Comfortable, honest, and timely communication is the foundation of high-quality healthcare services. No medical professional or patient will ever doubt that. But is there a way to build that smooth, uninterrupted communication process and make sure it stays like that for a long time? Healthcare conference app development is the answer here. And the following guide will help you avoid rookie mistakes along the way.
Types of Conference Apps in Healthcare
Let’s start this guide by saying that an “app for healthcare conference” is an ambiguous term and can imply the creation of different types of software. It is the entrepreneur’s responsibility to have at least some kind of vision and understand which functionality they want to include in their app.
So what types of healthcare conference applications are there? Essentially there are three:
- Apps for doctor-patient conferences (aka telemedicine)
- Conference apps for internal use (typically within a single medical facility)
- Apps for conducting healthcare-related online events (conferences)
As you can see, these applications might be united under an umbrella term, but when it comes to the feature set, they are more unlike than similar. Let’s examine all of them one at a time.
Apps for Doctor-Patient Conferences
This type of application is virtually a web or mobile-based video chat. It allows medical professionals to provide online consultations and helps patients receive healthcare services whenever and wherever they want.
The global telemedicine market got a major boost during COVID times, and since then, this type of app for medical conference has been gaining traction. That’s why business owners are not afraid of being creative and try to allure users with different features that make their telemedicine app stand out.
Some incorporate geolocation and e-prescription functionality, others pack the app with different integrations (from Google calendar to social media), and some place their bets on simplicity, sleek design, and only necessary functionality (communication tool, registration/login, personal dashboard for the doctor and the patient, appointment management, and payment gateway).
Medical Conferences App for Internal Use
Unlike telemedicine solutions, conference applications for internal use are typically not so complex and polished. The reason for that is their purpose. Such applications are usually created not to be marketed to a large audience but to allow medical professionals within one organization to hold online conferences.
This gives an entrepreneur an opportunity to cut costs by not spending too much on the design or unnecessary costly technologies. The key objective here is to develop a communication app (most commonly via video chat) that will have fewer features but will be 100% thought-out and will operate perfectly.
Of course, there are exceptions to that rule. Healthcare and pharma moguls like Pfizer, CVS, or Johnson & Johnson can create an app for healthcare conferences that will be innovative, complex, and expensive. But for the most part, modern businesses follow the rule of “why pay more when you can pay less.”
Apps for Conducting Healthcare-related Online Conferences
This one is basically a mobile event app. A business owner goes for developing this kind of software if they plan to launch a healthcare conference either in a hybrid format or 100% online. In this case, the app for medical conference will become a multifunctional platform that will grant the users access to the event and help them with networking, time management, and getting information about the gathering. Take Web Summit, MWC, or other popular conferences as an example.
When it comes to functionality it all depends on the customer’s preferences and the caliber of the event. Certain organizations would require a multifunctional streaming platform with real-time reactions, live chat, numerous multimedia formats support, an in-app messaging system, and much more. Other hosts would want their apps not to be so feature-packed and would consider including only necessary features like a content library, a chat, a calendar, video streaming, and a customer support tool. Either way, it rests with you to decide which features to incorporate and which to neglect.
Healthcare Conference App Development Benefits
Now that you know about the types of conference apps let’s move to an even more interesting topic, the perks that come along with this kind of software development.
Convenience
Having the means to attend a healthcare conference via a mobile device is very convenient. The user doesn’t have to put in any effort, except for maybe the effort of downloading the app and going through a registration process.
Ease of use
If you trust the development process to a professional team, they will come up with a well-thought-out UI/UX for your application. As a result, the product will be extremely easy to use and functional at the same time. This will help you attract new customers and increase the user satisfaction rate as well.
Simplified interaction and streamlined workflow
One of the greatest things about a healthcare conference app is its ability to break communication barriers. With the help of software, patients have access to professional medical consultations 24/7, healthcare workers are able to carry out their duties almost anywhere, and healthcare event attendees can obtain new experiences in a matter of few taps on the screen.
In each of those cases, the interaction between parties is so much easier and more effective. No wonder the number of people trusting telemedicine grows each year!
Brand loyalty boost
If a business owner takes care of the user’s needs and makes sure the app for healthcare conferences is just as useful as it is safe and intuitive, they invest all those efforts into winning the audience’s heart and reinforcing brand loyalty.
Once the user finds a conference app that checks all the boxes for them, chances are they’re going to continue using that app for a long time without having to switch to another solution.
More valuable data to work with
If you incorporate modern analytics and reporting tools into your medical conferences app, you’ll be able to gather, process, and leverage the data to improve your business strategy further. Getting access to users’ behavioral patterns and knowing about their preferences and pet peeves can be a powerful marketing tool able to provide you with a serious competitive edge.
Tips to help you create a successful conference app
If the idea of medical conferences app development is growing on you, here are a few easy-to-follow tips that will help you make the final product marketable.
- Define your goals. Why do you need a healthcare conference application? What is it going to do for your business? What do you plan to achieve? How much money are you willing to spend? Who will be your target audience? If you don’t have the answer to all of these questions, it’s time to rethink your strategy and, maybe, cancel the development completely
- Look up to the leaders. One of the best ways to create a successful app for medical conference is to find an existing conference app you like, examine it thoroughly, find a couple of things that can be improved or reinvented, and develop a brand new solution using that basis.
- Build an MVP and test. If you’re not sure that your application will be well-received, create an MVP first, then test it on the target audience, gather feedback, fix the problems, and release the next version. Do that a couple of times, and you’ll avoid a major failure many entrepreneurs have to face.
Final Words
Healthcare conference solution development is not an easy task. But if done right, it can benefit your business greatly. Whatever your action plan may be, make sure to take it slow and carefully investigate prior to going all in. Remember that more thorough preparation will lead to better results and greater profits! Good luck!
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