Analysis Of The Procees Of Developing A Health Care Application

Not everyone understands how much effort application developers put into their work. The process of trying to create a well-designed and practical health care application is very challenging. The developers need to consider all aspects of the design, from function to user experience. In doing this, the developer can include features and functions to attract their demographic.

First, they need to determine the purpose of the application. The source of their idea can come from developers themselves, or from clients or professionals in the field for which the application is being produced. A technical writer will document all requirements for the application themselves, which may include general function and operating platforms. Then they get into the design phase, which usually takes about two months. The choice of interface, attractive features, social platform, methods for input and output information and many more details are all determined during this phase. The next step would be the development, which is when the software for the application is written.

For applications to work on a different platform, a different set of skills is required within the development team. This stage can take a minimum of 6 months. It reflects the complexity of the system. A project manager is also needed, in order to deal with quality control and budgeting. The project also needs relevant expert information, so the applications can function desirably.

The final step is to test and fix any bugs for the final product. This entire procedure may need many months of dedication and work. The current total cost for developing a fitness application is in the range of $25,000 to $50,000. Type of population that uses health care appsNearly everyone can take advantage of health care applications. With possession of a smart phone, one can easily download a health care application that can help them keep track of health related information. However, studies show only a percentage of the population tend to use health care applications. In a population based survey done by the institute of medical sociology in Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, currently only one fifth of smartphone users actually use health related applications. Application users tend to be younger, more educated, and health literate individuals, which is the majority of the users. This is the same for people with chronic conditions, they are more likely to use health applications compared to those without chronic conditions, as it may help people better control their condition and reduce number of visits to the doctor. For the senior population, a longitudinal survey done in 2011-2014, found that people (mean age 75 years) used digital health at low rates. There were indications of modest increases from 2011 to 2014 in the rate of use. There were also some increases regarding the number of seniors, 75 and older, using health applications from 2011 to 2014. This survey gives a conclusion that for most seniors, digital health technology is not being understood

Main Difficulty and Focus for Health App Developers

In health care development, different types of health care apps are specifically designed to target a population within the application market. As previously discussed, there are three main types of health care applications: daily fitness tracking, clinical care and professional health care software. Daily fitness apps are low risk software, so these apps target the digital health aware population. Different applications are designed for a specific population and may not be useful for everyone. For example, applications with functions of tracking nutrition that help maintain a healthy diet with weight loss, are for a population that wants to achieve a desire eating habit and maintain their health. Applications that track exercise stats for populations that are physically active can include all different types of casual or professional athletes. Apps that tracks female menstrual period are extremely useful to women. Apps that track state of sleep and relaxation are mainly designed for people with anxiety or insomnia who can benefit from relaxation exercises.

Clinical care applications are high risk software and are designed for everyone to use. Clinical care apps are designed to help user deal with emergency and demanding situations, therefore malfunction can be catastrophic. The EMS applications are designed to recognize emergency situations, and can react accordingly to relieve the situation. This function is especially useful for individuals who participate in dangerous or extreme activities. The application can also act like the silent alarm in the bank, or recognize a heart attack, stroke or other medical emergencies. Therefore, EMS apps target everyone who might have these life-threatening cases. There are also clinical care apps that deal with demanding, but not life-threatening situations such as a bug bite, or occasional headache. These clinical apps help both client and doctors save time and resources. Therefore, these applications target all potential patients and doctors.

Health application developers need to understand the width of the target population, such as everyone from children to elderly, to create an application that is usable for all. Developers also need to obtain knowledge on how the software should interact with the patients and doctors, so the application will work like a real clinic. Applications with highest risk are those that include accessory or replacement parts of medical devices that are used in professional health care settings. The software can be either embedded inside medical equipment, or be on smartphones, which directly function as a medical equipment. These applications target individuals that are within hospital or clinical environments. However, highly sensitive medical device associated applications can lead to the breach of confidentiality or, if not well designed, they might directly put the user/client in danger. For example, the device wrongly analyzes the data and give wrong info to the health care provider. Because of this problem, the Canadian government states that manufacturers need to follow the “Medical Device Regulations” during the development of these applications. For device that are responsible for more functions, a Medical Device License is required. Other than safety issues, developers and designers need to consider how their application can adopt to all different type of clients and decide the field or range of the functions needed. It is the developer’s job to investigate what types of features that incorporate these targeted population’s common interests and similar difficulties they might face.