Important Factors to Consider Before Developing a Patient Portal App like MyChart 

Whether it’s about booking an appointment with a doctor or paying medical bills online, the patient portal mobile apps have become a valuable source for patients to get better healthcare facilities within a few clicks. 

In this article, we will maily cover MyChart as an example. MyChart is a healthcare mobile app popular among U.S. residents. The app allows users to review test results, schedule appointments with doctors, pay medical bills online, and manage other health-related information with the palm of their hands. 

If you’re one of the entrepreneurs looking to make a mark in the healthcare industry by creating a patient portal mobile app, then this blog post is written for you. In this guide, the information regarding various aspects of a patient portal mobile app development is shared.

But before moving further, have a look at some interesting facts & statistics about MyChart.

A patient portal app will act as a silver bullet for both doctors and patients due to following reasons: 

A patient portal mobile app reduces the communication gap between both patients and doctors. It is easy for patients to select the doctor of their choice and book an appointment from anywhere and anytime. They don’t need to visit hospitals for regular medical checkups. Instead, patients can connect with doctors via messaging or video conferencing and seek medical advice from the comfort of their homes. On the other hand, doctors can perform medical diagnoses and share their suggestions online. 

A patient portal mobile app helps doctors and medical staff in handling administrative tasks in a hassle-free manner. Every patient can share his/her health status and information regarding any kind of symptomatic disease via healthcare apps, which will reduce the paperwork involved in the healthcare sector to a large extent. Doctors can receive notifications in advance regarding upcoming and cancelled appointments, which will further help them manage their work routine more effectively.       

Healthcare mobile apps play a significant role in promoting healthcare services. Doctors can connect with patients from varied locations and expand their medical services. Moreover, they can also sell medicines and other healthcare products under their brand name via healthcare mobile apps. On the other hand, patients can share reviews and ratings regarding medical products available online. Customers’ positive feedback will further aid in improving brand reputation. 

The arrival of patient portal apps has reduced the risk of an incorrect diagnosis. Patients can track and monitor their health on a regular basis using healthcare mobile apps and can receive accurate results regarding their body weight, blood pressure, sugar level, heart rate, and more. Accurate medical reports will help doctors to provide the right medical advice to patients along with the accurate dosage of medicine. Furthermore, an accurate dosage of medicine will help patients to recover from serious illness rapidly. 

We're going to again look into MyChart as an example of the numerous features that Patient Portal Mobile Apps offer. Listed below are some crucial features: 

Link Health Accounts: Link medications, test results, number of visits, and other information you’ve received from various healthcare organizations with this feature.       

Track Medical Record: Check profiles of family members and other health care providers who’ve accessed your medical records.  

Share Medical Record: Give your friends or family members one-time access to your medical records with this feature.  

Download Health Summaries: This option enables users to download a copy of their visit summaries.   

Check Test Results: You will receive timely notifications for your medical results. Also, it is easy to check your previous test reports. 

Review Health Issues and Medications: Predict your current health issues and update them in the app. Analyze your medication list and modify it as per your health status. 

Track Growth Charts & Health Status: Track your health status and growth charts on a daily basis and prepare your diet plan accordingly.  

Manage Healthcare Documents: Manage your healthcare documents like after visit summaries, medical reports, message attachments, signed illness excuse notes, etc. 

Symptoms Checker: Share your views about medical symptoms you had in the past and receive recommendations. 

Search For Healthcare Topics: Find blogs and articles on various topics and other latest trends in the healthcare industry.  

View Messages: Check messages you’ve sent to and received from medical personnel or healthcare organizations.  

Seek Medical Advice: Ping your doctor to check his/her availability and seek instant medical advice. 

Customer Support: Contact customer support to share your doubts regarding the working of the MyChart app and its features.  

Check Clinic calls: View customer service and care advice calls that you’ve received from healthcare staff in the past.  

View Visit Summary & Clinical Notes: Check details of your past appointments and clinical notes that your doctor has shared with you. 

Schedule an Appointment: Book an appointment with the doctor of your choice and check his/her specialty along with other details. 

eCheck-In: Electronically sign documents and complete the check-in process from the comfort of your home. 

Search for Emergency Departments: Find nearby hospitals and clinics in case of any emergency. 

Check Billing Details: View details of your hospital billing account including recent payments, outstanding balance, transaction receipts, etc. 

Payment Plan: Set up an automatic payment plan to pay your medical bills quickly and efficiently.   

Insurance Summary & ID Cards: View your health insurance ID card and insurance coverages, referrals, claims, and other information.  

Paperless Billing: Sign up for paperless billing on MyChart and receive an electronic copy of your medical bills.  

Preferences

Personal Account Details: Add your personal information like name, gender, language, region, etc. to let your healthcare personnel know more about you.  

Notification Preferences: Select notification preferences from emails, text messages, and push notifications to receive any important information regarding your appointments and billing.  

Username & Password Recovery: Security features will help you log in to the app in case you forgot your username and password.    

Multilingual Option: Pick a language of your choice to use the app effectively.  

MyChart Bedside: Keep track of your schedule to stay updated about your daily care during the hospital stay. 

Log in Methods: Use face recognition, fingerprint, or four-digit passcode to log in to the MyChart app. 

Apple Watch: Pair your Apple watch with the MyChart app to receive notifications regarding upcoming or cancelled appointments. 

MyChart Care Companion: Follow a care plan suggested by your healthcare provider. 

Mayo Clinic  
The Mayo Clinic is a healthcare mobile app that enables users to book an appointment with world-class doctors within just a few taps. The app is loaded with various features that help patients to manage their health with utmost ease and convenience. You can also view your test results in real-time and pay your medical bills via Mayo Clinic app. The app contains a secure messaging feature so that patients can directly contact their doctors, dietitians, or fitness experts whenever required. You can also check fitness videos, wellness tips, and health news on a daily basis using Mayo Clinic. 

TigerConnect
TigerConnect is a US-based communication and collaboration platform that allows patients to communicate with healthcare staff via text messages, voice notes, or video calls. TigerConnect is integrated with features like EHR, patient alerts & alarms, PACS, paging & answering service, and more. Currently, the app is certified to work in the countries like Canada and the U.S. The app has also been used by some renowned healthcare organizations like Geisinger, PennState Health, Adventist Health, LifePoint Hospitals, etc.

Doximity
Doximity is one of the renowned healthcare mobile apps with more than 70% of U.S. doctors and 45% of physician assistants as verified users. The app comes with some unique features like dialer video, dialer voice, advanced search, fax, and more. Apart from connecting with healthcare professionals via dialer voice and dialer video, you can also send or receive electronic faxes with Doximity. Advanced search allows patients to search their favorite clinicians by using search filters like location, specialty, and clinical interests. The app also provides information regarding the latest trends and updates of the healthcare industry.

Medici 
Medici allows doctors and patients to connect with each other virtually by in-app messaging, calls, or video chats from anywhere and anytime. While booking an appointment with doctors, users can check their pricing plans and specialties. Doctors have to mention prices along with their names and other information while creating their Medici profile. From skin specialists to heart surgeons, you can find verified profiles of various doctors on Medici. Moreover, installing Medici will help you get instant lab results and the right medical prescriptions. 

Important Factors to Consider Before Developing a Patient Portal App  

Listed below are some noteworthy factors that you must keep in your mind while developing a patient portal mobile app: 

Target Audience 
The target audience will vary on the basis of the type of healthcare mobile app you’re willing to build. For a patient portal mobile app, your target audience must be healthcare staff, doctors, and patients who need medical assistance. Starting with the healthcare mobile app development by conducting a market survey can help you build an application tailored to your audience’s needs.

User Experience Design
The UI of a mobile app is responsible for providing a seamless user experience. When it comes to healthcare mobile app development, it is necessary to create the app UX after careful consideration. This is because using bright colors or eye-catchy themes while developing the UX design of your healthcare app may create distractions and irritate the majority of app users. It is recommended to check some renowned healthcare portals available online before starting with the design phase of your healthcare mobile app.  

MVP 
A healthcare mobile app could be built over multiple iterations with MVP approach. Before the final market release of your patient portal app, it’s crucial to create an MVP(Minimum Viable Product) to gather user feedback. MVP of your healthcare app could help you generate a better return on investment by saving your valuable time and money. Moreover, it will also help you identify the basic app features & functionalities that don’t provide value to patients. 

Data Protection In order to protect patient’s data and other important information from cyber vandals and hacktivists, it’s necessary to follow safe coding practices while developing a healthcare mobile app. Make sure to use the right technologies, data servers, and reliable app development platforms that offer security and data privacy. Furthermore, if you’re hiring a custom mobile app development company for your healthcare mobile app development needs, it’s crucial to check its policies around coding standards & data security.    

The advent of mobile technology and the rise of healthcare mobile app development trends have transformed the healthcare industry to a huge extent.

Moreover, the statistics shared above in this blog post give a clear indication that the patient portal mobile apps are poised to dominate the healthcare sector in the coming future. Therefore, it is the right time for startups to outsmart the competition by making a healthy investment in healthcare mobile app development. FATbit Technologies, a renowned custom mobile app development company, could help you turn your idea into a user-centric healthcare mobile application.