With hands-on experience with  HIPAA, FDA, ADA, PSQIA, ACA, CCPA, ONC, SAMHSA, NIST, PIPEDA, GDPR, MDR, IVDR, DPA, and NCPDP regulatory requirements, we help healthcare businesses scale up their profits. 

What Types Of Healthcare Apps Can You Develop? 

Healthcare offers a broad spectrum for you to try it out. However, without prior experience or help from the experts, it is very difficult to outshine the most demanding market. Here are a few healthcare app startup ideas that you can try for your business. 

• Doctor’s appointment booking application: 

Develop an application that streamlines the appointment booking procedure. This kind of application provides users with a list of doctors and their available appointment slots. Users/patients can select the time comfortable and book an appointment with a single click. 

The advanced application supports video calling and in-app messaging between the doctor and patients. On-Demand Doctor App Development enables seamless communication, ensuring patients receive timely medical assistance from healthcare professionals.

• Medical prescription apps:

E-prescription applications assist doctors in prescribing drugs to patients digitally. Such applications need to comply with various regulatory standards to ensure that the drug is prescribed in a controlled dosage and that no adverse effects are observed. 

Some medical prescription apps like RxEasy and STAT also allow patients to print prescriptions for procuring medicines from the pharmacy. 

• Medical record apps: 

Medical record-keeping apps allow users to upload and store all their medical records in one place. These important records can be used to store patient’s personal information such as blood pressure, body temperature, ongoing treatments, prescriptions, appointments, etc that can later be used during the treatment process. This eliminates the need to carry printed or photocopied reports everywhere, whenever they visit the doctor. 

• Mental Health Apps:

Mental health apps focus on providing medical assistance to people suffering from depression, anxiety, stress, or any sleep disorders. Mental health apps have some prerecorded sessions that help people find relief from these problems. 

• Dieting apps:

If you are a health enthusiast, you probably know how important it is to track every calorie consumed. Dieting apps in healthcare help users count their calories, meal planning, water consumption reminders, and many more such health-specific goals. 

Here is a list of a few successful healthcare apps operating in various domains. 

Many healthcare startups are transforming patient care by offering innovative solutions for disease management and treatment. Let’s explore some of the most popular healthcare apps making a significant impact in the industry.

Headspace:

One of the most admired mental health applications is Headspace. It provides hundreds of meditation sessions, workouts, stress management programs, etc. If you wish to develop a meditation app like Headspace, you should get in touch with us. We can provide you with comprehensive guidance about the app development process and how you can achieve this goal. 

PatientsLikeMe:

The concept-based app, PatientsLikeMe helps people connect with people with the same disease and condition in real time. It facilitates instant messaging so that people can communicate, discuss, or find answers to their health symptoms. 

Patients can know individuals suffering from a similar disease and learn about treatments that work for them. 

PatientsLikeMe has a feature called DailyMe that helps patients record their daily moods and feelings. 

Kry:

Kry, a video consultation application has treated over 800,000 patients seeking video appointments with psychologists. The application supports 25 different languages with doctors and psychologists offering assistance in the chosen language. 

How To Generate Revenue From a Healthcare App?

The monetization strategy you choose plays a crucial role in determining your application’s success. Here are some effective ways to generate revenue from your healthcare app. 

Pay-per service:

A very successful and preferred revenue model for healthcare apps is pay-per-service. In this option, the user makes payment for every service they utilize through the app. 

This gives users the flexibility to pay only when they need and in return, you make money as they use the app more swiftly. 

Premium subscription for feature access:

You can also launch a weekly, monthly, and yearly premium plan for the users to subscribe to. The premium plans include additional features like access to more expert doctors, instant bookings, guided sessions, health insights, etc. 

Premium subscription gives your business a chance to make some extra money using the app. 

In-app advertising: 

Allow healthcare brands to promote their products on your platform by paying a platform fee to you. However, make sure that in-app advertising makes the experience more engaging and intrusive. 

Commission from marketplace transactions:

If the healthcare app acts as a connecting bridge between doctors and patients or diagnostic centers and patients, you can charge a small commission fee for all the traffic that you are providing them. 

Challenges Involved While Developing a Healthcare Application:

No app development journey is easy without an expert’s knowledge and help. At IT Path Solutions we have extensive experience developing successful healthcare apps while addressing the challenges involved. 

Here are a few known challenges that you might face while developing healthcare apps:

• Security and safety of patient’s data:

Healthcare applications have a lot of information stored under the umbrella, from patient’s medical history to billing to personal data. All of these are put at risk in case of any cyber-attacks or data theft. 

Therefore, incorporating cloud security practices becomes critical during app development.

• Non-compliance with the law:

Healthcare mobile applications must adhere to various regulations specific to the country in which they operate. Failure to comply can result in the app being banned. Therefore, it is essential to ensure strict adherence to regulations concerning data storage, encryption, access control, and other security measures.

• Interoperability with multiple channels and devices:

Your audience can be present anywhere, agreed, but in the quest of making an online presence on all the platforms, make sure that the flow of experience is not hindered. Make use of FHIR and HL7 to ensure a secure exchange of data and cross-platform compatibility. 

• Patient engagement:

Since mobile healthcare applications deal with everything online, it is difficult to keep the patients engaged. Be it during the video calling or internet loss scenario, you need to try hard to keep up with the engagement. 

What Are The Features Of a Healthcare Application? 

A well-designed healthcare app enhances patient care, streamlines operations, and improves accessibility. Key features include:

• Appointment Scheduling – Allows users to book, reschedule, or cancel appointments with healthcare providers seamlessly.
• Telemedicine & Video Consultation – Enables virtual doctor consultations for remote healthcare access.
• Electronic Health Records (EHR) Integration – Provides secure access to patient medical history, prescriptions, and treatment plans.
• AI-powered Symptom Checker – Assists users in evaluating symptoms and receiving preliminary health insights.
• Medication Reminders – Sends notifications to ensure timely medication intake.
• Secure Messaging & Chatbots – Facilitates real-time communication with doctors, support staff, or AI-driven assistants.
• Health & Fitness Tracking – Integrates with wearable devices to monitor vital signs, activity levels, and wellness metrics.
• Billing & Insurance Management – Simplifies payment processing, insurance claims, and coverage verification.
• Data Security & Compliance – Ensures HIPAA/GDPR compliance for protecting patient information.

What Are The Benefits of Healthcare Application Development For Doctors and Patients? 

Healthcare apps offer countless benefits to medical professionals as well as patients in multiple ways. Let’s understand how. 

Benefits For Doctors:

Benefits for Patients:

What Is The Mobile App Development Process For Healthcare App Development? 

Healthcare app development has a huge market and to survive the competition, you need to have a development partner who knows the ins and outs of it. An experienced mobile app development company thoroughly analyses your requirements and provides a strategic roadmap for app development. 

At IT Path Solutions, our development team discusses the requirements with you, and we run down competitor analysis to figure out the current trends that you can incorporate in healthcare app development. Our strategic app development process gives us an upper hand over development. You can read more about our step-by-step process in the blog that we have written. 

For any queries, feel free to get in touch with us. 

How Much Does It Cost To Develop a Healthcare Application? 

The cost of healthcare app development is subjective to many factors including,

• Complexity of app;
• UI/UX
• The platform of app development 
• Location of the app development partner;
• Hourly rates of developer;

To give you an estimate, the cost of healthcare app development ranges between $25,000 to $50,000 (approximately). For more accurate figures, please discuss your app development requirements with us. 

Conclusion: 

Healthcare apps are revolutionizing the way the industry handles patient care. It is helping healthcare organizations streamline operations, manage data, enhance patient care, and gain a competitive advantage. 

The app development is sensitive and with our tested methodology and research, we can make it smoother. If you are looking for a reliable app development company, contact us! We will be happy to help you.