15 Must-have Telehealth App Features for Doctors and Patients

According to the IQVIA report, there are more than 350,000 digital healthcare apps available on the market today. It's obvious that each one of these apps comes with its own set of telehealth application features. Mental health apps offer relaxation techniques, sleep trackers, and in-app rewards, while telehealth products may come with symptom checkers, medication trackers, and in-app chats.

So, how to figure out which telemedicine mobile app features to introduce into your app? For today's blog, we've gathered a list of the most common features of telemedicine apps to give you a better idea of which functionality might be suitable for your product.

Telemedicine App Features for Doctors

1. Doctor Profile

This is a page where all the information about a particular healthcare professional gets stored. Aside from some general stuff, such as profile photo, name, educational qualifications, and medical specialty, the doctor's profile may also feature medical license details, the number of years of experience, as well as clinics (current and past) where the physician provides their services.

2. Patient History and Electronic Medical Records (EMR)

EMR is basically your CRM (client relationship management) system but for healthcare. It is used to keep the information regarding a patient's visits, diagnosis, and other medical data all in one place. The goal of EMR is to help doctors get rid of tons of paperwork they have to deal with on a daily basis.

Aside from that, the EMR also helps to regulate security issues, such as unauthorized access to patient records. For example, developers can equip EMR with different access levels, making it possible to ensure that only a particular physician can access the patient's whole card.

3. Appointment Management and Calendar Integration

The patient scheduling tool is yet another valuable feature for telemedicine products. With this functionality, doctors can schedule patients for virtual visits, telehealth exams, seasonal vaccinations, follow-up consultations, and recurring appointments.

Whether it is a standalone product or a built-in feature, the online appointment system should allow for access from different offices and feature cross-schedule integration with other medical offices or clinics (where a patient gets healthcare services). Additionally, the calendar may be accessible for patients as well, to allow them to self-schedule their visits.

4. Remote patient monitoring (RPM)

The RPM module is extremely important for those cases that require ongoing observation of a patient's health. Chronic illnesses (such as diabetes or high cholesterol levels) or heavy diseases (such as cancer or blood infections) require doctors to stay in touch with the patient 24/7.

This can be done with the help of wearables or other IoMT devices. However, it's up to app developers to ensure that the app can integrate with such devices and provide healthcare professionals with a secure and continuous flow of data.

5. E-prescriptions

One of the critical telemedicine app features for doctors allows physicians to write, edit, manage, review and send drug prescriptions without meeting with the patient in person. E-prescribing allows for streamlining the entire medication administrative process, making it more secure and efficient for healthcare facilities.

The e-prescription system integrates with the EHR system of a hospital, and once a doctor compiles a new medication order, sends it to the pharmacy of the patient's choice or the one with a doorstep delivery option. All in a secure and controlled way.

Aside from that, the e-prescription system can store information about prior prescriptions, patient insurance providers, and a list of pharmacies to which medication orders were issued.

6. Video conferencing

The functionality of video conferencing in telehealth products should go far beyond basic solutions for video calls (Zoom or FaceTime). Aside from such features as a waiting room, meeting recording, or file exchange, the video conferencing tool for healthcare should also offer a knowledge base where users can access the necessary educational materials, reports, and analytics, where physicians can find all the patient-related information (personal data, call history, billing information, etc.), and even a scheduling option to allow doctors and patients to set up the next online meeting.

7. Internal data exchange

This feature would be especially helpful in those situations where multiple physicians are involved in the delivery of healthcare services for a single patient. Giving them the means to promptly share information and updates on the current state of a patient would make medical treatment faster and more efficient. Here, however, it's important to ensure that the patient stays 100% aware of how their data are processed and shared.

Telemedicine App Features for Patients

8. Profile page

An essential part of a system that contains all the necessary information about the patient, such as their name, age, gender, address, phone number, email, picture, and alternative contact information in case of an emergency.

9. Dashboards

Adding dashboards to the app may be beneficial for both patients and doctors. For patients, dashboards may feature a history of visits, current prescriptions, and display doctor's recommendations from previous appointments.

On one hand, dashboards serve as a storefront of the app, showing UI and forming a general perception of a particular healthcare product. On the other hand, however, they help to ensure that users don't get lost among numerous lists and chunks of medical data — by providing all this information in an easy and understandable way.

10. Symptom checker

A symptom checker may work as one of the auxiliary features of a telemedicine app for patients, helping them track symptoms and stay aware of their health condition at any given moment of time.

This functionality works as follows: the app takes a user through a series of questions to determine their current state of health, and based on answers provides the patient with suggestions regarding their diagnosis.

The app should also compile a corresponding report and automatically send it to the doctor — only a healthcare professional can make the final decision about the diagnosis.

11. Book an appointment

Patients should be able to book a visit to a doctor right from the app. This module, for example, can be combined with other telemedicine app features for patients, such as Calendar where users get to see available slots in the doctor's schedule and book the appointment accordingly.

The booking system can also be enhanced with the search feature and filters to help users find the healthcare specialist who best fits their needs.

12. Built-in chat

The telemedicine app can feature a video tool for live communication with doctors, as well as text chat to allow patients to get their questions answered quickly in cases where there's no need for an hour-long medical consultation.

When adding a chat section to an app, it's necessary to provide patients with the ability to not only send messages but also attach photos, video files, documents, etc. Since we're talking about healthcare, the quality of the media plays a significant role, so the developers need to also ensure the high quality of the files that users send.

13. Push notifications

It's no secret that many users consider notifications an annoying feature; however, for healthcare products this functionality is crucial. Alerts and notifications may remind patients of upcoming visits and medication procedures. They may also be used to inform patients about test results and necessary precautions or preventative measures for their medical condition.

Another advantage of the push notifications for telemedicine products is assisting patients who look for medicine that is currently out of stock. The app can send a message saying "the medicine 'X' you were looking for is now available" or provide them with the contact information of brick-and-mortar pharmacy stores that have this medication in stock.

14. Payment gateway

Integrating in-app transactions is essential for providing patients with seamless UX and ensuring they can pay for healthcare services without leaving an app. For disabled users and elderly people, this feature would be important.

Aside from the integration of the most popular payment options, such as credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, and Google Pay — recently, telemedicine apps even started to offer to pay for doctor's services with cryptocurrency — the developers may also allow healthcare providers to give their patients coupons, discount codes, and use those at the checkout.

15. Rankings & Reviews

Rankings and reviews may come in the form of a stand-alone feature or as an extension of a booking system. Aside from the actual ratings, this block should also give patients access to all the information about the physician — their photo, name, gender, specialty, rates, etc.

These features of telehealth apps may be merged with the search module that will put doctors with the best ratings higher in the search list. Aside from that, it would also be a great idea to add a feedback section where users can leave their reviews for a particular healthcare professional.

Consider Lunka.tech Your Partner

Telemedicine is one of the industries in which our team has significant expertise. Being involved in the development of dozens of different telehealth products has helped us to obtain the necessary know-how and sharpen the skills required for carrying out enterprise-level projects.

If you want to see what outcomes you can achieve with our telemedicine app development services, check our portfolio for completed projects. Some of the most recent are:

• Match Fit Pass — the mobile app that combines features of telemedicine software and a ticketing platform. The main idea was to develop a product that would allow users on one hand to buy tickets for sports matches, and on the other allow them to order PCR/vaccination tests right from the app (to be able to attend matches during COVID-19).
• Bianu — the app that helps pregnant women maintain comfort during pregnancy by providing them with relevant nutrition recommendations. With the help of input data, Bianu determines the pregnancy trimester and compiles a personalized list of nutrition elements and supplements for the pregnant woman.

Final Thoughts

As you see, there are a lot of telemedicine app features that you can choose from for your telehealth project. Keep in mind, though, that your app shouldn't be limited to only the must-have features of a telemedicine app described above, nor be expected to have all listed features of a telemedicine app for doctors and patients — for example, there's no need of adding a symptom tracker if this data won't be assessed by a physician.

Start by focussing on your needs first, and add only those telehealth software features that are critical for your telehealth app. For all other questions regarding the integration of telemedicine application features and telemedicine app development in general, reach out to Lunka.tech. We're well versed in creating digital products for the healthcare market and can help with your project, regardless of its complexity.

FAQ

What do patients want in a mobile telemedicine app?

When creating a telemedicine app focus on usability. The app should be functional and offer a convenient registration and login process. It should be easy to use and able to facilitate a seamless communication process between doctor and patient. The accessibility should not be overlooked either, so make sure that people with disabilities do not experience any difficulties when using your product.

What do doctors need in a telehealth app?

All telehealth app features for doctors should be centered around one main goal which is making the work of the healthcare specialist easier and taking the burden of mundane tasks off their shoulders. With that in mind, the telehealth application should offer doctors clear navigation, a flexible appointment system, easy access to patient records, and convenient tools for quality communication with a patient.

Are telemedicine apps private and secure?

It all depends on what security standards and protocols developers follow when developing a telehealth product. Since telemedicine apps deal with sensitive data (medical records, credit card information, etc.) the security standards have to be set high. Two-factor authentication, SSL, data encryption, and compliance with GDPR and HIPAA guidelines are a must in such products.

How do telehealth apps make money?

There are different ways developers can generate revenue from a telehealth product. It all depends on the business model they choose to implement. It can be in-app advertising where developers make money by showing ads from third-party providers in their product. Another option is to go freemium — distribute a free demo version of the telehealth app and allow users to access advanced functionality for an extra fee. One quite popular monetization model for telehealth apps is subscription when users are charged on a recurring basis (monthly or yearly). For more information about monetization models read here: Telehealth Application: Process, Steps, Technologies.

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