Have you ever had a long list of patients lining up in your virtual waiting room? Then this is a sign that you have not managed your appointment booking process well. The best way to tackle this problem is to implement medical appointment software. It can be either a web-based platform or mobile application which will become a boon for your staff and patients as well.
Doctor appointment booking app development and the issues it resolves:
A doctor appointment booking app provides a simple way for the patient to book an appointment with the doctors or health care providers of their own choice. Another benefit of these apps is that it stores all the patient data and appointments in one place.
Given below are the points on how the software works in real life,
- For the patients: if you are a patient you never need to call the office to book an appointment but can directly book an appointment at your fingertips in just a few taps and clicks. Using the software patient can book an appointment whenever they find the time suitable for them. This saves time for both the doctor and the patient.
- For the clinic: the web-based or app platform is the backbone of the clinic’s appointment process and software. It handles the appointment software of the clinic by handling the process automatically which the staff may have a problem dealing with manually. An app is also useful to track the revisits and maintain a dialogue with the patient. This can free up the hassle of confirming, canceling, and rescheduling the appointments.
When your doctor appointment app is based on an app or a web platform you can save a lot of time. That’s because no-shows and cancellations can have a direct effect on your bearings of the clinic.
With an app, you can set reminders for no-show patients, and even if a patient misses their appointment you can reschedule back to back anytime to avoid loss and save time. Over appointments can also be avoided which are caused by human errors by automation of the appointment booking process.
Basic features to know about the appointment booking app:
Given below are five features to keep in mind while building a doctor appointment app.
- Doctor profile: The app is where the patient comes and connects with the doctor for the first time. Thus the app should contain a proper doctor profile containing the name, photo, experience, and all other details to help in the decision-making process of the patient.
- Patient profile: Be it a first appointment or a revisit, the doctor should always have the information like the name, age, medical records, and treatment records of the patient. The app is the best way to store such information. It allows the doctor to retrieve all the data of the patient before attending to them.
- Search options: If you have large data on your platform then it will be difficult for the patient to go about the profiles. This is where the search option is useful. It allows the patient to search and filter their desired doctor, and hospital at their desired location and timing.
- Booking forms: So scheduling an appointment should be as easy as going online and booking an appointment with the doctor. Once the patient selects a doctor they should be able to navigate easily through the time and schedule options. The lesser the steps to book an appointment the better will be the app experience.
- Notifications: If you are building a doctor appointment app then you should remember to add the feature of notifications also. Patients tend to forget the time and date of the appointment. Hence to manage time slots and to save losses the notifications remind the patients as well as the doctors about the already scheduled appointment.
A step-by-step guide to building a doctor appointment app:
- Step 1 Research: We all know that just as an app launches it doesn’t go big all of a sudden. For this, you should learn from research on the market and your competitors. There’s no shame in learning from the losses of your competitors. In fact, you can turn them into your own assets.
In the research phase, you should take a closer look at your competitor’s app, analyze its pros and cons, spot the opportunities missed and combine them with the needs of your patients.
- Step 2 Planning: In this phase, you plan on the features to integrate into your app as well as technologies to rely on. The planning should be done methodically right from the first step to the last step all while laying milestones.
- Step 3 Design and Prototype: In the design and prototype phase you should decide on the color, pattern, and other visual aspects of your app, build a user interface, create an easy-to-navigate system, design a menu, and clickable features, and fine tune it to ios and android platforms. Remember that it’s in a prototype stage so it need not be perfect.
- Step 4 Testing: You cannot build a health application without letting it be tested by patients and doctors alike. In this stage, you check for the MVP from both sides and find the changes to be made. Besides usability, testing is also done to see how stable the app is while performing. Testing should involve heavy load condition monitoring to see whether it survives real-life scenarios.
- Step 5 Launch: After all the final feedback and the changes are done, the app is ready for its launch. Launch doesn’t only mean uploading your app to the store. Maintaining the app so that your clients do not face any technical issues or glitches. Regular apps are a must for your app to stay on top, especially in the Health industry.
Why choose Ahex technologies to build your App:
Some might say that building a doctor appointment app is very time-consuming and takes a lot of effort. While teaming up with us you are avoiding all the hassles of doing things yourselves. We handle all the software development steps so that you can come up with outside-the-box ideas to implement.
Over the span of years, Ahex has helped many health care startups to build custom software that aligns with their processes. Whatever features you want to have in your app Ahex technologies can help you make it happen. Let’s get in touch to discuss more.