5 of Jun 2022
9 min
How much does it cost to develop a telemedicine app? This might be one of the first questions that pop up when you decide to develop your own project, and the long story is short: there's no definite answer as the size of the app development budget is assessed for each project individually.
However, there are still ways to predicte future expenses even without taking a calculator in your hands. In this post, we'll go through the main factors that influence telemedicine app development pricing, and show you how to estimate telemedicine app development costs in particular.
What Factors Influence the Telehealth Application Development Costs
App functionality
The app development budget greatly depends on the number of features you want to integrate. To keep development costs within a budget it's better to divide all the features into two categories — primary (core) and secondary — and start working only on the first group at the beginning. The secondary features could be added in future updates.
Keep in mind that the app's functionality may also be affected by the area of its use. For example, if we're talking about the health solution for internal hospital operations only, this will definitely need to have fewer features compared to a telehealth product for the general public that relies on numerous external APIs, third-party components, etc.
UI/UX
The amount of resources that you'll need to invest in the app design is directly proportional to its complexity. Obviously, the development of some basic design with the help of ready-made elements and templates will take much less time compared to a design that uses unique font styles, graphic components created from scratch, and some 'non-conventional' UI shapes, and schemes, etc.
At the same time, there's no rule that says the app design should be expensive for the app to become effective — oftentimes minimalistic designs perform more effectively compared to the overcomplicated interfaces. So, in terms of UI/UX, we'd recommend focusing on your resources first, not the design complexity.
App development team
When it comes to picking the app development approach, you can choose from several options. For example, you can assemble an in-house team or reach out to some local studio. You also can hire a freelancer or opt for outsourcing development services.
In terms of telemedicine app development prices, the first two options — in-house or on-shore studio — would be the most expensive. These approaches, however, will give you the most control over the development process. Hiring a freelancer would be the most affordable, but the problem is that freelance contractors can disappear in the middle of the production process without even notifying the client.
Outsourcing your project to an offshore development team has the best 'quality to price' ratio. With this option, you get a professional development team for a price several times lower compared to traditional in-house (or even on-shore) hiring.
Updates and maintenance
In general, when we're talking about developing an app, we mean the creation of the MVP version first and then — after the release — enhancing it with additional functionalities. So, when planning the project budget you need to also account for the time needed to develop additional features for future updates.
Aside from that, there's also ongoing technical assistance which is mandatory if you really want your app to succeed on the market. Improving UX, maintaining APIs, removing minor bugs, etc. will definitely take some extra time and additional resources.
Telemedicine App Development Pricing — Who Is Involved
Project manager
This specialist is responsible for carrying out the project from start to finish. Basically, they’re a 'bridge' between the client (or C-level management) and the development team. He or she observes the production process, makes sure that the team keeps up with the schedule, and ensures that the project scope stays aligned with the initial concept (or client vision).
Other responsibilities of the project manager include budget estimation, feedback collection, hand-out of the assignments, the establishment of the timeframes (to team members), and introduction of any changes to the app creation plan (if needed.)
Product manager
While the project manager is focused solely on the operational part of the project, the product manager's goal is to improve the value of the product itself. His or her task is to assess the market and viability of the app's concept; identify the target audience and their pain points; define the app's core features and prioritize their development, etc.
A product manager concentrates on the product strategy and defines the means (i.e. app features) that will help it reach its goals (i.e. create a strong user base, brand recognition, reach projected downloads, etc.)
In some cases, a single specialist can combine both the project manager and product manager roles. This is quite a common situation for small projects. However, if we're talking about a complex project with a large scope, it would be better to have two separate specialists — with the 'project' and 'product' responsibilities split between them.
UI/UX designer
This professional is responsible for the creation of a coherent and intuitive app interface. The area of responsibilities of a UI/UX designer includes the development of screen sketches and wireframes and the creation of a user persona. He or she must also think over a user flow and adopt the design-wise decisions that would allow the app to deliver the best experience to the users.
The must-have competencies for this role are: deep expertise with UI/UX, proven experience working with dedicated design tools (like Figma or Sketch), expertise in prototyping, wireframing, and some basic understanding of coding (to stay on the same page with app developers.)
iOS developer/Android developer
Since iOS and Android are two different operating systems, they set their own requirements and have different programming languages. So, if you are going to build an app for both of these platforms, you'll need to have two separate development teams (or developers) as well.
If we are talking about the responsibilities of these specialists in general though, we mean the same thing — writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of the application.
The basic skills of iOS developers would presume that they have a firm grasp of Objective-C and Swift programming languages, have mastered the Xcode IDE (programming environment for iOS apps), and have vast experience creating products for the latest versions of iOS.
As for Android developers, these professionals should demonstrate good skills in Kotlin and Java, know how to work with Android Studio, and be able to deliver a product adaptable to different versions of the Android system, and different screen sizes.
Backend developer
The backend developers are in charge of all the technical aspects that normally take place 'behind the curtains' and are rarely obvious to a regular user. We’re talking about the server-side of the product, data storage, development of the operational logic of the application, work with databases, APIs, etc.
Such experts have strong experience and knowledge of Java, Python, PHP, Ruby programming languages, and Git system. Being skilled in front-end technologies, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript is also important.
QA engineer
As the title suggests, the main task of a Quality Assurance engineer is to ensure that not even the slightest bug creeps into the final product. This specialist carries out different types of testing (automated, manual), documents test results, tracks programming flaws, and identifies potential challenges that users may come across when interacting with the app.
The QA engineer should know how to work with different test tools (Robotium, Appium, TestComplete, Test IO, Ranorex Studio, etc), and bug tracking software (Mantis, Jira, BugZilla).
It's hard to imagine any development process without a QA engineer as this professional not only ensures the quality of the final product but also keeps the project timeframe and budget from getting out of control.
A Breakdown of Telemedicine App Development Cost
In a nutshell, the telemedicine app development estimation will always come as the number of hours that developers will need to invest in your project. By getting this information and taking the team's development rate per hour it's easy to calculate the expected telemedicine app development cost.
To give you a better perspective on this, let's calculate the average cost of telemedicine applications. Here's a breakdown of telemedicine app development costs with regard to hours needed to complete each step during the development*:
- Business analysis — 50 hours.
- Project management — 200 hours.
- UI/UX — 100 hours.
- Frontend development — 600 hours.
- Backend development — 300 hours.
- QA — 200 hours.
In total, we get 1450 hours needed for the development of a basic telemedicine app. Now let's calculate how much the development of a telecare app would cost in different regions** for 1450 hours:
- North America — $116,000+ (starting from $80 per hour).
- South America — $65,250+ (starting from $45 per hour).
- UK — $101,500+ (starting from $70 per hour).
- Australia — $101,500+ (starting from $70 per hour).
- Eastern Europe — $58,000+ (starting from $40 per hour).
- India — $43,500+ (starting from $30 per hour).
* — presented estimates are approximate and can be subject to change in each particular case (project).
** — average telehealth app development prices for app development services of teams located in this region.
Final Thoughts
As you can see the cost of telemedicine app development depends on numerous aspects. Aside from the most obvious aspects, such as the choice of the platform and design complexity, you also need to consider updates, app development team rates, further app testing, etc. So, if you want to keep your budget within acceptable limits, it's better to take into account all these points beforehand.
If you need more information on telehealth application development costs or need to get a cost estimate for telemedicine app development — done specifically for your project — simply reach out to our team. At Lunka.tech we have years of experience developing mobile products for different markets and purposes. Fill out the form on the Contact Us page and we'll get in touch with you within 24 hours!
FAQ
I want to build an app, but I am a non-techy person. Would that be a problem?
This is absolutely not a problem. Just contact our team, and we'll help to convert your ideas and vision into a concrete technical plan where we detail how your app will be taken from a concept to a fully functioning product.
What platform should we target our project for, iOS or Android?
Taking into account the fact that Android and iOS are equally popular today, the decision to create an app for both platforms may be considered a justifiable one. However, take into account that developing a product for both Android and iOS will double your production expenses. So, here, it all boils down to the availability of financial resources, rather than a choice of a platform.
How can I track the progress during app development?
At Lunka.tech we make sure that the client knows what is happening with the project at any given time. To keep clients updated, we hold video meetings, as well as send reports on what has been done by the team at each stage. We regularly collect the client's feedback to make sure that the results of our work correspond to their expectations.
Can I make changes to an app once it's launched?
Yes, but keep in mind that if we're talking about major changes that fall out of the initially agreed scope of work, they may require additional payment. For more information in that regard please contact our managers.
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