Did you know that the average American spends over five hours a day on a mobile device? If you want to reach your ideal customers, you may want to learn about the document management system development process.

Then, you can reach more users and customers, and you can help them be more productive.

But you don’t want to jump into developing an app without a plan. Read on to learn what goes into building a document management system.

Core Features of a Document Management Software

When building a document management app, you should know what features to include. That way, your app can compete with existing apps on the market, and you can provide a unique service to your users.

Having these core features will allow users to enjoy the benefits of a good document management system. And since many people use these apps with others, you can easily get more downloads.

Consider the following features to cover as part of the document management system development process.

Input

One of the most vital features of a document management system is to offer multiple input methods. Then, users can choose the most effective method to add files to the app.

You should be able to add both physical files and digital copies to the system. Input methods can include using a phone scanner or building a scanner directly into the app.

Manual paper uploads and bulk uploads are also great for adding files. When it comes to digital files, consider building a document management system that works with email, web services, and other mobile applications.

Offering different input methods will give your users the flexibility they need to use your document management app. You don’t have to offer every option at first, but consider providing at least one choice for physical and digital files.

Sharing

Many businesses and teams use a document management system app to share files with people. Being able to share documents should be a standard feature of your program.

That way, business owners can share documents with their employees, either to read or edit. Your users won’t have to leave the app to send or receive files, such as through email.

Keeping users on the app can both save them time, and they can organize files within their organization. The owner can share files with just the people who need access and no one else.

Tracking

Good document management system architecture should also allow file owners to track their documents. A business owner or team leader may want to know when someone last viewed or updated a file and see who that was.

If something goes wrong, the owner will know who made the change. Even if nothing is wrong, if someone makes a significant update, the owner can talk with that person about the changes.

When an app doesn’t let you see who accessed a file, you can waste a lot of time on those updates. Make sure you allow people to track their files and changes within the app to help increase productivity.

Permission

Another thing to include when building a document management system is to allow permissions. For example, a business owner may not want to share financial documents with the customer service team.

You should also allow document owners to restrict what other users can do, such as view the document. Then, the owner can retain control over the file, which can be useful for official training documents that you don’t update much.

A good document management software should also allow owners to change permissions. If someone needs to update a document, the owner can give access to that person when necessary so that the owner doesn’t have to make all of the edits.

Versions

Sometimes, it can help to save a copy of a file each time you update it. However, that can be confusing once you have a ton of different versions.

Consider allowing users to view previous versions within the same document in your document management system app. Users will be able to save older copies, but they won’t have to clog their file management system.

Programs and operating systems let users restore prior versions as well. If you can add that to your app, you’ll make organization a lot easier on your customers.

The feature is particularly helpful for teams where multiple people are working on the same files. However, individuals can also benefit from not having as many documents to manage.

Check In and Out

You should also consider adding a check-out feature as part of your document management software development. This feature allows users to check files out and work on them without replacing or erasing data.

The file owner can view who has checked out the file at a given time, and they can see everyone who has worked on the file. Team members can access any document within the system and check it out.

This is a great addition to the more general file tracking feature because you don’t have to worry about losing data. Since the feature doesn’t require someone to delete information, you can protect your files while allowing staff to do their work.

Search

When building a document management system, you need to make it searchable. If users can’t search for file names or tags, the system is no better than a paper system.

A search function is one of the core parts of a good document management system. It should help users find documents quickly and then view or edit them.

Make sure you add a search bar that’s easy to find and access. That way, people can save time when using your organizational system, and they can get more work done.

Consider allowing people to search by file title and then view details about the document, such as the file type and size. Then, users can get an idea of the file without having to open it, which can be useful when needing to share something with another person.

Indexing

The next essential feature of your document management software is indexing. It helps the app provide more accurate search results when people look for a file.

Offering those better search results can also help with the app’s overall performance. When searches don’t take as long, the app can run more efficiently and find files in less time.

Adding a system to help index files is a great way to help your app run better. Consider using things like tags or date filters to help narrow a file search.

Metadata

Adding metadata to a document management system can also make searching easier on your customers. You can let users search by keywords, file type, and date of creation or edits.

The author name, tags, and categories also serve as metadata. If someone can’t remember a file name but know one of the keywords or who created the file, they can still find what they need.

Metadata is a crucial part of any good file management app. While it can make document management system development more complex, it’s worth adding the feature to make the software more convenient.

Digital Signature

You should also implement a digital signature feature to help people process and validate documents. A digital signature can tell you where a document originated, and you can use them like traditional signatures.

Digital signatures can look like passwords or personal identification numbers (PINs). They also involve public and private keys to help authenticate the signature.

Using digital signatures can help companies save time and money, and they can record when someone signed something. All of that is useful for various business documents, and they’re great for people who need to sign forms remotely.

Backups

While you may not want to think about it, bad things can happen to your file management system. Your computers could all crash and no longer work, or someone might steal a computer with essential files.

To protect your business and your customers, make sure your document management software allows users to back up their files. They should be able to back things up regularly and restore files at any time from anywhere.

Allowing for backups will give everyone using your app extra peace of mind in case something goes wrong. Hopefully, nothing will happen that affects someone’s files, but you want to prepare your app for the worst.

The Process of Building a File-Management App

Once you determine which features you need to add to your app, consider the typical file-management app development process. Like other apps, you’ll need to come up with the idea, hire a developer, and go from there.

However, hiring a good developer or development team is especially important for a more complex app. If you want to make sure all of the core features of your app work well, you don’t want to risk the process by hiring a new developer.

Whoever you hire should be able to work with you on the following steps.

Discovery Phase

Discovery is the first step to developing the best document management app. Consider how this phase might go:

• Learn about a problem
• Understand the problem
• Define the issue
• Brainstorm ideas
• Create a quick prototype

After you have an app idea that solves a problem people have, you can move to the development stage. Fortunately, plenty of people have problems with document management, so it’s a great starting point for your app.

But you can take it further by considering your ideal customer and their needs. Maybe your customers include photographers or videographers who deal with different media files.

Or perhaps you work with lawyers who use a lot of contracts and written documents. You can develop your app to solve their specific issues.

UI/UX Design

User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design are both crucial to the app development process. UI design refers to the visuals of an app or program, and it covers colors, shapes, menu layouts, and other design elements.

On the other hand, UX design focuses on how users will experience your app when they use it. It might include navigation of the app or interactions with your team members or your app’s website.

As you develop your app, you should consider both types of design. The app needs to be easy and intuitive for people to use, and it should look good as well. Don’t skimp on one type of design in favor of the other.

Coding

The coding stage is just as important as any other because this is where developers turn the idea into a reality. Developers can use a variety of coding languages, including:

• React Native
• Flutter
• Python
• Swift
• Kotlin

Each coding language has pros and cons, such as compatible operating systems and complexity. When choosing a developer, don’t be afraid to ask about the coding languages they can use.

Coding can take a lot more time than stages, like discovery. You want to make sure your app functions well, and it can be almost impossible to do that in a few weeks.

Testing

After the initial coding is done, the next step in building a document management system is to test it. You or your developer should have access to the different devices that will be compatible with your app.

The testing stage needs to cover how each feature works and how it works with various operating systems. At this point, you need to look for any issues so that you can correct them before launching the app.

If problems do come up during testing, you or your developer will need to fix them. Then, you can repeat the testing process until you’re happy with the results.

Unfortunately, problems may still crop up in the future. As long as your app works well now, you can move to the next stage of the document management software development process.

Deployment

Ideally, you’d already know where you’ll deploy your app before you start developing it. However, now’s the time to finalize that choice and make sure your app is compatible with the platforms in question.

Android and iOS are the two most common platforms for mobile apps. Consider if either platform is better for your business and your customers or if you should deploy the app on both operating systems.

If you want to deploy the app on both platforms, you’ll need to use compatible coding languages and test the app on different devices. After that, you can decide when you plan to release the app so that you can get it on the App Store and Google Play.

Maintenance

Once you get your app up and running, you can celebrate your accomplishment. However, you need to maintain the app in a few ways:

• Fix bugs as they appear
• Keep the app compatible with system updates
• Add new features

Maintaining your app is vital if you want to scale it and your overall business. As you develop the app, make sure your developer will help with maintenance and set aside time and money to help with that.

Document Management System Development Cost

Document management system development can cost more or less depending on various factors. On average, you can expect to spend about $220,000 over the course of six months.

In some cases, you may not need to spend as much money. However, other apps may cost way more to develop.

Think about the following to help you develop the app while staying within budget.

Developers

First, consider if you want to work with an individual developer or an agency. Hiring an agency, like Appvales, gives you access to a team of developers, so the project may not take as long.

If you hire a massive agency, though, it will probably cost more than a smaller company, such as Appvales.

You also want to consider how much experience the developers have. Think about how long they’ve developed apps in general and if they have experience building a document management system.

Complexity

While you don’t want to sacrifice any of the core features of a document management system, consider if you want to make it more complex. Then, determine if you’re willing to spend more to develop those extra functions.

A more complex app will require more hours to build, so it will cost you more in both time and money. In some cases, those extra costs are worth it since you can get a unique app.

However, you may not want to spend that much or wait as long to get your app ready.

How Appvales Built Document Management App Docomodo

If you want to develop a document management system app, consider how Appvales did that for Docomodo. The app helps users organize paperwork and stay on top of deadlines.

Appvales helped Docomodo develop the Ease-Away-Filing-System, which makes finding documents quick and easy. This feature works with anything from work to personal documents.

Take a look at the details behind this app and the development process.

Technologies

When developing the document management app, Appvales used three different technologies.

• React Native
• Firebase
• Fastlane

React Native developers can use fantastic technology to create iOS and Android apps. Firebase is Google’s platform of choice for creating mobile apps, and it works well with React Native.

Meanwhile, Fastlane helps with the deployment of apps to both Android and iOS. Like Firebase, Fastlane works well with React Native, so it’s an essential part of the tech stack for developing Docomodo.

Project Timeline

The timeline for the project lasted about six months for the initial development. Note that this doesn’t include time spent on maintenance or updates, which happen later on.

Regardless of the initial development, maintenance is ongoing for apps like Docomodo. That way, the program will work with new versions of Android and iOS, and users won’t have to worry about bugs.

Six months is about the average timeline for developing an app, and there are plenty of features. If you want to develop a similar app, this case study gives you a good estimate of how long your app will take to develop.

Services Involved

Appvales focused on mobile development to create Docomodo. Other services available from Appvales include:

• Product discovery
• Product design (UX/UI)
• App scale
• Dedicated mobile developers

All of these services help develop the best document management system apps. Whether you already have an app idea or need help with that initial step, we can make it work.

Problem and Solution

During the development process, we found that a majority of workers between 18 and 54 years old spend too much time organizing documents. This problem is big enough that developing an app can help relieve some of that stress.

Docomodo helps people organize paperwork more easily, but it’s more than a file system. The app also reminds people about deadlines so that they don’t lose out on clients.

It’s easy to import files into the app, from using a scanner to dragging and dropping files from a computer. Docomodo will even create topics that help you organize your documents.

The Ease-Away-File-System speeds up the process of finding documents, so you don’t have to waste time. Plus, you can access it online and offline.

Platforms

Docomodo is available on both iOS and Android. Appvales worked remotely on the project, which made the process more convenient for the owners of the app.

Now, deploying the app to both major platforms worked well for Docomodo, and Appvales can help you with either. However, it’s important to research the market and determine if you want to start on one platform or the other.

The decision is very personal, so don’t let Docomodo or other document management apps affect your choice. Consider your ideal user and customer to help.

Document Management Software Development Done Right

The document management software development process is similar to that of any app. However, there are some critical features and steps that take time.

If you want to compete with the more popular apps, you need to make yours stand out. And that can take time, money, and the right developers.

Consider what you want your app to look like and where you want to deploy it. Then, you can work with an agency like Appvales to turn your idea into a reality.

Ready to get started? View our mobile development services and get a quote today.

Are you looking for new ways to improve the effectiveness of your Facebook advertising strategies and achieve the best possible outcome? Today, with the help of Facebook ads automation tools, marketers can automate thousands of ads with just a few clicks. According to recent research, 77% of users notice increased conversions after implementing marketing automation software. 

Ad management software helps you connect to the right audience easier and faster. However, developing ad management software can be tasking both financially and time-wise. To keep up, most companies outsource this project to software development companies in Eastern Europe.

Appvales is one of the leading software development companies with vast experience building, designing, testing, and deploying complex software, ad management solutions included. Leveraging our expertise, in this article, our experts will explore adtech features and the best online advertising management software for Facebook Ads Automation.

How We’ve Built an Automated Facebook Ad Management Software for Our Client

The goal of the project was to automatically adjust Facebook ad rules in any situation. 

Facebook Ad Rules is a free advertising solution for all Facebook marketers that allows you to design automation formulae for executing an action automatically when specific conditions are satisfied. Those conditions in your automated rules are verified on a regular basis, meaning they are ever active, which helps you better manage your Facebook Ads. 

In this particular project, the user has to authorize with Facebook ads account and then create custom periodical rules that were aware of Facebook data. So, the rules can be set at any level of the Facebook ad hierarchy, including the ad account, campaign, ad set, and the creation itself. 

Only items on the same level can be associated with a single rule. The rule had to adjust input data from a user (e.g. advertisement price) in case if some outcome is changed (e.g amount of clicks or views are getting low) automatically.

Tech stack:

• Front-end: ReactJS, Vue.js
  We utilize the ReactJS or Vue.js frameworks to build the most user-friendly user interface. It has a straightforward structure and is simple to comprehend.
  As a result, bringing on a new developer to our team at the last minute has never been an issue. It’s especially useful when a product is rapidly growing and we need to constantly add new members to the team. This is exactly what we did while developing the Facebook ad management software.
• Back-end: Python, Django REST Framework
  Python codes can be developed and implemented considerably faster than other programming languages due to their ease of use.
  The Django REST framework is a strong and adaptable platform for creating Web APIs.
  The main reason we chose Django REST Framework is that it simplifies serialization. Models for our database are defined in Django using Python. While we can execute raw SQL, the Django ORM takes care of the majority of the database migrations and queries.
• Database: PostgreSQL;
  PostgreSQL allows us to securely store enormous amounts of data. It also aids us in the creation of even the most complicated applications, administrative duties, and integrated environments.
• Cloud infrastructure: DigitalOcean;
  DigitalOcean’s cloud services help us launch and scale apps that run on different types of devices at the same time.
• Containerization: Docker;

Containerization makes it possible for us to construct and deploy apps more quickly and securely. So, Docker allows us to bundle and run a program in a loosely isolated environment.

• Background tasks processing: Celery, Redis

We leveraged Celery and Redis applications for task-queuing and message storage. We used Celery to execute asynchronous computation workloads and execute scheduled tasks produced in the Django REST framework. We used Redis, on the other hand, as storage for tasks and messages.

What are Facebook Automated Ads?

Facebook Automated Ads helps advertisers to target their desired audience with tailored content automatically. An AI-based software optimizes this ad campaign with little human involvement.

With automated ads, you don’t need to guess which content resonates with your target audience. Instead, it gives you complete control of the creative process while also leading you to the best possible result, reaching the right customer with the ideal content at the right time.

When you sign into the Facebook ads tool and set your campaign objectives, the software will automatically generate personalized ads for you. These automatic ads will learn what works best over time and make suggestions and modifications in real-time.

Features of an Automated Ad Management Software 

Here are the functionalities you should look out for when acquiring a Facebook ad automation tool.

Social Media Automation

The social media automation feature is vital as it presents a convenient way to schedule posts in advance. 

You can also publish content across multiple social media channels, repurpose popular content, curate trending content, and seamlessly track engagement on content posts.

That way, you remain online 24/7, maximizing the effectiveness of your social media campaign.

Segmentation

Any adtech software should also be able to manage, maintain, and filter customer data seamlessly. With the segmentation feature, you can classify your target audience according to their similarities. 

This helps marketers devise and implement relevant strategies to promote their products to the target market.

Databases, for instance, can be segmented using ad software solutions based on any combination of devices, behaviors, referral sources, locations, and other demographics.

Lead Management

A fundamental feature of any ad automation software is lead management. It’s the process of capturing leads, tracking all of their interactions with your company (such as email, chat, and website behavior), qualifying and engaging them until they buy your product.

With the lead management feature, you should be able to: 

• Identify prospects
• Track their progress through the sales funnel.
• Monitor potential buyers.
• Personalize content and increase sales outreach.

Security

Security is vital to protect user credentials, company systems, software applications, and other sensitive information from unauthorized access.

While most marketing platforms are cloud-based and provide easy access to your resources, security features such as single sign-on and two-factor authentication can help you protect user data from third-party interception.

Support

Through the support feature, users can constantly interact with the customer service team for any issues. For instance, you can type a single term or a whole question into the support icon to access all related support materials.

Even a short downtime can cause heavy business losses — so this feature provides dedicated support and a troubleshooting team around the clock.

Dynamic Content

The dynamic content feature allows you to display a variety of content tailored to your target audience’s demographics.. 

For instance, you might change the CTA on an automated ad to better match the user’s needs, encouraging them to complete a desired activity or goal.

Native Integration

When developing an ad tech software, you’ll need to integrate it with your existing systems like social media channels, email, CRM, etc., to maximize its impact on your business results.

The native integration feature allows connectivity between existing applications, allowing for better functionality and performance optimization. It also helps you create ads that are highly contextual to the native system.

A/B Testing

A/B testing allows you to experiment by sending two different versions of an ad to your target audience to see which engages best. This helps you optimize your campaign and develop more relevant content that improves your sales results.

Automated Ad Management Software Development Benefits

If you are considering developing an adtech software for your business, you can enjoy lots of benefits. They include:

Scale faster and easier

Facebook advertising automation frees you from the endless loop of a launch-pause-relaunch routine so that you can scale your campaigns efficiently and effectively.

Ad automation software is a specially designed application where you can easily create and manage your creatives for multiple ad accounts. You can create automated rules that can help you supercharge well-performing campaigns and weed ineffective ad sets, attracting more customers and generating higher revenues. 

Saves time

Marketing automation software is a great boon for saving manpower hassle. You can quickly copy and change campaigns and then plan them for efficient dispatch. 

An adtech software helps you avoid time-consuming manual input, saving hundreds of hours creating and managing campaigns. You can also create automated processes that can help you weed out underperforming ad sets, allowing you ample time to concentrate on what works. This frees up some spare time for you to do other tasks.

Take quick, automatic action

The buying process is complex, so automating your marketing makes it easier to deal with multiple prospects at different points in the sales funnel.

Just as a machine is more efficient than a human in terms of mechanical tasks, Facebook Automated ads will outperform any marketer in terms of daily Facebook advertising activity, among other things.

Therefore, ad management software provides automatic actions that allow you to quickly achieve various business objectives, such as driving more traffic to your website or generating more prospects. 

Advanced reporting and analysis 

Facebook stats are just the tip of the iceberg. The platform’s analytics dashboard doesn’t say much about the performance of your content. 

To track marketing spend and optimize your automated ads for the best ROAS you need measurable data. Facebook automation tools track and monitor your campaigns with precision for detailed marketing reports. Through them, you gain advanced insights and analytics that aid your marketing decisions. Over time, your optimized ads will give you the most qualified leads with the minimum ad spend.

Personalization

Personalization is the main reason more companies are choosing to automate their marketing campaigns. Marketing automation software helps you add a personal touch to your campaigns, differentiating your brand. 

Furthermore, creating personalized digital campaigns helps build relationships and improve the customer experience. For instance, you can segment your target audience, then deliver a campaign with slightly different but highly customized messages. Since each of these messages is relevant to each segment, you will realize better engagement.

And under the premise that true marketing delivers the “right product to the right customer at the right time,” customized automated ads considerably increase your chances of success.

Existing Facebook Ad Automation Tools

Advertising has evolved, and today’s publishers can create and manage several ad campaigns for internet businesses to increase conversions and earnings seamlessly and effectively.

Below are some of the best tools you can use to create and manage automated ads on facebook:

Revealbot

Revealbot is an AI-powered facebook ad automation tool that is fully integrated with Slack, one of the fastest-growing instant messaging tools for team management. Leveraging artificial intelligence algorithms, the tool gives you live updates on the progress of your campaigns.

Revealbot is a fantastic Facebook ad management tool that automates all of your tasks in a single interface. All of this so you can sleep well and focus on other important aspects of your business.

It’s no secret that data visualization is an excellent tool for detecting patterns. Reveal Bot has a useful graph feature that lets you graphically compare two metrics from your campaign.

Connectio

Connectio is a powerful set of tools aimed at improving the effectiveness and flexibility of your Facebook ads. The platform provides vital tools that improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts, so you don’t waste money targeting the wrong audience. 

With Connectio’s AI infrastructure, you can increase sales, conversions, and track them. It also offers a variety of marketing automation products. Connect Audience, Connect Leads, and Connect Automate are all proven solutions for increasing conversions on Facebook Ads by a significant percentage.

Zalster

Zalster is an application that brings forth a solution to human inaccuracies. Thanks to artificial intelligence, the application uses advanced algorithms to optimize your bids, budgets, targeting, and advertising to bring you the best results.

Zalster has a dashboard where you can see the current status of your campaigns. It also provides real-time updates via Slack. 

Split testing, for instance, is one of Zalster’s most useful features as it allows you to easily split tests for both manual bids and conversion events. By dividing up different ad groups, you can determine which variant offers you the lowest cost-per-acquisition before scaling.

ReFUEL4

Ad fatigue is a common problem that can drown your marketing efforts and make a campaign less effective, which is bad for business. However, ReFUEL4 is a great tool that can address this issue and take Facebook ad automation to another level. 

ReFUEL4 is an automation tool that leverages AI for predictive analysis. It provides insights as to which creatives are ideal for a certain campaign. It also predicts how long your target audience will remain interested in your campaigns. 

The application uses a wide network of freelancers who specialize in creatives. So, once the campaign reaches this threshold, ReFUEL4 automatically switches to a new ad, breathing new life into your campaign.

Furthermore, this ad automation tool can easily detect underperforming creatives, automatically switching to others that resonate better with the target audience. 

AI Target

AI Target is ideal for marketers looking to scale campaigns from under $ 25,000 to over $ 400,000. The application uses artificial intelligence to help marketers analyze, optimize and scale their Facebook and Instagram campaigns.

With the help of automation, AI Target marketers can manage bids and budgets. They also do this for complex campaigns designed with numerous creatives for various locations and different target groups. Besides, the application offers advanced data integration and enables you to measure your campaigns based on key metrics such as customer LTV.

AI Target has a friendly support team that responds to marketing and technical questions within hours.

Although a free version is available for smaller campaigns, it only includes 1 automation. For complex international campaigns where measuring ROI is problematic, the AI ​​Target team can create a solution tailored to your needs.

FunnelDash

FunnelDash is for professional e-commerce advertisers, agencies, and internet marketers who want to disclose sales and advertising information automatically using dynamic panels and split reports. 

Funnel gathers all advertising data from all online marketing platforms, organizes it, and maps it so that you can analyze ROI across channels. 

It outperforms other messaging platforms in terms of reporting since it interfaces directly with Facebook Ads and allows you to trigger FB conversion events as tracking travel through your funnel.

FunnelDash is a great ad tech software because of how easy it is to implement the desired service. It’s easy to get things going continuously once you have a prospect. But maybe the golden ticket here is that you can have an assistant do the maintenance. 

Create an Adtech Software With Appvales

It’s no mystery that Facebook is among the most profitable advertising platforms today. However, if you’re running many campaigns, keeping tabs on all of them can be challenging, tiresome, and time-consuming.

At Appvales, we have talented developers with years of experience creating functional ad management software solutions. Our focus is on client satisfaction and we have a great portfolio to back that up.

With us, you get great product development and project management services at a reasonable price. Contact us to get a quote today.

Enterprise Software has not always been as popular and sought-after as it is right now. For decades, it has been associated with large enterprises and organizations that many people conventionally deem slow and bureaucratic. 

However, unlike older software, enterprise solutions built in recent years now focus on functionality, ease, relevance, and scalability. This explains the significant rise in demand for quality enterprise app development over the past few years.

If you are considering building an enterprise app for your organization, you are in for a big task. In this article, we are going to share our expert insights to help you dodge the common pitfalls in enterprise mobile app development and get it right the first time.

In case you find the process overwhelming, fear not.  At Appvales we have a remarkable track of building, designing, testing, and deploying complex software solutions and enterprise mobile apps are no exception. We can collaborate with your product team through our dedicated engineers or handle end-to-end product development for your entire project.

Back to the brass tacks, read on to explore enterprise mobile app development in-depth.

Noteworthy Statistics 

Before we discuss what is business application development, here is data to prove that investing in a business or enterprise application would be a profitable move for your company.

• Market revenues from enterprise software doubled in the decade between 2009 and 2019. 
• 66% of organizations are expected to increase investment in mobile apps in the next three years.
• By March 2020, global downloads of business apps increased by 90%.
• Mobile enterprise application market size is expected to grow from USD 48.24 Billion in 2016 to USD 98.03 Billion by 2021, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.24% (MarketsandMarkets)

What is Enterprise Application Development?

For context, enterprise applications are large-scale mobile-based software built for use in a corporate environment. They are usually complex and scalable software built to boost an organization’s productivity through automation. Enterprise apps are ideal for customer relationship management, content management, payroll management, human resource management, etc.

So, what is enterprise application development?

Enterprise application development is the process of designing a custom mobile-based software that aids the daily activities of a business. They also create a user-oriented experience so customers, employees, and partners can engage efficiently with each other.

Custom enterprise application development is different from standard mobile app development. The differences exist in:

1. Internal architecture: 

The internal architecture for enterprise level applications is considered more deeply than standard mobile apps. The reason being, enterprise applications are designed to meet the needs of organizations compared to standard apps built with single users in mind.

Considering they are meant for multiple users performing different functions simultaneously, the software architecture of enterprise applications has to be built for speed, scalability, and multiple data flows to take this colossal workload.

2. Auditing: 

Enterprise-level applications go through an intensive auditing process before deployment because they contain sensitive organizational information that would need to be analyzed.

Therefore, the software must be carefully audited to confirm that it can carry out these business-specific duties efficiently and without error.

3. Security: 

Enterprise application platforms also need a higher level of end-to-end encryption and security protocols due to the large amount of user data they host.

What is the Most Important Benefit of an Enterprise Application?

Enterprise applications have multiple benefits. The most important is most likely how it boosts organizational efficiency. Other benefits of enterprise application include:

1. Process Automation: 

Integrating enterprise applications into an organization can streamline the day-to-day processes and reduce the need for human intervention. 

A great example of process automation is the use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software. 

CRM software is enterprise software that manages client information and ensures customers have a satisfactory experience. The software stores customer details and tracks their interactions with the company to personalize and optimize the company’s relationship with its customers.

With CRM software, companies can create email marketing campaigns using the data stored in the application.

CRM software can help your team run an email campaign focused on each customer instead of addressing a general audience. Without CRM software, this process would be almost impossible due to the massive amount of customer data your team would have to go through.

The CRM automation feature saves time and energy. It also ensures a personalized customer experience which will lead to more profits and satisfied customers. 

2. Enhanced Agility: 

Thanks to the massive amounts of consumer data consistently received across enterprise applications, a company can quickly adapt to changes in customer expectations. 

Enhanced agility enables businesses to get accustomed to shifts in market trends, disruptions in the supply chain, and other changes that would affect the business. 

3. Better Communication: 

Enterprise apps boost the flow of information within the company and also from third-party sources. Custom enterprise applications aid in the communication between shareholders by data integration from different applications and users. That way, there is a single data source for both customers and employees. 

Furthermore, enterprise applications allow for collaborations between departments because of the readily accessible data.

4. Increased insight into the business: 

Enterprise app platforms can analyze data and provide information that can significantly value the organization’s workforce. In addition, the data can provide insight into the organization’s processes. That way, they can easily catch redundant tasks or those that need attention.

What are the Challenges of Enterprise Application Development?

During enterprise app development, the software team encounters challenges such as:

1. Security

Security is one of the primary problems enterprise app development teams face during app development. Since software development involves the use of sensitive client and organization information, the process is prone to security breaches and cyber-attacks which can cripple a business or lead to multiple lawsuits.

As a result, software teams have to ensure that they take the necessary precautions to prevent hackers and unauthorized persons from accessing the data. Extensive testing and auditing have to be done before the enterprise mobile application is launched.

Other ways an enterprise app development company can protect company data is through:

• Mobile app encryption
• App maintenance and support
• Preventing mobile app impersonation

2. Appropriate Resources and Slow Development of Technology Solutions

Most of the time, finding the ideal software team and the right resources to develop an enterprise application can be challenging. In some situations, the best team might be in a different country, giving rise to communication and collaboration issues.

Enterprise application development can also be a long, tedious process as compared to normal app development. This is because most regular mobile apps can be developed using low code app solutions. This solution enables software designers to build apps from reusable components. Hence, they can quickly be made with a “drag and drop” methodology.

However, enterprise apps are usually built from scratch because of security reasons. It could also be because they are made for specific business functions. Since they are built from the ground up, the enterprise application development process is usually longer than average.

3. Device Fragmentation

This problem arises because different devices use varying operating systems, such as iOS, Android, and Windows. To successfully deploy a practical application, your enterprise app development team has to customize it for these different operating systems.

4. Integrating with Back-End Resources:

Another challenge that arises can be the integration of front-end to back-end resources. Since enterprise applications are primarily to help business processes, designers can sometimes neglect the front-end aspect.

However, employees using enterprise applications are now concerned with their user experience. So, an enterprise software developer needs to ensure the back-end and front-end architectures work seamlessly.

Types of Enterprise Mobile Apps

• Marketing automation
•  Automated billing systems
• Payment processing
• Messaging and collaboration systems
• Call centre and customer support
• Customer relationship management (CRM) 
• Email marketing systems 
• Enterprise application integration (EAI)
• Business intelligence
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
• Enterprise search
• Content management 
• Project management tools
• HR management 

A Modern Approach to Enterprise Mobile Application Development

Enterprise mobile application development is a good move that can make all the difference for a company. As such, the approach taken when designing the enterprise app development platform is vital.

Your team must use an approach that embraces innovation so your company can stay ahead of competitors. This approach is as follows:

1. Enterprise Design Thinking

IBM developed this framework, and it is a perfect methodology for mobile app development. This framework combines traditional design techniques with innovative design elements. The conventional techniques include personas, hypothesis-driven design, wireframe sketches, empathy maps, design ideation, to-be scenarios, as-is scenarios, and minimum viable product (MVP) definition.

The innovative elements are hills, playbacks, and sponsor users.

• Hills: These are concerned with user needs and desires. This design component requires that emphasis is placed on user-centric market outcome, not feature requests. Hills focus the enterprise development on measurable, desired results. For every app development project, release hill objectives and one technical objective should be defined.
• Playbacks: These focus on feedback and iteration. Playbacks are a necessary component that will make sure your team keeps the established hill objectives in mind. Playbacks help your team to keep the focus on user outcomes constantly.
• Sponsor Users: These are real people selected from your enterprise app’s user group. Working with them during the development means your team doesn’t need to make assumptions concerning user needs. Instead, they can get user feedback concerning the app in real-time from real people.

Using Enterprise Design Thinking can generate ideas, design, evaluate, test, and develop code faster. Most importantly, you can deliver value to your customers more quickly.

2. Design for mobile, and think cross-platform

Every mobile app has a step-by-step design process. It is not the same as web-based software as there are vital factors such as operating systems that are considered in mobile-based applications, unlike their web-based counterparts.

The design process of your mobile enterprise application should follow these steps:

• Strategy: Every design starts with this. Here, the mobile app builder defines the idea behind the app. Then they decide on a goal that would be the app’s core function and map out a path to achieving that goal.

In this stage, you will be concerned with:

• Defining the app audience/users.
• Research extensively on the competition and their apps.
• Draw up goals and objectives
• Select a suitable mobile platform for your app, either iOS, Android, or Windows. You could also decide to build the apps for multiple platforms.
• Analysis and Planning: This process defines use cases and makes the app’s functional requirements evident.

In this stage of design, you are expected to:

• Define your minimum viable product
• Develop a product roadmap
• Identify the skills necessary for your app development
• Research on the name of your app
• UI/UX Design: User experience is an integral aspect of app development and design. The goal of every mobile app is to be intuitive, easy-to-use, and interactive. There are certain aspects of design that the enterprise app development team must develop at this stage:

• Information Architecture and Workflows: Workflow diagrams contain information on the data your app will display and collect from users. For enterprise application development, users perform various functions simultaneously, which is why you should draw the workflows for all interactions.
• Wireframes: These are conceptual layouts that give you an idea of the visual structure of your app.
• Style guide: Here, the designer has to ensure that features such as fonts, icons, etc. stay true to the brand.
• Mockups: The style guide is applied to the wireframe.
• Prototype: With tools like Figma, you can convert your mockups into click-through prototypes. This simulates the user experience and allows for modifications.
• App Development: This is where the actual app building occurs. During app development, the back-end/server of the app is designed and linked to the front end with an API. 

There are many languages for building mobile applications, but the technology stack you choose must be compatible with the mobile OS platform. These days, cross-platform designs are popularly used because of the low cost of development and their wider reach potential. They allow a designer to develop an app that looks and feels native for iOS and Android but using only one programming language (e.g., JavaScript).

Choosing the mobile cross-platform approach is also beneficial for reasons like the uniformity of design across operating systems, simplicity, and shorter app release duration.

3. Test Everything

After app development, the next step is to ensure quality assurance. 

• Why Is Quality Essential?

For every app, quality is a necessity, and particularly for enterprise mobile applications. Enterprise apps are built to streamline business processes and the success of the company partly depends on their quality.

Thus, there is a need to ensure that the application will function effectively even with a massive daily workload. Apart from performance, the development team must also thoroughly test security, accessibility, and device compatibility.

• When Should Quality Be in Focus?

From the onset of design, quality should be in focus. During the first stage of enterprise thinking, the app’s quality would be a significant point of consideration. And throughout the design process, the enterprise app development team should constantly keep quality in mind to ensure they design an app that provides value and solutions efficiently.

• What Is the Cost of Quality?

When focusing on the quality of enterprise business apps, your team might have to place certain features above others. Some of those features are:

• Function: With enterprise apps, developers prioritize function over form because the software is primarily used to improve business functionality..
• Flexibility: Your app should be easy to customize for every unique user. Flexibility also involves the scalability of your enterprise application. Thus you need to ensure that your API system is robust enough to adjust to changes in the business environment.
• Security: Security is given maximum priority in enterprise apps because of the sensitive daily data transfers.
• Automated versus Manual Testing

During testing, you can choose to automate or handle it manually. As much as there seem to be more pros to automated testing, manual testing is still essential in mobile app development. 

Manual testing is best when:

• There is a significant focus on an effective user interface.
• Real user experiences are a priority.
• The app cannot afford to have app crashes and bugs during use.
• The app is being developed for complex use-case scenarios

The reasons above are why you cannot skip manual testing in enterprise app development. It is best to start with automatic testing, after which a manual test will still be done.

• Preproduction versus Postrelease

Post-release testing is when an app is still tested extensively after going live on an app store. 

Post-release testing is a great way to gauge the overall effectiveness and functionality of the application as development teams test the app’s quality in a live scenario and not in simulations.

However, for enterprise application development, the majority of the tests should be done pre-production. Security issues being one of the serious risks of enterprise applications, it is best to ensure that it is secure before launch. Also, an enterprise app cannot afford glitches after going live as it can significantly impact business processes.

4. Leverage cloud and microservices: 

Microservices and cloud computing are two new technologies that are being used in mobile app development.

Microservices architecture is an approach to app development where a developer designs and deploys the different components of an app separately. Then these components are combined to create the desired application software. APIs act as the bridges connecting all of the fully-fledged smaller parts of the app.

Also, instead of hosting their program data on the mobile’s server, software designers choose cloud-based servers.

The benefits of leveraging cloud and microservices include:

• Microservices are ideal for large-scale apps that consist of multiple small-unit components that should function independently and in cohesion.
• Enterprise app builders are advised to leverage a cross-platform approach because of the wide use of the app by different individuals in a business. The cloud’s massive storage space and data processing abilities would save developers the additional time and tools needed for cross-platform app development.

5. Implement DevOps and CI/CD 

DevOps in mobile app development is concerned with the continuous collaboration of all the key contributors in developing a mobile app. It is usually implemented with a CI/CD tool.

CI/CD stands for Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment or Delivery. It is a tool that enables development teams to deliver changes to a software’s code reliably, automatically, and more frequently.

More than an approach, DevOps is a culture that aims to bridge the gap between the development and operation teams involved in app development. This goes a long way in improving efficiency and speed during the enterprise app development process.

DevOps Best Practices include: 

• Plan and Track Everything,
• Dashboard Everything. 
• Version Everything, 
• Automate Everything, 
• Test Everything,   
• Monitor Everything

Mobile DevOps Challenges: 

• Fragmented Platforms,
• Code signing,
• Keystores,
• Mobile Apps fronting a complicated enterprise back office,
• Security issues,
• App Stores adding an extra out-of-sync deployment step,
• Testing

Mobile DevOps Best Practices: 

• Practice CI/CD and automate builds and deliveries, 
• Test every build, 
• Simulate back-end services to Increase testing environment availability, 
• Centralize governance of provisioning profiles, certificates, and API keys, 
• Use a private app store to test deployment devices, 
• Keep track of the deployed application and back-end server performance, 
• Convert real user feedback to enhancements. 

Example of Enterprise Mobile App Architecture

The architecture for an enterprise application has to be designed to match the needs of the business. It has to take the organizational goals, vision, future growth, etc., into consideration.

A typical example of this architecture is this one by IBM.

Enterprise Mobile Apps Examples

Listed below are some enterprise apps examples.

1. Jira
2. Microsoft Office 365
3. Google Suite
4. Salesforce
5. Evernote
6. Slack
7. Confluence
8. Skype
9. Hubspot
10. Trello
11. Cisco Meraki
12. Amazon Web Services

Hire our Enterprise App Development Team

In these innovative times, an organization without a custom enterprise mobile application stands to lose time and money in the long run. Opting for standard mobile applications might be cost-effective for a small business, but only for a short time. As the company expands, you will find that an app streamlined for the business’s functions would go a long way to boost productivity and speed. 

Appvales offers enterprise app development services to companies interested in keeping up with the market trends and competition. We understand the complexities that surround the development of business apps, which is enough reason why our expert enterprise app development team can deliver scalable, intuitive, and secure apps within a reasonable period.

Contact us for more inquiries. 

The healthcare industry was taken by surprise in 2020 as Covid-19 showed how valuable digital solutions are in solving the multifarious challenges facing medical institutions (Digital technologies in the public health response to Covid-19 ). The pandemic has led doctors to appreciate the need of digitizing the healthcare industry, especially in patient record management.

By the mid-2000s, if any patient were admitted to a hospital, an intern would need to dig through hundreds of thousands of files and folders to find a patient’s previous records. Those days are gone, and most medical practitioners howl at the nightmare to date. 

Since 2009, governments have backed the use of software tools that give doctors more straightforward access to patients’ data. With the emergence of applications such as electronic medical records (EMRs) and electronic health records (EHR), the popularity of patient management systems continued to grow. As of 2019, the U.S. patient management system market size was valued at $6.1 billion and is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 10.2% by 2023.

The rising need to achieve operational efficiency, enhanced documentation with minimal errors, and financial viability for physicians calls for the adoption of patient management systems. While various application developers are available, Appvales is a software development company with an excellent track record at creating functional patient management systems. Being an end-to-end software development partner, they will design, build, test and deploy applications, collaborating with your product team to develop your ideal software.

Leading Patient Management Software Solutions

The introduction of patient management software was the first step to modernizing the healthcare industry. 

So, what is a patient management system?

A patient management system is the set of activities that healthcare practitioners use to manage and deliver on a patient’s rising expectations. It is an approach that focuses on fostering strong patient relationships instead of just treating illnesses. By 2020, a survey showed the undeniable success of the software as 89% of physicians and healthcare organizations had adopted patient management solutions (Read more).

There are various practice management solutions on the internet, but finding the best apps for your organization can be a challenge. Here are the top five patient management software solutions that are known to improve services, increase revenue and streamline workflow.

• SimplePractice software

SimplePractice is one of the leading patient management software solutions for health and wellness practitioners in private practices. Health practitioners such as therapists, social workers, and speech-language pathologists particularly like this software due to its multiple functionalities. 

SimplePractice allows clients to request appointments online, send paperless intakes and insurance forms, set up AutoPay, and more. The application integrates with the patient management software and physical therapy, chiropractic, medical scheduling, and mental health software.

• Phreesia software

Phreesia ranks as one of the most reputable applications for patient intake solutions. Phreesia provides digital tools to help healthcare organizations succeed in a changing landscape by delivering the modern and convenient experience patients expect.

• Jane Software

Jane is a cloud-based booking platform that helps clinics with workflow management, practice management, scheduling, billing, patient record keeping, and documentation. In addition, the software allows patients direct access to medical practitioners around the clock. Some of the software features include branded online booking, custom electronic documentation (EMR), patient reminders, integrated payment processing, and optional insurance management.

• RXNT software

RXNT is an integrated, cloud-based software for healthcare specialties of all sizes. The software boasts features that include Practice Management (PM) with Medical Billing and Scheduling, Electronic Health Records (EHR) with Patient Portal, and integrated Electronic Prescribing (eRx). These tools increase productivity, boost revenues, and streamline workflows overall.

• Clearwave

Clearwave is the first performance self-service check-in solution for medical industries. The software enables fast, flexible and user-friendly experiences while improving practice economics and performance. With proven ROI and real-time eligibility verification, Clearwave provides healthcare practices with a comprehensive check-in solution, available on kiosk, tablet or mobile. It provides fast insurance verification, increases revenue collections, improves data access, and boosts patient engagement.

Challenges of Patient Management App Development

Hospital management system software (HMS) was introduced into the medical industry as early as 1960. It has evolved over time and integrated with other technologies, modernizing healthcare facilities.

Despite facilitating the registration of patients, storing their details on-screen as well as computerizing billing, the hospital management system project faces major challenges, especially in its development.

Some of the challenges software developers can expect include:

• Software integration (EMR and HMS)

Software integration is a procedure where program developers combine multiple independent software to form one system. The united systems work cohesively to improve business operations.

To ensure seamless workflow in hospital management software solutions, the importance of integrating electronic medical record (EMR) applications and hospital management systems cannot be over-emphasized. The reason being, it promotes interoperability between the different systems, ensuring easier management of patient data.

Each of these applications come with unique sets of data: some small, some large. With such data diversity, software developers experience challenges during the integration process. As a result, they may have data silos that act as a barrier to seamless data sharing and collaboration. It also affects interoperability, causing an unpleasant user experience.

• Regulatory Compliance 

Patient management systems store and circulate sensitive patient data, making it accessible to various medical practitioners. To uphold patients’ privacy, governments and various independent bodies have put regulations in place, which software developers must comply with. 

Compliance requirements are different for various regions. For instance, if you are developing an application in the United States, you must comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). In Canada, you need to be in line with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Last but not least, if you are a programmer in Europe, you must consider the e-Privacy Directive.

These are not the only governing bodies. So, before the actual hospital management system software coding commences, researching compliance requirements in your region is imperative. That way, health facilities do not suffer huge penalties, business disruptions, or worse, license revocation.

• Security

With cybersecurity threats on a record-high, the security of mobile and web applications is a major cause for concern. The reason is that patient management systems contain sensitive information valuable to hackers and other unauthorized persons. With this crucial information, they can commit identity theft, among other crimes.

So, incorporating the most effective security protocols during hospital management system software engineering is a common challenge in healthcare software development. To safeguard patient data, there is a need for meticulous planning and advanced testing solutions. Also, the software developer needs to think like a hacker and consider the possible scenarios that may compromise the security of the application, which is also a challenge.  

Key Features Of Patient Management Software

As earlier stated, the main purpose of Hospital management system software development is to ensure easier access and storage of sensitive patient information. In addition, the software improves efficiency in healthcare service provision, streamlines workflows, and encourages better patient interactions, which result in satisfaction between patients and practitioners. 

However, for your patient management system to offer proper functionality and meet the needs of your healthcare facility, there is a need to include a couple of software features.

Each patient management solution has a variety of features that make it unique. However, in this section, we are going to highlight the essential features your software developer needs to include that will streamline your processes.

Let us delve into specifics.

• Online booking

With digitization taking over, consumers are moving online. To tap into the lucrative online market, companies are looking for the best ways to capture this new breed of consumers by taking their services to them.

For medical facilities, reaching the online market means offering an online booking option, for starters.

Online booking reduces the time patients have to spend at a health facility waiting for medical attention. Before a patient arrives in a hospital, they can check-in electronically and track waiting times.

Apart from offering time-saving benefits to the patients, medical practitioners can also manage their calendars, increasing efficiency.

• Scheduling

Again, with technological advancements taking over the healthcare industry, the scheduling feature is a must-have. It is one of the major and most valuable patient management software features as it eliminates the need for patients to visit or call the medical facility to schedule or reschedule appointments.

With a patient scheduling module, patients can book their own appointment online with 24/7 access and reschedule appointments with just a click. As such, it minimizes overcrowding at the facility during working hours, a much-appreciated aspect, especially now we are amidst a pandemic.

Furthermore, since the patient may be required to leave personal information such as their names, phone number, and e-mail addresses, health facilities can leverage this data to keep the patients updated on their recovery as well as offer invaluable information on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle. 

• Billing

The hospital management system solution offers billing modules that reduce the stresses associated with the revenue cycle management process (RCM). 

With the medical billing feature, healthcare centres can streamline RCM by keeping track of the payment information from the time the patient check-ins to the time they leave the facility. It manages patient accounts and keeps a record of all past and present payment information and diagnoses. It also verifies insurance eligibility to ensure everyone understands copays and deductibles.

• Patient record keeping

Overall, good record keeping primarily facilitates the provision of quality services. Especially for medical institutions, the ability to keep track, store and access patient electronic medical records (EMR) with just a click makes workflow easy and efficient. 

The feature offers medical practitioners a single platform where they have a patient’s medical history. With the information they gather, they are in a better position to offer accurate diagnoses and the best treatment. 

Additionally, medical facilities can use this information to defend themselves in case a patient presents a complaint. For example, they can use these records to show why they recommended the treatment options or why they took a particular action.   

• Custom electronic documentation

The custom electronic documentation feature gives access to easy documentation of patients’ records. It helps in data extraction for preparing care plans, planning patient care and education as well as discharge planning. 

• CRM

If you are looking to properly maintain all records for the thousands of patients visiting your facility, including the customer relationship management (CRM) feature in your application is of paramount importance.

The feature offers efficient customer support services, which are instrumental in retaining existing patients and attracting new ones. It tracks scheduled, rescheduled, and missed appointments as well as record updates. With such metrics, health providers gain invaluable insights that the health facility can use for reporting purposes.

Furthermore, it comes with integration capabilities, allowing interoperability between other applications.

Patient Management Software Development Steps

When patients come to the hospital, they should never wait in line for too long or be subjected to a chaotic and disorganized environment. To minimize the chances, it is recommended that facilities invest in a hospital management system that streamlines hospital workflows and processes.

However, before developing a patient management system, it is advisable to assess the situation in your healthcare organization. Identify your facility’s needs to ensure the final product incorporates all the basic features to ensure a smooth running of processes.

Listed below are the major steps you should consider when developing hospital management software.

• Choosing the platform (Web, mobile or both)

Picking the right platform for your patient management system is the first action to take. Look at platforms where you are more likely to reach your target audience. You can opt for a mobile or a web-based application. However, you can also create a management system that integrates well in both platforms. That way, you widen your reach.

• Choosing Tech Stack

Your software’s infrastructure, the scope of the project, scalability, and preferences are some of the determining factors as to which tech stack to go for. Here, your software developer will decide which programming languages, front and back-end technologies, APIs, and frameworks are best suited for your patient management system.

• Design

In the design phase, the programmer will conceptualize your vision creating a detailed architecture for your application. They will define the functionality, structure, and hardware/software components needed for the application to operate as expected.

It is also at the design stage that the developer will consider emerging trends in the medical industry and incorporate only those that are a perfect fit for your programmer. It is only after they achieve a satisfactory design that they will move to the next step.  

• Development

The development stage is where actual coding begins.

Your developer will write code that turns the design into a program. This is the most time consuming and tech-intensive software development stage. The programmer must be keen to ensure the final product meets the client’s expectations.

It is after the development stage that the developer checks the viability of the product in this next stage.

• Testing

Once the software is built, Quality Assurance engineers test it. Their testing procedure highly depends on the official specification of medical regulatory bodies in your region.

Some of the things they look into are how the software transmits data, its safety protocols, security, and the accuracy in its functionality. Since you are developing a patient management system, they will look at its interoperability and its efficiency in streamlining workflows. Additionally, they will test it for compliance, scalability, user experience, and overall quality.

If they detect bugs or any other issues, the software will be returned to the development stage for amendments.

• Deployment

After successfully testing, the software is released from the developers to the users. In this case, it is installed into your health facility for use. However, you will need to come up with an implementation plan beforehand since the developers will undertake the deployment process step-by-step.   

Appvales Can Build a Patient Management Software For You

The patient management systems market size is growing at breakneck speeds. Also, the global EHR market size is projected to reach $47.25 billion by 2027, from $29.16 billion in 2020, exhibiting a CAGR of 7.14% during 2021-2027.

These statistics show the rising popularity of hospital management systems, making it an inevitable part in the evolution of modern medical institutions. 

Developing a custom hospital system software is a great opportunity to create the distinct, efficient and fast delivering healthcare model. However, the development process is time-consuming and tech-intensive. One of the reasons you need an expert software developer.

Appvales, is a reputable software development company well-versed in their craft. We will develop custom patient management systems that meet the needs of your healthcare organization. To further ensure a smooth-running of patient services, we integrate the software with existing systems for a smooth running of medical processes.

Furthermore, we boast years of experience building web and mobile healthcare apps. Our dedicated team of developers will work round the clock to ensure the optimal functionality of your system.

Contact Appvales today!

Living in a world without mobile and web-based apps is now virtually impossible. Today, mobile and web applications are at the center of service delivery, customer satisfaction, and revenue generation for modern businesses. By 2022, the annual consumer apps spend in app stores is expected to exceed a whopping $157 billion, and app downloads will exceed 258 billion. 

Integrating your services into customers’ personal lives through web and mobile apps comes with a lot of perks. However, implementation, particularly cloud app development is not an easy fit. To ensure the development of quality apps without breaking the bank, most organizations now choose to outsource their cloud app development.

Appvales is one of the leading companies specializing in cloud based application development. Over the past few years we have helped many organizations from various industries build, design, test, and deploy complex cloud-based mobile and web applications. With our vast experience in the industry, in this detailed article, our experts are going to expound on cloud app development in-depth to help you gain better insight and make informed decisions.

What is a Cloud-Based Application?

A cloud based app is primarily accessed via the internet. That means some parts or the entire application will need internet access to function. Google Docs is an excellent example of a cloud-based app. The application is hosted on a cloud environment rather than having a local machine or server store its source code. The user can easily access the application online and create new documents to be stored automatically. When offline, the user can still make changes to a file, but these changes will only take effect when the user gets back online.

Cloud and mobile based application development has dramatically transformed the business world. A few years ago, experts revealed that the worldwide public cloud services would grow significantly across SaaS (software as a service), PaaS (platform as a service), BPaaS (business process as a service), and Cloud Management and Security Services. The growth would occur from $182.4 billion in 2018 to $331.2 billion in 2022. 

The processing logic and data storage occur between the client-side and server-side. This means that part of the process will take place on the user’s local device, mobile phone, tablet, or laptop, while the remaining portion will be on a remote server.

But before we can dive deeper into how these apps work, it is essential to introduce you to two main ways of getting your cloud-based infrastructure up and running. 

You can either use another party’s app on your framework or develop your cloud app and host it on your servers. When integrating another party’s app, there’s no need to worry about running your servers. This type of deployment is commonly referred to as Software as a Service (or SaaS), and service delivery to the end consumer occurs over the internet.

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Office 365, and Salesforce, just to mention a few, are all globally recognized SaaS apps that have been changing business over the past few years. 

But what if you prefer using your infrastructure to reach new customers and open up new opportunities? In this case, creating your cloud apps is an excellent way to venture into a world of possibilities. So, Beginning building mobile application development in the cloud sets the foundation for future app development for the company.

What are the Benefits of Hosting Mobile App in The Cloud?

Mobile apps were traditionally hosted and stored on physical drives within the device. Although this is yet to change, organizations are turning a new leaf and investing in hosting mobile apps in the cloud for several reasons. 

For starters, it provides better convenience where users can simply access their apps from anywhere, anytime. In addition, remote hosting has brought better and faster application updates and multi-device usability. Here are more advantages in detail;

Better Performance 

Mobile phone users tend to be impatient with browsing, gaming, video streaming, and shopping. As a result, they’re always on the lookout for something that brings immediate satisfaction.

Reviews on apps in Google’s play store reflect how badly users think of lagging apps. Mobile app users are good motion trackers and can easily detect latency at just about 1000ms, and at that point, they lose track of the activity in progress and switch to other tasks. If the latency persists, they may never come back.

Since every company considering mobile and cloud based web application development must take measures to prevent inconveniences to the users, they should try cloud based app hosting. This is because it offers decent response times, engagement, and a prolonged up-time. Remember, the biggest challenge with traditional hosting on the user’s machine is that it is often subject to speed, responsiveness, and application up-time issues, all of which lead to a bad user experience. 

Better and More Efficient Management 

Management is at the core of all operations in an organization, and mobile app management is no different. Therefore, to get the desired result from remotely stored applications, developers must devise a way to ensure that these applications work as they should. 

Today, companies no longer have to employ traditional management techniques – not with the cloud based mobile apps ready to swoop in. For instance, the company may cease deploying physical management to the remote location and instead use cloud management platform (CMP) solutions to monitor the applications and the services they provide. 

Cost Reduction 

For a business to scale upwards, its operations must be cost-efficient. Companies spend a fortune on tech infrastructure, and this is not about to change soon. However, cloud hosting can make an appreciable difference.

In-house hosting for apps and other software can be expensive, depending on the complexity of the organization. Some companies will require a climate-controlled environment and top-notch hardware. A cloud and mobile based application platform also demands regular maintenance, which adds to the total costs.

However, switching to cloud hosting bypasses unnecessary costs since there is no need to run a physical data center. In addition, deploying cloud-based apps can be done without the need to invest in IT infrastructure. The company won’t have to buy new servers, computer hardware, automation tools, and more.

Reliable Services

Hosting mobile apps on a trustworthy cloud service provider minimizes the risks of unexpected breakdowns, cloud mobile platform failure, and unexpected interruptions bringing down business for a long period. Cloud service providers are better equipped with the proper infrastructure to ensure that your apps are available throughout. In case of any technical failures, they must resolve the issue immediately.

Cloud hosting is also cheaply scalable. Its capabilities can be felt by smaller apps with a handful of users to larger apps with thousands of users spread all over the globe. Moreover, it’s cost-effective as there is no need to build new centers, upgrade hardware, or purchase new assets.

What Are the Challenges of Cloud-Based Application Development?

Sadly, even the most advanced cloud based development platforms are vulnerable to failure at one point or another. For instance, some apps may fail before, during, or after deployment due to a problem lodged deep within the environment. Other issues are unforeseeable until they happen – for example, a sudden internet outage could disrupt user engagement and fail to deliver the service. 

Security Issues

Despite the recent advancements in data security and incredibly good antimalware, cloud based applications development still faces security as a significant issue. As we all know, cloud services are flexible, extending to private firms and public organizations. However, handing over user data to third parties does not guarantee total security, presenting risks businesses must bear.

In addition, cloud-based application development combines other technologies and, as a result, absorbs the inherent risk from several sources. Web 2.0, for instance, is not new to security threats, hacking, network breach, and piracy, just to mention a few. 

Cloud service providers would not let their user’s data fall into the wrong hands without security measures. They employ data security experts to keep user information secure. But still, user data stored in cloud networks is not always guaranteed to be 100% secure. For instance, who can forget the Alibaba incident that occurred back in 2019? A malicious software developer stole user data, including customer mobile phone numbers and user IDs.

Cloud services aim to provide services fast, efficiently, and in a secure manner. For example, by centralizing data, security experts can keep sensitive information safe from breaches. Also, if there’s an update or disaster, setting up recovery and backup is not as difficult as it would seem. 

Internet Outage, Interruptions, and Downtimes

Cloud based mobile apps rely on the internet to upload data and download updates, security patches, and much more. An internet connection may not be mandatory, but the customer needs uninterrupted, good internet access to achieve complete satisfaction. A sudden internet outage could render the business’s services inaccessible, causing frustration on the client-side machine. This would, in turn, cost the business time and money, especially where it serves a huge number of customers distributed over a large area.

Lack of Full Control

Lacking full control over the user data and part of your data does not sound great at all. In most cases, cloud infrastructure is not the organization’s property. It belongs to third parties. The organization does not actually have full control over the physical hardware. But, it may have full data management and service provision.

Performance Issues

A well-written application and strong internet connection make cloud and mobile based application development valuable to the user. However, performance issues arise when the cloud service provider lacks enough infrastructure to support all the applications. A lack of sufficient assets, including data centers, servers, and content delivery networks, leads to performance-related issues. So, a company that wishes to invest in cloud infrastructure must brace for more cloud infrastructure, bigger data centers, and state-of-the-art data technology. 

Cloud Deployment Models

Today, many companies have different needs, and choosing a suitable cloud deployment model is no walk in the park. When beginning building mobile application development in the cloud the company should consider the available resources, storage space, computing, and networking accessories. This helps in determining which cloud deployment model to go for. But before we dive deeper into the topic, what is a cloud deployment model, and how does it help the company? 

In layman’s language, a cloud deployment model is a virtual computing environment. Private, public, community,, and hybrid clouds are some of the most popular deployment models today. Modern cloud hubs enjoy fast loading times thanks to the vast storage space available and hundreds of servers. Whoever runs the infrastructure and the location from where it’s being controlled play a major role in determining the model to be adopted.

Private Cloud

Data and resources are valuable assets to the success of the company. But the company must have greater control over the flow of information to achieve success in its operations. That’s what a private cloud seeks to deliver; more control over data.

The private cloud model is designed to suit an organization’s specific needs. It can be integrated with the company’s data center and managed by internal IT experts. Using a private cloud guarantees data privacy because only authorized persons can access the data. With privacy comes data security made possible by the division of the resources within the same environment. 

But again, all this comes at a cost. For starters, the private cloud only allows growth in a certain direction since it is tied to the specific goals of an organization. The company also has to withstand higher acquisition costs (for software and hardware) and staff training.

Public Cloud

Public clouds are probably the most popular cloud computing deployment model today and not just because everyone’s using them. Did you know that 31% of enterprises prefer using the public cloud?

A 3rd party normally operates a public cloud while services are delivered over the internet. This model is an excellent fit for growing organizations with a particular interest in cloud based application development and testing.

Unlike a private cloud, all resources in a public cloud, including hardware and software, are owned and operated by a 3rd party. They’re normally shared among many organizations. A good example is Microsoft Azure and Google App Engine.

Public clouds bear several advantages, including lower costs and reliability. Besides, there are no maintenance costs since any technical issues are a problem for the service provider. Companies can also navigate around the huge upfront cost and only incur a minimal investment cost.

Despite all these benefits, public clouds are prone to security breaches, are less reliable, and privacy is still an issue. Several companies share a public cloud, and this poses a risk to data security. In case of a malfunction, the network may lead to a major inconvenience.

Hybrid Cloud

When two or more cloud architectures come together, a hybrid cloud is born. Companies can use a hybrid cloud to store information on distinct cloud architectures. For example, if the company deals with sensitive and non-sensitive data, the sensitive info can be directed to a private cloud while the non-sensitive data can be stored on a public cloud. 

In this case, the two architectures perform different functions but they both belong to the same architecture. Therefore, one architecture will compensate the other, granting organizations greater control over the cloud platforms they need to access. 

Hybrid cloud advantages include better control and an easy initial transition to the cloud. On the downside, the integration of two architectures brings about complexity issues. This happens when the companies experience the need to separate data or have two conflicting needs that cannot be addressed by one architecture.

Virtual Private Cloud

A virtual private cloud exists when a private cloud computing environment is hosted in a public cloud. Users are separated from others sharing the resources, bringing about several advantages such as cost efficiency, availability, and, best of all, security. A virtual private cloud separates your data from other users’ data, although some of the security burden falls upon the client. 

On the downside, a VPC is somewhat more expensive than other models. For instance, moving data to a VPC may incur more costs compared to a public or private cloud. Also, a VPC may not be of much benefit to larger organizations in possession of huge data resources. 

Things to Consider When Building Cloud-Based Mobile App

New cloud based applications development technology promises fast, stress-free mobile app development. As a developer, you’re tasked with finding the best technologies. Unfortunately, that’s not going to be easy because of the many options available today. Even worse, some developers are totally ignorant of the available types of cloud computing systems and how to provide value through real-time application deployment within a cloud infrastructure. Here’s what to consider when building a cloud-based mobile app.

IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS? Make Your Choice

Platform as a Service

Platform as a Service is a rapidly growing cloud computing tier whose value is projected to grow from $44 billion in 2020 to $319 billion by 2030. It depends on the cloud service provider for operating systems, software, hardware, and other resources to make the cloud app development process much more manageable. 

The developer gets all the tools, including database management, development tools, and operating systems, but doesn’t receive the application code, data, and the user. Instead, the vendor maintains the operating system components and manages the entire platform for you. This makes it easier to manage the application code. PaaS also provides specifically designed features for apps whose execution occurs with little to no developer intervention.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) relies on infrastructure management solutions from the provider, who is tasked with managing your servers, your networking tools, and storage devices (among other infrastructures) either through a private or public cloud.

The infrastructure is readily available to the company at a push of a button. Also, the service provider is responsible for the initial supply of the system, its OS, and connectivity-related matters. On the other hand, the company is responsible for the software installation, servers, databases, and everything else. 

The good thing with IaaS is that the company has full control over the entire system. But since the installation of software and integration with other systems is a technical job, the company may have to spend some amount on IT experts to get the job done.

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Here, customers can use applications from anywhere in the world and from any device without installation or configuration. A SaaS platform provides everything to the company except the app database and the users. With this model, the provider has more control of the program code and its hosting.

Consider the Scalability of Your Application

When choosing a cloud-based mobile app, developers are advised to choose a platform that can support manual and automatic scaling. Here’s why:

Horizontal scaling spreads application loads and requests to multiple servers working behind a load balancer. There are two types of horizontal scaling that could prove very useful; manual and automatic scaling. Manual scaling allows the company to accept and process more traffic requests for example, during an upcoming event. 

On the other hand, Automatic scaling allows the company to automatically select the perfect conditions for your applications to scale without human intervention. It signals the developer’s architecture to increase the number of servers when there is a traffic surge. 

The Application State Matters

Future applications might soon turn stateless to prevent past work from interfering with the company’s present and future cloud based application development projects. Most PaaS providers will direct you to a green-field development in order to receive the full benefits of an app that lives in the cloud. 

But when you’re dealing with legacy or already existing apps, it would be better to choose a PaaS vendor who supports both stateful and stateless applications. It would also be advisable to store user assets and other files on a cloud-based storage service rather than on the same physical file system that contains the application code. 

Find a Solution For Multiple Geographies

Cloud computing extends a company’s services beyond physical boundaries and into new territories. Even better, its deployment over such huge areas does not cost as much as it would on a physical deployment. The company can deploy its applications to a huge area depending on the vendor’s capacity.

Developers should always go for a vendor who can actually deliver the application across multiple regions in the world. Taking the application as close to the user as possible is a sure way to win over their hearts with guaranteed customer satisfaction.

Finally, invest in continuous delivery and integration in service delivery. Always choose a provider who grants you the ability to deploy your own system and easily integrate it with already existing systems.

Best Tools To Use

In this section, we mention some of the best and most trustworthy tools companies can use in service delivery.

For a company looking for PaaS solutions, some of the best tools worth a shot include Google App Engine, Firebase, DO App Platform, Appfleet, Platform.sh, Jelastic, Azure App Service, Heroku Platform, AWS Elastic Beanstalk.

Best CI/CD tools include Jenkins, CircleCI, AWS, CodeShip, CodeBuild, Azure DevOps, Atlassian Bamboo, or Travis CI, GoCD.

Finally, those looking for IaaS providers can try out Linode, AWS, Virtual Machine Manager, GCP, Azure, Computer Engine, Hostwinds, etc.

Let’s Build and Deploy Your App

Complex web and mobile apps require the best hands on deck for a successful future. Over 94% of enterprises already use a cloud service, whose market is projected to grow by 2023. If you’re considering a cloud service now, you need a trustworthy team of engineers that can see through end-to-end product development. 

At Appvales, we intend to deliver what we promise – top-quality web and mobile applications that exceed your expectations. We care about our customer’s success; that is why our dedicated developers do not rest until your needs have been met. So get in touch with our experts at Appvales, and we’ll be happy to help! Whether you need web and mobile development, product discovery and design, enterprise applications, or other related products, we have it all!

Beneath a darknet cover of a greenhouse lies one of the most sophisticated robotics systems typical of the 21st Century.

Temperature, humidity, nutrition, and soil moisture content are being monitored and regulated in real-time while the farmer, who owns hundreds of such establishments, is in the comfort of his urban home somewhere in Europe, receiving notifications on his mobile phone.

This is how agriculture, in the form of greenhouses, has advanced to the present.

Once shunned for being time and energy-consuming, farming has of late become big business with the introduction of automated greenhouse monitoring systems and the IoT(Internet of Things).

The smart greenhouse is a revolution in agriculture where farmers can create a self-regulating microclimate suitable for cultivation. They achieve this by using sensors, actuators, and other monitoring and control systems that optimize the right conditions for plant growth, achieving sustainable production.

While commercial farming prioritizes the highest yield attainable, the use of greenhouse management software has proven to be resource effective. In addition, the automation of atmospheric conditions rules out the possibility of extreme temperatures, which may affect yields.

These are only some of the perks of automated greenhouse monitoring systems that have further propelled their popularity. Many farmers in developed countries use smart greenhouses, with Europe topping the market. 

Software developers have maximized this development, designing customized greenhouse monitoring systems for their clients.

Appvales is one of the leading software development companies to design, build, test, and launch a greenhouse monitoring application that suits your specific needs.

Let’s take a look at the extent to which automated greenhouse systems have penetrated the market.

Smart Greenhouse App Design Inspiration

Smart Greenhouse Market Size

There is a notable surge in demand for automated greenhouses.

Designing Buildings Wiki reports that the global smart greenhouse market, which was valued at US$680.3 million in 2016, may reach US$1.31 Billion by 2022, growing at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of around 14.12% between 2017 and 2022.

This development results from the rapid increase in the adoption of the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence by farmers and agriculturalists, particularly in Europe.

In another forecast, smart greenhouses are projected to reach US$2.1 billion by 2025, up from US$1.4 billion in 2020. According to the same report, Europe’s greenhouse market is projected to be US$836 million by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period. 

Various factors contribute to this rising demand for automated greenhouses.

Let us dive into details.

• Rapid infrastructure development 

The rapid adoption of technology in emerging economies of Japan, China, and India drives the smart greenhouse market in the Asia Pacific. As a result, these countries are currently lucrative markets for smart greenhouses.

• Urbanization and the quest for urban farming

The prevailing scarcity of arable land in urban areas has led farmers to adopt new solutions such as smart greenhouses and vertical farming for developing fresh produce.

Hydroponic greenhouses are the answer in municipalities where space is limited and fresh food costs are too high for the low-income population. They can create urban agricultural hubs, driving job growth, scaling to keep up with population growth, and supporting local green initiatives at the same time. While they take up less space and use less water than traditional farming methods, they can produce multiple yields than conventional farms.

• The emerging trend of rooftop farming in urban setups

Rooftop farming is another invention that boosts automated greenhouse farming. The new practice uses green roofs, hydroponics, aeroponics, or air-dynaponics systems. It leverages high-rise buildings to develop rooftop farms. These farms retain rainwater, decrease the likelihood of pests and human interference in crop cultivation, and reduce air pollution. Thus, the increasing adoption of rooftop farming in urban areas is expected to be a growth opportunity for the smart greenhouse market.

• Research and education institutions 

These institutions have also adopted the use of automated greenhouses for public and private research. They are the key end-users of smart greenhouses as they carry out research activities related to different flowers, fruits, and vegetables. They also provide hands-on experience to students in college and other institutions of learning.

• High increase in global population unparalleled by food production

This increase in the global population has resulted in high demand for food production, making greenhouse farming a force to consider as the world tries to meet nutrition targets. 

Furthermore, food insecurity is a growing global concern, particularly in Africa, where climate changes have adversely affected food production, leaving the majority undernourished.

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of The United Nations states that nearly 660 million people may still face hunger in 2030 due to the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on global food security. Astonishingly, this figure is in excess of 30 million, pre-pandemic.

• Malnutrition and the need to boost agriculture

Automated greenhouses have guaranteed the production of food in small geographic areas. There are particularly hydroponic ones mainly found in Europe and which do not require the use of much space.

Automated greenhouses can produce food all year round, unlike traditionally where these foods were only available seasonally and regionally. Climatic conditions in the smart greenhouses are regulated to enable the production of highly nutritious foods.

According to a Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations 2021 report, the number of undernourished people in the world continued to rise in 2020. In that year (2020) alone, the number of people who faced hunger globally was between 720 and 811 million.

The world has not been progressing towards ensuring access to safe, nutritious, and sufficient food for all people. We have also witnessed minimal efforts towards eradicating malnutrition. What’s more, the COVID-19 pandemic made the situation even worse.

The need to address global malnutrition will see the agriculture business thriving, and what more great opportunity would that pose if not in smart greenhouses?

• The need to address climate change

Globally, climate change is causing an increase in temperatures, rainfall variations, and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather. These events have added pressure on the global agriculture system – which is already struggling to respond to rising demands for food due to population growth.

This calls for measures to scale up climate resilience across food systems. To address these challenges, governments and agriculturalists are shifting towards greenhouse farming. So, the world can expect to see more adoption in the near future.

• The prospect of a bigger market share in Europe

The population in Europe has expanded rapidly, and countries are importing fruits and vegetables in frozen form from markets in Africa and Asia. 

Indoor horticulture is gaining rapid momentum in some of the major countries in this region, allowing them to obtain fresh produce from locally cultivated farms. This factor is expected to generate a huge demand for controlled-environment agriculture soon.

Europe has traditionally been at the forefront of implementing advanced techniques in greenhouse horticulture. Countries such as the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy have large areas under greenhouse cultivation.

Despite the increase in demand for automated greenhouses, (particularly in Europe where urbanization is at its highest) high installation prices and high initial investment costs may inhibit growth in non-developed countries such as the Middle East & Africa.

However, favorable government regulations and incentives regarding smart greenhouse lighting technology can push this farming method in such regions.

Having established the market value and the projected growth of greenhouse monitoring using IoT, we highlight some of its significant advantages.

Smart Greenhouse App Design Inspiration 

Benefits Of Smart Greenhouse

A smart greenhouse has a variety of benefits, including;

• Increase in yields
  Automation and smart optimization of greenhouses provide the plant with favorable conditions as per requirements. Greenhouse automation equipment makes it possible to monitor the plants and adjust fertigation rates, lighting, water, temperature, and air.
• Protect plants from extreme temperatures
  Thanks to greenhouse temperature monitors, farmers can regulate temperatures. Temperature control is crucial as far as managing the quality of yield and preventing wilting of crops in the greenhouse is concerned.
• Automatic regulation of atmospheric conditions improves the quality of crops
  Humidity fluctuations, security breaches, heater, fan, equipment, and power failures are all regulated in automated greenhouses to ensure a cost-effective benefit to the farmer.
• Saves resources
  Smart greenhouse saves time and money especially if you have lots of large greenhouses to manage.
  Besides, advanced computer technology controls conditions for the plants with various sensors to optimize every growth stage, ruling out the need for manual labor and increasing productivity.
• Analyze and visualize data within a web or mobile application
  Automated greenhouse operations make collecting valuable data such as plant cycles, climate control reports, soil data, and nutrient intake easy. The analysis of this data influences critical decisions on making necessary greenhouse adjustments. Learning the plant cycles will impact planting and crop care measures and processes.
• Reduce energy costs
  One of the biggest benefits of automation is the ability to reduce overall production costs. An integrated automated system requires capital costs, but the long-term savings are worth it.
  Technology has improved, and with the many options, growers have access to automation systems with any budget. Unfortunately, too many growers are losing money due to inefficient energy use, but an automated greenhouse will ensure your systems are working as a cohesive unit which will save you on overall production costs.
• You can take fast action
  Notifications and alerts sent by the smart greenhouse monitoring system to your mobile device allow you to detect cases of emergency in real-time. This will allow you to address the issue as fast as possible.
• Prevents theft and improve security
  Automated alarm systems connected in the greenhouse instantly notifies the farmer of any security threat.

How Does Smart Greenhouse Work

The diagram below illustrates how the automated greenhouse system works.

image source

The key technologies used in the smart greenhouse market are HVAC, LED grow lights, communications technology, irrigation systems, materials handling, valves and pumps, and control systems. The LED grow light segment dominated the market in 2016, used as an artificial light source to stimulate plant growth.

Controllers

The controllers are the heart behind the greenhouse system, where actuators and sensors are connected to the automation software. They include soil, temperature, and humidity sensors as well as shade screens and LED lights actuators. What controllers do is integrate the climate systems with plant sensors, irrigation, and dosing systems.

Sensors

Sensors check and monitor overall internal and external greenhouse conditions like temperature, humidity, light levels, and carbon dioxide. In addition, there is another remote sensor for monitoring plant pH, moisture levels, and nutrient concentration.

The data collected is then processed by the climate control computer. Optimum climatic conditions already programmed into the greenhouse automation software will then regulate the growing conditions.

If the recorded conditions are out of range, the remote monitoring systems will trigger any necessary action needed to balance out the greenhouse again.

HVAC system

Heating, Ventilating, and Cooling (HVAC) systems are designed to maintain optimal greenhouse growing conditions, which vary according to the crop grown, time of year, and local climate.

HVAC systems play a vital role in greenhouses by maintaining an ideal temperature for plant growth, nullifying the adverse impact of changes in the external temperature, and enabling cultivation throughout the year.

The use of HVAC systems for each greenhouse depends on the level of climate control desired by the greenhouse grower. 

Low-tech greenhouses may use shading and ventilation as the primary sources of climate control. In contrast, the medium-and high-tech greenhouses tend to use evaporative cooling and supplemental heating in addition to shading and ventilation. High-tech greenhouses may also opt for refrigerant-based heating and cooling systems, especially for recirculating air systems. 

Vertical farms, indoor gardens, and other closed plant production facilities typically use refrigerant-based HVAC systems.

Light-Emitting Diode(LED) Grow Lights

These growing lights are specially designed to substitute natural sunlight, stimulating photosynthesis and providing the right color spectrum for plants to grow and flourish. In addition, grow lights are used to provide the proper environment for photosynthesis.

Plants use light to synchronize their internal clocks, and growers can use LED light to artificially extend daylight hours, ensuring that their plants bloom earlier in the year. 

Growers can also adjust the color of the light to stimulate growth. Plants only absorb blue, orange, and red light. As such, LED lights that use the optimal blue to red light ratio can fuel a plant’s growth and increase yield.

Equipment status and control

It checks in on system performance and controls ventilation, fertigation, humidity, extraction fans/foggers, dosing & irrigation systems.

The process

The specific sensors to the level of carbon dioxide, oxygen, the volatile organic compound (VOC), air temperature and humidity, atmospheric pressure, soil moisture, nutrition, and solar radiation all connect to remote monitoring systems to provide real-time updates.

Data from the sensors is sent to a gateway through a wireless network. Then, it is passed to the cloud. From there, it can be used in Web or Mobile interface to send notifications, show real-time charts, etc. Agriculturalists can also use it to trigger automatic actions on HVAC, lighting, sprinkler, and spraying networks.

Hydroponic and non-hydroponic greenhouses

There are two types of greenhouses; hydroponic and non-hydroponic.

In its most basic definition, hydroponics is a production method where the plants are grown in a nutrient solution rather than in soil. Over the past few years, several variations to the basic system have been developed.

Non-hydroponic, on the other hand, is the traditional method where farmers plant crops in soil.

The greenhouse and its environmental control system are the same whether plants are grown conventionally or with hydroponics. The difference comes from the support system and the method of supplying water and nutrients.

Data On Climate Conditions To Gather In A Greenhouse

Daytime and nighttime temperature inside and outside of greenhouses

Both day and night temperatures should be carefully monitored. High temperatures may cause damages such as inhibition of growth, fruit abortion, and even death. Temperatures lower than the optimum will alter plant metabolic systems to slow growth and, again, hinder fruit set. 

Humidity, moisture, and CO2 levels

Excessive moisture causes high humidity levels inside the greenhouse. The most visible effect of high humidity is the condensation that forms on the plastic or structural surfaces inside the greenhouse. Leaf surfaces of the plant will also feel damp to the touch, which can lead to increased disease problems. 

Moisture buildup can be controlled by improving ventilation. The drier and 

warmer the greenhouse, the less likely that disease problems will exist.

Light efficiency and sun radiation effect

Solar radiation provides heat, light, and energy necessary for all living organisms. Optimum lighting is critical for photosynthesis and respiration to take place. The use of LED lights in an automated greenhouse enables shaded plants to photosynthesize more and speed up the growing process than in a natural environment.

pH Level

Automated greenhouses can periodically test the acidity and alkalinity of the soil and irrigation water used. The greenhouse water and nutrients applied may change the media pH over time. Correct choices in fertilizers and management of the irrigation water can be implemented.

Soil, watering, and draining measurements

The system automatically regulates when there is a need for watering and controls excessive moisture that can cause harm to plants.

Plant health and maturity

Automated greenhouses enable a balanced flow of plant essential nutrients. If plants lack any of the nutrients required, the system automatically ensures that nutrients are supplemented through the fertigation process.

How We Built Automated Greenhouse Monitoring App

Description

The IoT project was built to control the overall state in the group of greenhouses. The embedded system was made of 4 sensor groups that communicated with the greenhouse hub, from which information was sent to the API(Application Programming Interface). One sensor group was in control of humidity, temperature and was aware of unwanted moisture. Four sensors were creating a virtual room that was controlled by a hub and API. API was responsible for virtual rooms (each room indicates a single greenhouse), had information from 4 sensors, and could adjust humidity and temperature remotely by accessing virtual room remote control.

Tech stack:

• Sensors: under NDA. 
• Frontend language:  JavaScript, React
• API Language: Python;
• Framework: Django REST Framework;
• Database: PostgreSQL;
• Cloud infrastructure: AWS;
• Containerization: Docker;
• Background tasks processing: Celery, Redis

Smart greenhouses are highly recommended and a way to go to ensure maximum returns in agriculture. Despite the high installation prices, you are assured of a return on investment.

The model designed by Appvales is recommended and comes with a proper maintenance and support agreement.

We at Appvales support you all the way to create beneficial products with outstanding user experience.

We can handle end-to-end product development or collaborate with your product team with dedicated engineers.

Our services include:

• web and mobile development
• dedicated developers
• product discovery
• enterprise applications
• MVP for startups
• product design.

You have an app idea. We know how to build it. Let’s talk.

Before the pandemic, in 2018, the mhealth market was valued at USD 34.28 billion. Fast forward in 2020, it almost doubled, reaching USD 56 billion. And this trend is expected to rise even further and surpass a whopping USD 293.29 billion by 2026!

To keep up amid the pandemic, healthcare institutions had to change their approach from being passive to actively adopting new technology. Some of the main factors fuelling this unprecedented growth are the prevalence of chronic diseases, the need for fast and efficient health services, and the current Covid-19 pandemic situation. 

If you are looking to improve your healthcare organization’s performance and increase patient care experience with an innovative app, Appvales can help. We are among the leading mobile and web app development companies in Europe and over the past few years, we have helped several organizations build complex applications for different industries, healthcare included. 

With more than five years of experience in the industry, our expert team can help you bring your out-of-the-box ideas to life. In this insightful article, we’ll share expert insights on healthcare software development to help you get it right the first time without breaking the bank.

Mobile Health Market Overview

Most notably, healthcare software is helping reduce paperwork for doctors and enhance their interactions with other specialists in the field. It also improves patient data management, enhances communication, and improves the quality of healthcare. 

Healthcare apps have helped improve patient treatment outcomes and create a better patient experience by reducing pressure on doctors and saving time. According to Statista, there were 47140 healthcare apps on the google play store towards the end of 2020, up from 22417 in 2015. Furthermore, the global market value for healthcare apps was estimated to be 71.6 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach 332.7 billion USD in 2025.

The chart below summarizes the total global market forecast in billion US dollars from 2016 to 2025.

Health Apps Vs.Medical Apps

Healthcare apps offer health-related services for PCs, tablets, smartphones, and other communication devices and platforms. They are available for purchase from app stores, and they provide information that may or may not be accurate. Healthcare apps are intended for the general public, and patients can use them to communicate with their doctors and other health professionals.

On the other hand, medical apps support public health practices on electronic devices, including mobile phones, tablets, wireless infrastructure, and personal computers. For example, doctors use mobile medical apps for diagnosis, treatment support, remote patient monitoring, data collection, and chronic disease management. Medical mobile Apps also assist healthcare professionals in time management, health record maintenance, medical and educational training. 

The table below summarizes the difference between health apps and medical apps:

Types Of Healthcare Apps

There are two significant categories of healthcare apps: for patients and for doctors.

Healthcare app design inspiration

Healthcare Apps For Patients

Healthcare apps facilitate connections between health professionals and patients. For example, through patient portals, patients can directly communicate with doctors through messages and video calls. Also, patients can easily schedule appointments with doctors, view and download their medical histories, reports, and treatment plans. In addition, some healthcare apps provide educational information to patients regarding diet, exercise, and how to take care of their health.

Healthcare apps for patients include:

Healthcare Trackers

Health trackers are electronic applications that collect and analyze data from various health parameters such as heart rate, blood pressure, and steps. The apps collect data using sensors such as GPS, altimeters, gyroscopes, accelerometers, and heart rate monitors. The app analyzes the data to determine your health status and suggests ways to improve it. Examples of healthcare trackers include:

• Body cardio
• Apple watch
• Fit bit versa

Habit Trackers

Habit trackers are apps that help users track their habits by setting specific targets and monitoring their progress. For instance, a patient may use a habit tracker to break unhealthy eating habits, smoking, and taking alcohol and develop healthy habits such as eating healthy and exercising. Examples include:

• Habit share
• Coach.me
• Habitify

Medication Trackers

Medication trackers are mobile healthcare apps that help patients track their medication schedules to avoid missing dosages. The apps also help patients monitor the progress of their treatment and pick any allergies and side effects. Examples include:

• Express scripts
• My therapy
• Medisafe

Healthy Lifestyle Apps

Healthy lifestyle apps motivate patients to form habits that promote a wholesome lifestyle, such as eating right, drinking water, getting enough sleep, and exercising. Examples include:

• Health pal
• Shop well
• Elevate

Diagnosis Apps

Diagnosis apps use artificial intelligence and machine learning to facilitate self-diagnosis. When a patient inputs their symptoms into the app, it analyzes the data to find a matching health condition based on the symptoms. Examples include:

• Better help
• Teladoc
• Symptomate

Dieting Apps

Dieting apps help patients track their diet by either counting calories or suggesting ways to improve their diets. Some have a tab where a patient inputs their food recipes, and the app analyzes it to determine if it’s healthy or not. Examples include:

• My fitness app
• Paleo
• Carb Manager

Health Monitoring Apps

Health monitoring apps help patients monitor their overall health by analyzing heart rate, blood pressure, BMI, caloric intake, water intake, and sleep. Patients can set specific targets and use these apps to measure their progress. Examples include:

• 8 Fit
• Sleep cycle
• Fit plan

Mental Health Apps

Mental health apps help patients improve their mental health awareness by monitoring their moods. Patients can report their thoughts, actions, and behaviors for the app to track any changes. In some cases, the apps supplement psychiatric treatment and help patients self-manage their mental health conditions. Examples include:

• My3
• Mood kit
• notOK

Women’s Health Apps

Women’s health apps cater to specific reproductive health needs of women. The apps determine a woman’s fertility by tracking their ovulation, periods, and basal body temperatures. Also, women’s health apps can determine if she has certain gynecological infections by monitoring the frequency, color, and viscosity of vaginal discharge. Examples include:

• Eve
• Flo
• Apple reproductive health

Doctors On Demand

Doctors on-demand apps allow patients to remotely consult their doctors, reducing consultation costs and saving time. When patients input their medical history and symptoms, the app automatically connects them to the best-suited healthcare professional for further consultation. Examples include:

• Doctor on demand
• ZOCDOC
• Tele Doc

Healthcare Apps For Doctors

Healthcare apps for doctors increase their efficiency and save time by reducing paperwork. They also simplify the diagnosis and prescribing process and promote better patient management. The apps include:

Medical Records Apps

Medical record apps allow doctors to save patients’ information, including their medical history, drug allergies, laboratory test results, and medication history. As a result, the doctor can easily access patients’ data from anywhere on demand. Examples include:

• Care 360 mobile
• Epic Haiku
• Sunrise mobile MD II

Telehealth

Telehealth apps leverage technology to facilitate healthcare administration in different geographical locations. Doctors can diagnose diseases, administer treatment and offer health advice through voice calls, video conferencing, etc. Examples include:

• MDLive
• Lemon aid
• Plush care

Billing Apps

Billing apps increase doctors’ efficiency by speeding up the billing process and help doctors receive timely payments. The apps verify insurance details, submit claims for payment, and t process payments. Examples include:

• Koreo billing
• Cure MD
• Advanced MD

Medical Networking Apps

Medical networking apps facilitate communication between doctors and other medical specialists. Doctors can share information, opinions, and observations regarding certain diseases and treatments to improve patient care through these apps. Examples include:

• SERMO
• Doximity
• We Med Up

Medication Prescription And Dosage

Medication prescription and dosage apps help doctors to choose the best treatment options for their patients. The apps determine the best treatment option by analyzing patient history, drug efficacy, side effects, and potential interactions. Some apps have medical calculators that automatically calculate dosage, while others help doctors interpret laboratory results and offer alternative treatment options. Examples include:

• Epocrates
• Pepid Peds
• Skyscape Medical Library

Telehealth app design inspiration

Challenges In Healthcare Mobile App Development

The use of mobile healthcare apps has been on the rise due to the willingness of doctors and medical professionals to embrace new technology. However, healthcare software development has also faced challenges such as:

Regulations Compliance

Before adopting the health insurance portability and accountability policy (HIPAA), the state relied on federal laws to protect individually identifiable health information. However, there was no particular regulation on how the information could be distributed. 

Some healthcare and insurance providers could distribute confidential patient information to lenders and employers for non-medical reasons without the patients’ consent. As a result, the FDA and FTC have stepped up to protect consumers by imposing regulations requiring healthcare app developers to establish complete registration and listing and seek pre-market approval.

Healthcare app development companies must adhere to the US’s health insurance portability and accountability act (HIPAA). The act requires all apps that incorporate identifiable health information to protect patient privacy by limiting the disclosure of protected health information without patient consent. In addition, in Canada, healthcare app developers must comply with PIPEDA, while in Europe, they must comply with Data Protection Directive 1995/46/EC and the e-Privacy Directive 2002/58/EC/ IEC 62304.

Security Of Patient Data

During healthcare application development, companies must ensure the protection of patient data. Healthcare apps collect confidential patient information that could be a target for hacking and cyber attacks. Therefore, healthcare app development companies should have in place a plan to protect patient data. For instance, companies must put in place comprehensive security measures such as training personnel to handle patient data without breach. In addition, they must perform regular risk assessments to identify security gaps, restrict access to private patient data and use virtual private networks (VPN) to prevent a data breach.

API & Integration

Healthcare software should have high interoperability to integrate with other software in the healthcare network. Therefore, the apps should have an API that allows data transfers across various apps. 

However, because of multiple technologies, an API needs customization according to a particular health app. Also, an app can have multiple APIs to connect to different services. Due to regular system updates, maintaining various APIs may be costly because certain attributes may change in the process. Besides, it may be challenging to transform data into a readable form and test multiple APIs in one app.

Accessibility

Healthcare apps should have a user-friendly interface to allow accessibility by all patients. The apps should be accessible across all digital platforms, including on mobile phones. In addition, it should be easy and quick to access by all patients in emergency cases. However, due to the diverse audience for healthcare software, it may be a challenge to develop apps that are accessible to all. 

Most mhealth apps are engineered for people without disabilities. For example, people with visual or hearing limitations may not benefit from mobile medical apps that do not support people with disabilities. 

Besides, accessibility challenges may also affect people in remote areas who may not access software apps due to a lack of power and internet services.

Basic Healthcare App Development Steps

Developing a healthcare app is more than just writing lines of code. It involves various healthcare app development steps like mobile app development, design, and application testing. Below is a step by step guide on healthcare mobile app development:

Step 1: Idea Validation

It’s essential to conduct market research before developing a healthcare app.  First, identify your target audience in terms of age, income, and lifestyle. Second, identify a gap in the market that your healthcare app could fill and identify problems that your app could solve. Lastly, conduct competitor research to determine what their apps lack and what you can do to make a unique app that outshines the competition.

Step 2: Choose The Business Model

Choose the best business model to monetize your app. You can choose a monetization strategy from the following  business models:

Freemium

Freemium business model offers a free and paid version of the app. The free version consists of the essential app functions, while the premium version allows users to access more advanced app functions.

Certified Content

In this model, users have free access to restricted content, after which they can subscribe to access the certified content. 

Registration & Subscription Fees

In this monetization model, users have to pay registration and subscription fees to stay connected. The model suits healthcare apps that connect doctors with patients.

Paid Apps

Paid apps have no free version. Instead, they provide quality content that users cannot get from anywhere else.

Step 3: Choosing The Platform

Based on your target audience and the solution you want to provide, decide if you want an app for mobile, web, or both. Consider the functionality of your app and choose the best platform that can allow access for multiple users.

Step 4: Choosing Tech Stack

Choosing a tech stack impacts your app’s performance, cost of development, and maintenance cost. The tech stack for healthcare apps include:

MEAN + Swift

MEAN is a collection of javascript technologies for web applications development. It contains solutions to support dynamic websites and apps such as Mongo DB (database), Express Js( backend framework), Angular js. ( frontend),and Node js (javasript). On the other hand, Swift stack is a data storage and management platform that works with enterprises that require data storage services.

Kotlin

Kotlin is the Javascript alternative for creating android applications. It combines functional programming features with object-related features and focuses on safety, interoperability, and clarity. More importantly, it uses less coding, has more readability, and is Javascript compatible.

React Native For IOS And Android Apps

React Native is an open-source mobile application framework that creates natively rendering mobile apps for IOS and android. It’s a native of Javascript and shares codes between platforms, making it easy to develop android and IOS apps simultaneously.

Step 5: Design

The design describes the appearance of your app. Design a user interface that allows easy access by users. Ensure to choose the right colors, font sizes, and button shapes according to your target audience’s needs. Also, design a healthcare app that creates a seamless experience for the end-users.

Designing good UX and UI designs captivates users that could turn into subscribers. Also, users are more likely to recommend your app if it’s easy to use and provides a positive user experience. Besides, it saves users time, increases positive ratings on the app store, and increases satisfied customers.

Development

The development stage puts all the previous processes into practice. Employ your healthcare app development team or hire the services of healthcare app developers for the actual programming and coding for your app.

Testing

When your app is finally ready, test it to determine if it works as intended and meets your expectations. Ensure that it complies with the industry regulations and standards by subjecting it to system audits, performance evaluations, acceptance tests, and debugging. At this stage, ensure that all the security systems are in place to protect user data privacy. Finally, carry out a beta test on the app and collect feedback on how to improve it.

Deployment

Avail your app to your target through your desired platform. For example, spread awareness of your app through social media and advertise it to your friends, family, and colleagues. 

How Much Does A Healthcare App Cost?

Many factors determine the cost of a healthcare app. First, consider the features you want in the app and how advanced they are. Other factors include technology and framework, and app design. Considering the above factors, it can take 1000 to 3000 hours to develop an app with:

• 1 business analyst
• 1 UX/UI designer
• 1 Backend developer
• 1 QA
• 1 Project manager

It will cost you roughly $ 60000 to $150000, but you can get a minimum viable product at $ 30-40000. Then, you can decide to find your ideal software developer.

Hiring app development experts like Appvales is beneficial because it saves time. It also eliminates the cost of vetting potential freelance developers or building an in-house team. In addition, our team of experts is ready to develop an app custom-made to your company’s needs. Contact us now to get a quotation.

Choosing A Healthcare App Development Company: Tips & Things To Pay Attention To

When it comes to choosing a healthcare app development company, pay close attention to the following factors:

Location

Decide whether to work with a local or international company. Working with local providers has potential benefits and downsides too. For example, a local provider has a better understanding of the corporate world. On the other hand, an international app development company may bring a broader knowledge base and a more comprehensive network of partners.

Track Record

The best health app development company should have a proven track record of delivering quality products. In addition, it should have a deep understanding of the app market and deliver an end product that meets the market standards and demands. Find out a company track record through evidence of healthcare apps they have developed before, the number of completed projects, and clients’ size and quality.

Testimonials

Read through the customer review pages for healthcare software companies to know a company’s capability to deliver quality products. From the testimonials, you will learn about a company’s quality of delivery, time taken to complete projects, and overall customer satisfaction.

Security

It’s essential to guarantee the security of healthcare apps because they deal with sensitive information. Thus, ensure that the company complies with information security standards set by HIPAA, PIPEDA, and other regulatory bodies in different countries.

Size

Choose a company with enough resources, expertise, and workforce to handle big, small, and complex projects. Big and mid-sized companies could make an excellent choice in this case.

Price

Consider working with healthcare app developers that charge reasonable prices with the estimated time. For instance, a company may charge lower prices but take more time to complete the project. Considering that you are paying per the number of hours taken, you will end up paying more. On the other hand, a company may charge a higher hourly rate but take fewer hours to complete the same project.

Conclusion

There is a rising demand for healthcare apps to increase efficiency for doctors while saving time and costs for patients. As a result, the global market value for healthcare apps is estimated to rise by 2025, allowing app developers to create new apps to satisfy the demand. 

If you have an idea for a health app, contact us to get you started. We have a team of qualified software engineers with more than five years of experience building web and mobile apps.

For decades, the healthcare industry has always been the last industry to catch app with technology. However, with the advent of the pandemic, this is now history. Serving as a wake-up call, the pandemic dramatically triggered the shift of the healthcare industry to telemedicine platform development at rates previously anticipated to take years.

Today eHealth services have shifted from being nice-to-have to a must-have. According to the American Medical Association and American Wellness Council report, “nearly 75% of all doctor, urgent care, and ER visits are either unnecessary or could be handled safely and effectively over the phone or video.” 

This realization has given rise to the wide adoption of telemedicine, with many healthcare facilities embracing the development of telemedicine mobile apps. According to a Grand View Research report, as of 2020, the telemedicine market size had an estimated value of USD 55.9 billion and is expected to hit USD 298.9 billion by 2028.

The American Hospital Association also reports that 76% of U.S hospitals already have a telehealth program to connect patients with medical practitioners. Also, with more than 90% of hospital executives confirming their organizations already have or are developing a telehealth mobile app, there is no better time to consider telemedicine software development for your organization. 

At Appvales, we have helped several companies develop complex software products, telemedicine app included. We have a track record of implementing secure and regulatory compliant mobile applications and other technologies for healthcare providers. With a pool of talented telehealth software developers, you can rest assured of an application tailored-made to the needs of your facility.

U.S telemedicine market size forecast (2014-2025) Statista.

There are enormous benefits of adopting and implementing this healthcare delivery model. This article will explain these benefits, showing you how to develop a telemedicine app for your organization, and the features you should include. Also, it will outline the necessary regulatory standards your app should comply with, the cost of telemedicine software development, and why you should trust Appvales to create one for your organization.

Benefits of Telemedicine App

Telemedicine applications offer a myriad of benefits to doctors and patients alike.

Let us dive into details.

Benefits to Patients

• Increased Access to Healthcare

Telemedicine allows a greater number of people to access quality healthcare services with less trouble from anywhere at any time, so long as you have an internet connection. This is particularly important to people with more healthcare needs who may find it difficult to access care, such as older adults and people with disabilities.

Also, telemedicine development and its growing acceptance have leveled the playing field and eliminated major roadblocks in accessing care. Now, people in remote areas with few or no medical practitioners can access quality care without having to wait or travel long hours to see a doctor.

As a result of this increase in access to healthcare, the quality of care patients receive has also improved. For example, research shows that telemedicine patients had fewer hospital admissions and readmissions. Also, they are more likely to spend fewer days in hospitals, a fact that leads us to the next point.

• Reduced Cost of Healthcare

Telemedicine is significantly less expensive compared to in-person appointments. One study revealed that patients could save between $19 to $120 by utilizing telemedicine visits; reduced healthcare cost benefits that even patients using their medical insurance covers can leverage. For instance, many in-person appointments may not require further testing, follow-ups, or prescriptions, significantly bringing down their healthcare expenses.

• Reduced Exposure to Pathogens

Telemedicine has reduced the spread of infectious diseases in hospitals. Undoubtedly, waiting long hours to see a doctor increases patients’ chances of contracting, for instance, Covid-19 and other illnesses. However, through telehealth, patients can enjoy medical help from the comfort of their homes, minimizing their risk of exposure to pathogens. In the process, healthcare service providers also remain safe.

• Improves Direct Communication

One major complaint among patients is the limited fact-time they get to speak with their healthcare providers. This is a challenge because patients may have follow-up questions or need to give feedback about new medications that don’t necessarily require scheduling an appointment with a doctor.

The adoption of telehealth mobile apps has made communications between patients and healthcare professionals easier and direct without the need for follow-up visits. This, in turn, helps patients save time and minimize healthcare costs.

• Improved Mental Health Outcome

Telemedicine has had an enormous impact on mental health care for patients. This is because, oftentimes, mental healthcare does not require physical examination as talk therapy, paper-based assessment, or medication management would suffice.

Currently, studies have revealed the effectiveness of telemedicine in diagnosing and assessing mental health patients. It also shows it can be useful as a stand-alone option or to augment in-person visits. 

Benefits to Doctors

Doctors and medical professionals also have a lot to benefit from telemedicine app development solutions. Let’s dig deeper into some of these benefits.

• More Flexibility in Service Delivery

Telehealth allows doctors to schedule appointments with their patients from any location and at a time convenient to both of them. In addition, it enables doctors to work remotely or attend to patients outside work hours, especially during emergencies. As a result, this technology has helped medical practitioners improve and maintain a healthy work-life balance. 

• Increased Revenue

Telehealth visits make it possible for doctors to see more patients in a given period compared to in-person visits. As a result, doctors can bill more patients within the same period for services rendered, which represents an increase in their revenue earnings. Also, it eliminates the need to increase office staff and spaces, thereby cutting overhead costs significantly.

• Reduced No-shows and Last Minute Cancellations

No-shows and last-minute cancellations drain profits and waste doctors’ time. Of course, these can have legitimate causes like transport issues, the need to be at work, or lack of access to child care. However, a telehealth service option can reduce these occurrences by allowing patients to schedule appointments at a time of their convenience as well as reschedule or cancel appointments earlier on.

• Improved Workflows and Practice Efficiency

Telehealth helps to capture, store and process patient data for prioritization and better decision making. This helps to improve workflow efficiency and practice performance. Also, it can improve patient satisfaction scores.

• Increased Patient Retention and Referral Rate

Since telehealth allows doctors to see their patients from any location, it increases patient retention even if the patient or doctor relocates. This ensures there is no loss in revenue earnings. It can also improve patient satisfaction and chances of referrals.

Challenges in Telemedicine App Development

Having outlined some of the benefits of telehealth to patients and doctors, let us consider some common challenges in developing an advanced telemedicine app.

• Data Security

The question of data security is undoubtedly the most important question healthcare service providers ask telemedicine app developers. Also, patients want to know how the app will store their personal information and how secure their information will be. To ensure the protection of patient data, developers should use trusted and proven app development frameworks with advanced security architecture to store data. 

• Regulatory Compliance

Regulatory bodies have standard security measures and benchmarks that organizations dealing with client’s sensitive personal information must follow. These regulations include but are not limited to Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) in the United States, Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) in Canada, Data Protection Directive 1995/46/EC, and the e-Privacy Directive 2002/58/EC, IEC 62304 standard in Europe. 

To meet these international data security standards, you need to engage a competent and trusted telemedicine app development company like Appvales. We have a track record of developing, deploying, and implementing international data security compliant mobile apps for healthcare providers across Europe and the U.S.

We will implement a multi-factor authentication or biometric identification, and high-end encryption protocols ensure patient data security and prevent a cybersecurity breach.

• Video Quality

Telehealth services require the use of real-time video calls to provide care to patients. This could be challenging because of the disparity in the quality of patient devices and internet connections. Therefore, it is important to consider these factors in the development process to ensure you provide images with resolutions and quality videos to all app users.

• Implementing UI/UX

The app’s user interface is of the utmost importance. As such, developers should ensure they integrate telemedicine app features in a way that they function flawlessly on different devices and platforms. App developers must also ensure that all elements on both sides of the app function as one unit and that the style is uniform on both sides. That way, it improves the user experience.

• Backend Integration

A good backend will ensure a seamless data exchange process between the patient and doctor’s app. Although it sounds easy, it is much more complicated to implement because it requires integrating other third-party services like payment methods, location, and more. All these also have to comply with regulatory standards. In addition, this process requires a set of protocols that will ensure an efficient synchronization of data from both ends of the app.

• Scalability

In developing a telemedicine app, consideration should be given to the number of users and expected rise in demand. If you overlook this aspect, the app may not cope with multiple users in peak periods. Also, the app should support the scaling of its server resources to meet the rise in demand. 

Key Features of Telemedicine App

Now, let us consider some must-have telemedicine software features you should insist a developer integrates into your app. These features will enhance the functionality of the app and improve the user experience.

User Profile

Patients should be able to set up their profiles and other health records in the dashboard. This would include basic information like their names, age, sex, location, medical history, prescriptions, insurance details, etc. This makes it easier for a doctor to give an accurate diagnosis after going through the patient’s records. Also, doctors should be able to enter their names, specialty, and experience in their dashboards, making it easier for patients to choose the right doctor for consultations. 

Patient Web/Mobile Panel

This panel lists out the different doctor’s services and health conditions they treat. It also has a form for patients to schedule an appointment with a particular doctor.

Video conferencing

Audio and video conferencing features can help doctors accurately diagnose a patient’s condition with visual cues. One of the major reasons telehealth has reduced in-person visits is because doctors get to see their patients as they would during physical visits. Also, the app should support screen sharing, group calls, and video recording for quality assurance purposes. 

Text chat

Sometimes, patients’ cases may be minor and wouldn’t require video consultation. In such cases, patients should be able to ask doctors questions and get their responses via the app’s messaging feature with ease.

Calendar

A good telehealth app should integrate calendar features, making it easy for patients and doctors to book appointments. With this feature, doctors can easily view their available slots, confirm when their next appointment with a patient is due, and view patients’ appointment requests.

Electronic Medical Records (EMR)

Telehealth software should be able to generate patient’s records, logs, and transcripts of their consultations with other doctors especially in cases of a transfer. On the other end, doctors should be able to access these records once a patient schedules an appointment with them. As such, the electronic medical records feature can facilitate accurate diagnosis and quality service delivery. 

Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM)

Telemedicine apps should also incorporate remote patient monitoring features to help patients with conditions that require self-monitoring. This feature can help physicians track patient symptoms and their rehab process. It also helps doctors detect health deterioration early, which can reduce emergency admissions and the duration of hospitalization.

Symptom Checker

Symptom checkers can help patients easily diagnose illnesses early. By imputing signs they are experiencing into the calculator, the app’s algorithm will calculate a range of conditions that fit their current health issues. This reduces the need for consultations over minor issues so doctors can concentrate on patients with more severe health needs.

Prescription and Medication Tracker

Medication nonadherence causes an estimated 125,000 avoidable deaths each year and $100 billion in preventable healthcare costs, according to a report by the National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) U.S. This staggering statistic is the reason why a prescription and medication tracker should be among the essential features of telemedicine apps. This feature will prompt patients to pick up their medications at a pharmacy and can improve their adherence to medications.

Payment Modes

In-app payment modes make it easy for patients to pay for health services they receive with a few clicks. It should include the various modes of acceptable payment by the healthcare provider, which include cash, credit cards, insurance, employer, or coupons.

Notifications

Notifications can help patients and doctors in many ways. For example, it can remind patients of their appointments and remind them to refill their prescriptions or take their medications. It also notifies doctors when a patient schedules an appointment and when the time is due.

Telemedicine App Development Steps

Now, let’s turn our attention to how to build a telemedicine system or application that is scalable, user-friendly, and secure. The following are the steps in the app development process:

Choosing the platform (Web, mobile, or both)

Now, you know all the benefits of implementing a telehealth system and are set to develop one for your organization. You have seen the growing acceptance of this trend and want to hop right on it, so your organization is not left behind in a competitive market. Now is the time to choose the platform for your app. Would it be a web or mobile application? If mobile, would it be Android, IOS, or both?

Choosing the right platform depends on how well you know your target audience and the region you are targeting. For example, most Americans use IOS smartphones. Therefore, if your target audience is American users, you need to build an IOS app. 

Also, does your audience prefer mobile apps, web-based applications, or both? A younger target group may incline towards mobile, while an older target group may tend towards web applications. However, for a health facility, choosing both platforms would be an advantage since they are both target audiences.

Choosing tech stack

A tech stack is a combination of programming languages, software, and tools needed to develop a mobile or web app. Choosing the right tech stack depends on your app needs and goals. No two apps are the same. 

If you want your app to be scalable, work on different platforms, and guarantee the security of patient data, you need to choose the best combination of programming tools. Here, you need the advice of a competent and experienced software development company like Appvales to outline the different tools and their benefits, costs, and timeline for implementing them.

Design

You must give careful thought to the UI/UX design of the app so it can attract and retain more users. This process is critical to developing a user-friendly app that works well on different devices. Users are first drawn to your app by its design before they check out its functionalities. Remember, many other apps are offering the same service to your target audience. So, your goal should be to develop an app that entices users and engages them for as long as possible. Doing so improves patient satisfaction and increases the chances of getting referrals. 

Development

This is where the programmers begin to work with the outlined tech stack and design template. At this phase, they create the front-end of the app, also known as the user-end. This involves using the different tools and techniques to create a face of the app where users can interact directly and navigate easily.

The developers integrate the front-end with the back-end where data is stored, processed, and retrieved when needed. The needs of the app, goals, and tech stack to be used will determine the duration of the development process.

Testing

Now, after developing the app, it is time to test it for quality assurance. A team of app testers and QA managers will carry the following test:

• Run the app on different devices and screen sizes to see how it looks and performs during compatibility and responsiveness testing.
• Check the navigation and menu button performance during the interface testing.
• Examination of how the app runs on low battery and slow internet connections.
• Conduct security testing to ensure the safety of sensitive data.
• Then conduct a preliminary focus-group examination of the app for feedback on the app’s design and performance.

Deployment

After developing your telemedicine app, it is time to launch it on Google Playstore or iOS App Store. Before doing this, you need to ensure your app meets the requirements of these app stores.

How Much Does A Telemedicine App Cost?

So, how much does it cost to develop a telemedicine app? 

Again, this depends on the needs, goals, and tech stack requirements of the app. 

However, approximately, the cost of developing an advanced telemedicine app ranges from at least $100 000 and can go as high as $200 000. However, you can get a minimum viable product (MVP) built for around $50 000. Contact us for an MVP quotation here.

Appvales Can Build A Telemedicine App For You

Appvales is a software development company with a track record of successfully designing, developing, and deploying regulatory-compliant mobile and web applications. 75% of our engineers are senior and mid-level developers with an average of 5 years experience in software development. Also, 85% of our projects have grown into long-term cooperation, with 90% of our clients ready to recommend us.

Our tech stack includes React Native, which we use for cross-platform app development. Others include Swift, Flutter, Java, Kotlin, Objective-C, Python, Node, JS, AWS, GCP, Azure, and Firebase.

Our top-notch services have helped our clients in the healthcare industry reach their business goals on Android and IOS platforms and achieve faster time-to-market. Contact us to help you develop a robust, secure, and high-performing telemedicine app for your organization today.

From trying to balance the increasing demand for medical care and costs post the pandemic, to adhering to state regulations and optimizing workflows, the pressure on hospital administration has made efficient healthcare inventory management systems a nonnegotiable necessity in every institution. This short and insightful article will walk you through the process of healthcare inventory software development, to help you get it right the first time and significantly improve the overall management of your hospital. 

Hospitals are busy environments — you have waiting rooms full of patients in need of medical care, doctors and nurses, running around in the corridors, and other hospital staff trying to keep records of every patient that enters the hospital. Developing a hospital inventory management system can help medical professionals and stakeholders overcome the above challenges effortlessly. 

Medical inventory management solutions offer hospitals and clinics the necessary tools needed to streamline their operations. However, it’s important to note that since medical facilities do not have the same requirements, off-the-shelf software is not the best way to go about it. The best solution is custom software development. You need a tailored hospital inventory software that is built specifically to your organization’s needs. 

At Appvales, we have vast experience in building complex software.  We are a software development company with vast experience in the industry, thus, you can rest assured your project will be in good hands. Leveraging our years of experience, below we will walk you through some of the challenges in hospital assets management and explain how a hospital management software (HMS) is created from start to completion. 

Challenges in Hospital Assets Management

Before we delve into the challenges, let’s first explain the meaning of a hospital inventory management system in 2021.

What it is 

The hospital inventory management software helps to streamline all workflows and processes within a healthcare facility. It keeps track of all sales and purchases that are done within the facility, thus accounting for every consumable and non-consumable item within the hospital. Having a good medical device inventory tracking software at hand is what helps medical workers keep all workflows in check.

The challenges

Before a medical facility can enjoy the benefits of using a hospital inventory management system, it is crucial to overcome possible challenges that can arise in the area of assets management. 

Let’s take a look at some of these challenges:

1. Lack of availability of hospital information ready to be imported into HMS

Oftentimes, nurses are responsible for tracking and managing the hospital inventory systems while doctors prepare lists of medical tools or supplies needed. And because these professionals have patients waiting for their care, they usually do not give much effort to keeping hospital information in the right format. The solution here is to ensure that all documents and data to be imported into the Hospital Management System is digitized and formatted properly. Furthermore, a medical inventory system allows them to devote quality time in patient care.

2. No systematized approach to shaping medical workflows for all hospital departments

 A lack of well-documented, error-free hospital processes is a major stumbling block that will significantly hinder the implementation of Hospital Management Systems.   

3. Poor compliance of existing IT infrastructure 

Even if your hospital has the ideal medical equipment tracking software available, the whole system may not function when utilized over weak hardware or poor networking facilities.  

4. Lack of expertise

At times, hospital staff does not receive proper training on how to operate the medical inventory system, and some of them might be computer illiterate. 

5. Poor system maintenance and user support after software implementation 

If your medical facility is in need of software development services, especially medical inventory tracking, Appvales is your best shot

• Instead of developing from scratch or buying a rigid off-the-shelf software, get a healthcare inventory management system developed by experts in less time.
• Optimize on cost reduction strategies and increase profitability by adopting the right compliance strategies towards your existing IT infrastructure 
• Get rid of physical counting and automate healthcare inventory management system with a real-time tracking system.
• Obtain a better supply chain and greatly reduce supply costs. Technical advancements assist you to augment savings.
• Save resources and time by making use of cutting-edge, customized systems. 

Core features of Hospital Inventory Management Software

A hospital inventory management system allows the staff to monitor medical equipment and supplies from the time of purchase to consumption. With a fully functional system, healthcare workers can make good use of it to give the best care and avoid being sued for malpractice. You need to know the necessary features that should be part of the hospital inventory management system in order to meet the specific requirements of your medical facility. Here are the necessary features to consider: 

• Supports multi-device usage

Your hospital inventory management software should work on all devices. This includes laptops, tablets, smartphones (both iOS and Android) This will allow your medical team to easily track and monitor inventory from anywhere, anytime. Any team member who may need to check the availability of supplies can easily look it up on their device.

This means your customized medical supply inventory control system should offer a highly visual inventory of all your supplies and easy access via any device. A cloud-based healthcare inventory management software ensures high responsiveness and the agility to make this happen. 

• Knows the exact medical stock available

Your medical equipment tracking software should be able to tell the exact stock of medical supplies with the hospital inventory system. The storehouse for hospital inventory management system is crucial to the healthcare industry because it keeps the medicines. If there is any missing hospital inventory, you can check it with help of the healthcare inventory software without any hassles. 

• Tracks usage

Inventory that is not effectively tracked and monitored can go missing, and where do you start asking at big institutions with so many employees such as hospitals?

Get a medical supply inventory management software system that allows you to know who checked out a certain item and what it was used for. This will help you to easily manage both your employees and the inventory as well. Getting a clear picture of how your inventory is managed is very important for every medical facility. With several users communicating with your inventory regularly, you’ll get an understanding of inventory that has been used right away. Getting this information can help you maintain your inventory as well as your bottom line. Do not hesitate to get in touch with a healthcare inventory company so you can have your own customized inventory solutions medical equipment.

• User-Friendly Interface

Your medical store management system software should have a user-friendly interface that any medical staff member can use without any hassles. It should be so friendly that your team can be trained to use it in just a couple of minutes, even without having to read a complex manual.  The best solution is to make it very visual.

• Get timely reminders when vital healthcare supplies dwindle

Running out of hospital inventory can risk the lives of your patients. With the right management software system, you can set low supply notifications that will automatically remind your medical staff when supplies are running out. You can either get in-app notifications or email alerts so you know when to reorder hospital inventory before stocks completely run dry.

• Control over user access and permissions

Security is highly important. Not all employees should have access to the system so you should be able to get discrepancy reports based on the predefined rules. A good medical device tracking software will let you give access to view, edit information or move items only to those you deem necessary. The software system should allow you to effectively control the medical inventory and audit the usage of equipment and supplies.

• Data Export and Import Capabilities

A good hospital inventory management software system must allow you to do bulk importing and exporting of data. This will allow you to easily prepare order sheets, audit lists, reports, and training manuals to share with the relevant people.

• Real-Time Healthcare Inventory Tracking 

A proper inventory management software must be able to inform you in real-time of all the stock you have, where it is, what it looks like, and how to replenish the stock. This will help you avoid wasting time looking for the needed inventory. 

• Avoid over and under ordering medical supplies

For good inventory control in healthcare, an effective management system should be able to prevent you from under or over-ordering supplies. With just a few clicks, you can get to know all the items that need replenishment. You can also keep track of the slow-moving items and consignment inventory. It makes vendor management, purchasing, and supply much more efficient.

Additionally, a hospital management software system helps you check out the expiration date easily for better management of supplies. This will then allow your medical team to rotate the inventory so that older products are used first before the expiration date and avoid wasting money. The system will help you order only the stocks that you need.

• Keep both care and administrative teams in the same place

Letting medical staff manage hospital inventories on their own is a bad idea, especially if an employee leaves or moves on to another new job. This means they leave with all their knowledge! However, an inventory management system should let new employee access the data and know-how to operate. All information, such as drug ID, price, adverse effects, or recommended dosage can be easily adopted by a new staff member if it is stored in the system.

• Train your administration and medical staff

In medical facilities, both the administration and medical staff should be trained on how to operate the management system. The hospital inventory system must be designed in a way that enables both visualization and automation.  When it comes to automation, your system should be able to perform an automated order placement as well as automated expiration dates control. This will make the work for your staff much easier.

• QR Code or Barcode Scanning

Your medical inventory management software must have a built-in scanner that allows you to rapidly capture all codes and inventory information. Doing this will enable you to reduce administrative errors and labor costs. Your inventory software system should allow you to create your own codes. It must also have the ability to work with your items’ existing barcodes and QR labels. Your medical team must also be able to check out the item, change its location, update its details and add notes.

Architecture of Hospital Inventory Management Solution

The Medical Equipment Management System has ten sub-systems which are: 

• Basic information
• Procurement
• Acceptance
• Discard, 
• Maintenance
• Installation 
• Verification
• Warranty inspection
• Prevent maintenance
• Contract management. 

These sub-systems were created based on the operational activity of CED, and can be classified into 4 groups according to their operating attribution. 

Group 1: Basic Information 

This group generally provides fixed information to other sub-systems such as inventory information, equipment maintenance vendors, user department, staff data, and their cost center code. This data comes from the Hospital Inventory System and it automatically updates. Whenever a team member makes use of another sub-system and inputs a keyword, the related basic information will be loaded to the relevant field. The mechanic will lower the user’s operating time and increase the correctness of the data.

Group 2: Procurement, acceptance & discard practices

This one has procurement, acceptance, and discard practices. These practices are mainly aimed at document assessment. In this case, the timing record is very important to the daily work activities of engineers in CED. Hospital managers should properly assign medical practitioners to the right job and then monitor how they are progressing. The administrative staff must write down the correct date and time at different conditions such as inspecting, receiving, dispatching, and closing in the service case. When a user inputs the case number, the date, and time data will be automatically reloaded by the inventory system. The history information of related items can be queried by these sub-systems. The maintenance function is used for correcting the error data and offers hospital management authorization for a particular user. 

Group 3: Equipment maintenance & CED repair

This group directs its focus on medical equipment maintenance and the repair of CED, which is the often busiest in Medical Equipment Management System for day-to-day work. For NTUH , the number of repairs amounted to nearly eighty thousand per year. It was mainly used by medical practitioners and hospital administrators, and biomedical engineers in CED. For healthcare providers, it works like an order work system when the equipment experiences a breakdown. For administrators in CED, their major task is to focus on inputting the time to the system when the repair case is in the key point such as dispatch, receipt, user retrieve and close moment. For engineers in CED, their main focus is on inputting the repair content, delay reasons, and the time the repair ended. Biomedical managers can search related statistics from the sub-system to get performance indicators, identify training needs, determine equipment failure trends, and to produce management reports. 

Group 4: Managing systems

The last group focuses on maintenance, warranty, and contract management systems. Here, we focus on managing activities that have the property of a period plan in advance. The management system will send a notice to an engineer based on the crucial time point of the predetermined schedule such as executing preventive maintenance, warranty expired or carrying out the contract service. This information can be triggered by BME to print work orders. This BME has the ability to manage related equipment lists and time schedules. The query function shows a list of requested work orders in a certain period. All the content of performance in the group will be linked to the basic maintenance of data. To make a query by inventory number, the person using it can get related information without any hassles.

How to Build Custom Hospital Inventory Management Software

Here’s how to build an inventory management system:

1. Write the requirements and user stories 

The correct set of modules and functions included in a hospital management software system can vary from facility to facility. Oftentimes, it depends upon the level of medical practice, budget, the complexity of existing business processes, corporate vision, and other related challenges. So it’s necessary to understand the hospital’s requirements and collect relevant user stories before initiating development. A crucial step is to audit the current IT landscape in the healthcare facility and figure out which medical processes need to be automated. This will help the developer cover every aspect of the medical facility’s activities and business operations

2. Plan time and budget

Plan your strategy, write it out and brainstorm with your team for more ideas. Whichever route you decide to take upon, make sure it fits within your budget and timeframe. 

3. Hire a development team or outsource

Your choice of a hospital inventory management software development company can determine whether you’ll enjoy a seamless process or you’ll endure years of regrets and frustrations. Hire or outsource a development team that is fully equipped with the right expertise and can offer the best services in hospital inventory management development. 

4. Test the system

What’s a good development process without actually testing it out! Test the system; give it to a number of users and get their feedback. If there is anything that needs to be attended to, get to it as quickly as you can.

5. Maintain

After testing it out and it comes out well, maintain the system.

How We Built Hospital Inventory Management Software for a Client

We developed a medical device malfunction system to help our client gain more insights, and improve their operations and bottom line. 

Problem + timeframe

Medical practitioners needed to know more on the malfunctions, pros and cons of certain medical devices such as MRI or ultrasound diagnostic devices. Our team of dedicated software developers constantly engaged with clients in the first week of commencing the project in order to come up with the correct design pattern and solution documentation. For the next three months, our work included building the system and testing it out. The whole project was completed in four months.

Features and user stories

To develop this system, we paid close attention to the user stories. The features included statistical reports with detailed charts, as well as user’s capability to add or manage reports concerning device malfunctions. These reports are based on the data obtained from the FDA and the users. 

Solution + tech stack

Working closely with their support team, we developed a system for their specific needs.

We managed to deliver a highly effective system, using the following stack:

Back-end

Dev language: Python

API Framework: Django REST Framework

Database: Postgres

Background task processing (geoprocessing, import process, etc.): Celery + Redis/RabbitMQ

Front-end:

Dev language: JavaScript

Framework: React + Redux + React QR Barcode Scanner + Chart.js

DevOps:

AWS: EC2 – as API and front-end instance; RDS – database storage, S3 – file storage;

Docker: Application was dockerized

CI/CD: Gitlab CI/CD + Ansible

Over to you

Your medical facility should go for a custom hospital inventory management solution if you want to streamline supply processes, identify thefts, avoid having to throw away expired medicines, track the usage or location of inventory, etc. Appvales’ inventory management software development is top-notch and we can deliver a solution tailored to meet your exact requirements. Get in touch with us today!

For many governments, the provision of quality healthcare services remains top of mind. In 2020 alone, a total of $13.9billion was spent on digital health funding, and this number is expected to rise in the coming years. These funds are invested in emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality, deep learning, and vision technology.

At present, computer vision is one of the most groundbreaking in the healthcare industry. This field of AI trains computers to see, identify, and process images like humans. This means computers can now not only observe but also make decisions.

The implementation of computer vision in healthcare comes with tremendous benefits. And as a result, many healthcare institutions are jumping on this trend. At Appvales, we have already helped several healthcare organizations develop software that can be used in the application of computer vision in medical field. Our experts have vast experience in building complex software, thus, you can rest assured your project will be in good hands. 

Back to the brass tacks. In this insightful article, we are going to explore real-world applications of computer vision in healthcare.  Read on to stay informed and ahead of the competition. 

Computer Vision Statistics Worth Taking Note of

Computer vision solutions are an aspect of AI that has the potential to be a booming market and opportunity hub in the not-so-distant future. Below are statistics that strongly confirm this:

• The global computer vision market was valued at USD 11.32 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7.3% from 2021 to 2028. (Grand View Research)
• Clinical health AI applications can potentially create $150 billion in annual savings for the US healthcare economy by 2026.
• In terms of growth, the AI Software Platforms category of the AI market is forecast to be the strongest, with a five-year CAGR of 32.7%. Computer vision solutions fall within this category.
• By 2022, the global market for computer vision is projected to reach $48.6 billion annually, up from just $6.6 billion in 2015.

These numbers clearly show that this is the best time for healthcare providers and other related industries to consider computer vision solutions strongly. 

Benefits of Computer Vision for Healthcare

So, what are some of the benefits health centers can expect once they adopt computer vision?

1. More accurate diagnosis:

To err is human.’ This is a common saying, which holds truth. However, in a field where diagnoses are a matter of life and death (literally!), it isn’t worth taking the risk: at least if you can avoid it. 

The number of unnecessary deaths in the United States is 22,000 lives per year, of which a significant percentage results from inaccurate diagnosis.

Thankfully, applying computer vision in healthcare applications goes a long way in reducing this margin of error. The more data the software receives for algorithm training, the higher its level of accuracy. Considering that 90% of healthcare data comes in the form of images, finding data for your CV software would not be a problem.

2. Early disease recognition:

With conditions like cancer and COVID, late detection is one factor that would gravely affect the recovery chances of patients. 

However, machine vision medical applications are slowly making these situations something of the past.  Conditions like cancer, pneumonia, osteoporosis, etc., can easily be detected early in patients by computer vision, and they would be given treatment quickly. 

3. Speed and efficiency:

Sometimes, the problem is not that the disease isn’t detected on time. Instead, it could be that it isn’t treated fast or handled effectively enough. 

However, speed and efficiency are not a problem when using computer vision in medicine. Also, considering that the United States is currently undergoing a physician shortage during a pandemic, fast and efficient healthcare is needed now more than ever.

4. Better medical imaging analysis:

Computer vision allows 3D visualization, which significantly helps in the diagnosis and treatment of certain diseases. 3D images are more informative than the standard 2D, and they help healthcare providers to make more informed decisions concerning patient care.

5. Cost reduction:

All the benefits above would eventually lead to a decrease in the cost of healthcare services for patients. Automating healthcare services will lead to efficiency and speed, which would decrease the time a patient would spend either in the hospital or taking medications.

You’ll find that this would reduce the amount of money the patient would’ve spent paying for medications or services.

Computer Vision Use Cases in Healthcare

1. Cancer Detection:

One primary use of computer vision in medical field is for early cancer detection. Machine vision can differentiate between cancerous cells and non-cancerous cells based on information from thousands of images and biopsy results.

For instance, SkinVision is an app that successfully uses AI and other technologies to detect 95% of skin cancers. There have also been breakthroughs in detecting breast and lung cancer with this technology.

2. Automating Lab Tests:

Blood analyzers that integrate machine vision in their application can run multiple patient results. For example, using computer vision, they can analyze blood count, tissue cells e.t.c by going through several images.

3. Tumor detection:

Brain tumors are also one of the health conditions that early detection would go a long way to mitigate its dangerous effects on patients.

Computer vision technologies like MASK-R Convolutional Neural Networks (MASK R-CNN) have been developed to detect tumors in patients and ensure they receive early treatment.

4. Medical imaging:

Medical computer vision companies also use this technology for medical imaging. This process uses computer vision and object detection to find anomalies in the scans of various vital organs.

Physicians are leveraging apps like Arterys in MRI scans to make the proper diagnoses.

5. Patient monitoring:

Healthcare providers can also use computer vision to monitor the rehabilitation of outpatients and newly discharged patients. That way, healthcare providers can track their patient’s progress virtually.

Within the elderly community, fall detection systems that employ computer vision software and pose estimation. These systems aim at reducing the number of times older adults lose their balance. It also is equipped with technology that would quickly call for help when a user does fall. 

6. Surgical simulation

Some machine vision medical applications are used for training surgeons. This is to give them an experience of surgery beforehand, thus increasing success rates and reducing risks. Certain apps like TouchVision, use CV technology to create realistic surgery simulations. The AI uses 3D imaging to make this simulation more accurate for the surgeon-in-training. 

7. Pneumonia detection

This pneumonia detection web app is an open-source project that healthcare providers can not yet use for clinical purposes. The app was tested on 500 images of chest x-ray and has achieved 86% accuracy. 

Although this use case has not been deployed yet, it shows the potential of computer vision in medicine and diagnostics.

8. Accelerated research:

Computer vision has disrupted the world of medical research as well. By analyzing anonymized past patient records, CV-powered applications can detect and identify trends in disease progression. This helps save money and time spent on clinical trials and even discover how to cure the disease entirely.

9. Diagnostic use cases:

Microsoft’s InnerEye is a perfect example of image processing applications in healthcare. InnerEye is used to detect tumors and other anomalies in x-rays. By uploading x-ray scans, the program sees and measures aberrations that would otherwise go unnoticed.

10. Anti Covid Measures Analysis:

Computer vision has also been of help during this pandemic for COVID diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Technologies like Masked Face Recognition, computed tomography, germ screening, etc., are ways computer vision has been used to manage COVID. Analysis of chest X-rays has also helped in COVID detection, with some algorithms reaching an accuracy of 97%.

Just recently, Appvales built software that uses computer vision to ascertain if health workers are doing all they can to prevent exposure and transmission of COVID. This app would prove helpful in a hospital setting and would significantly reduce negligence cases on the part of health workers.

Challenges encountered while using Computer Vision in Healthcare

Despite its numerous benefits, computer vision in medicine has not been generally accepted. Many people are skeptical about the use of this AI technology in healthcare for a good number of reasons. Listed below are some of them:

1. The consequences of false negatives or false positives:

When used in other industries, errors in computer vision can be simple and, therefore, easy to overlook. But with healthcare, it is a whole different ball game. Errors in diagnosis can lead to health complications and fatal consequences. 

And unlike with human error, it is hard or even impossible to pin the blame on software. This can lead to complicated legal issues among healthcare providers, software companies, and the affected patients. 

Also, when a technology like computer vision is built with a dataset with an underlying fault, it can injure thousands of patients. This is because multiple units of the technology are most likely being used in different hospitals and healthcare centers. And if they all depend on the faulty dataset in question, then there’s a problem.

But how do software companies fix this and ensure that computer vision can be safe for use?

They stress the need for professional oversight and image labeling by experts. We will go in-depth into image labeling later in this article. For now, let’s consider professional supervision.

Currently, computer vision has not developed to the point of being stand-alone diagnostic equipment. As much as it makes deductions based on statistics and already available data, healthcare providers are still responsible for making the final decision for patients. Computer vision simply enhances their accuracy and makes diagnosis faster.

2. Lack of generalization: 

Unlike other sectors where computer vision is used, the healthcare sector does not allow imaging generalization.

To explain better, let’s consider when computer vision is used in the automobile industry. It is easy for computer vision to observe and analyze cars because they all have a general shape and structure. 

However, in healthcare, organs of different individuals usually have unique structures and sizes. Thus, building a system that automatically detects anatomical structures will not be easy because the software has to note the possibility of a discrepancy in the general size and configuration of organs.

Thankfully, the solution to this challenge has been developed. With semantic image segmentation, computer vision technologies can accurately classify images pixel-by-pixel. 

3. Unemployment concerns: 

The more computer vision develops, the more people are concerned about AI taking over jobs. And sincerely, this concern is too far-fetched.

Humans program computer vision to assist humans.  Not to entirely thrust the bulk of the job into digital hands. Also, healthcare is not an industry that can afford the luxury of placing people’s lives completely in the care of artificial technology.

4. Professional realignment: 

Another concern surrounding the application of computer vision in healthcare affects the medical practitioners involved. The increased use of machine vision in medicine would require a shift in the profession as most of their work will become automatable. 

Scholars are concerned that human capacity and knowledge might reduce because of this broad use of computer vision. This would make it harder for healthcare providers to detect any errors that might occur during its use accurately.

A simple solution to this would be healthcare provider training, engagement, and education. Digitization can not be paused for any one sector, so it is in the place of the people involved to prepare themselves for this shift and adjust accordingly.

Medical Image Datasets: How to Acquire them for your Computer Vision Solution

Computer vision technologies depend on huge datasets to be able to function effectively. But enterprises and healthcare industries might have a difficult time finding a suitable dataset. 

Before we delve deeper into the methods of dataset acquisition, here are the attributes of a good dataset for computer vision:

• Quality: Images contained in a healthcare dataset must be of high resolution. This would help train the machine vision software and cause it to detect and analyze any anomalies accurately.
• Quantity: While training computer vision technologies, it is impossible to have excess data. The more data there is, the more accurate and intuitive your technology will be.
• Variance: The medical images must vary in age, gender, race, geography, e.t.c. This would make the computer vision technology more effective as it can be used on various patients from different demographics.
• Density: It would help to have images with multiple objects to detect. For instance, mammograms of patients with multiple tumors, etc. This would help reflect real-world health conditions that your computer vision technology might encounter.

When considering acquiring a dataset for your computer vision, there are three general ways to obtain your software data. 

1. Using a public dataset: 

These are also called open-source datasets. They are typically found online and readily available to be used. Some are meant to be purchased, while others are free online.

They’re usually not alterable and they come in different formats like .csv, .json., e.t.c. Building datasets from the ground up usually involve rigorous regulations and costs that startups and smaller enterprises cannot handle. Therefore, open datasets are usually the best option in such cases.

The disadvantage is that this dataset’s features, quality, and pre-labeling might not be a perfect match for your desired computer vision software. Thus, it is good to use public datasets for testing your computer vision concept, but not very advisable for deploying and maintaining computer vision software. 

Also, public datasets for computer vision in medical field are not as plentiful as public datasets for other machine learning functions. 

However, the chances are that, with an extensive search, you will find one that will suit your needs. Examples of public datasets in healthcare are Chest X-ray Masks and Labels Dataset, NIH Chest X-rays Dataset, Lung Cancer Dataset, e.t.c. Alternatively, Kaggle is a platform that contains over 50,000 datasets. You can source the dataset for your computer vision technology from the vast options in Kaggle.

2. Creating a custom dataset for your computer vision software:

You can build your custom dataset from the ground up by yourself or with the services you hire. But before you can develop and use a custom dataset for your technology, there are particular domain-specific challenges you’ll have to overcome. They are:

• Getting ethical approval to obtain medical images:

All medical images are stored in a format known as DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) DICOM is used as the standard so interoperability can exist between different providers in the healthcare industry. 

While developing a dataset for your computer vision software, you need to get approval from the local ethical committee. This is because the DICOM images contain the personal health information (PHI) of patients, and this information is protected by the Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Using DICOM files without adequate authorization can lead to dire consequences for the parties involved. This is why seeking permission is necessary.

• Anonymizing the data to comply with privacy regulations:

When the ethical committee approves your request, the next step is to anonymize the DICOM files to protect the PHI of the patients. This must be done before the data is fed to the computer vision algorithm.

Anonymizing simply means erasing and losing all forms of PHI associated with the DICOM files. Specific tools, such as DICOM Anonymizer, automatically erase PHI from medical image files and replace the information with dummy values.

• Labeling data to create a ground-truth dataset:

After anonymizing, the next step is image labeling or annotation. This step requires engaging radiologists to go over each image in the dataset thoroughly. They do this to develop a ground-truth dataset, the final dataset that your computer vision technology will be deployed with. 

This step is very time-consuming and expensive. Also, to comply with the FDA and their rule concerning machine learning-based technology in healthcare, the image dataset must indicate the experts who annotate it.

There are two types of image annotations:

• Semantic segregation- In this type, the radiologists mark an area of interest in the image file. It might be an organ, malignant cell, lesion, abnormality, e.t.c. This type of labeling helps when using computer vision for object detection or to identify anatomical structures.

• Classification- Here, the images are categorized based on the absence or presence of a particular disease.

Both types are used simultaneously while building a ground-truth dataset. This is so the computer vision technology can detect a disease, e.g., a tumor, in an image and differentiate it from other cells.

After the ground-truth dataset has been developed, you and your software team can use it to program your computer vision technology.

3. Partnering with a Third-party to create a Custom Dataset:

Here, you can partner with an external organization or vendor to do the data collecting for you. This vendor will handle everything surrounding the building of the dataset. This includes the legal and ethical requirements necessary.

This option is ideal when you do not have the resources to create the custom dataset for your machine vision software. With a third-party vendor, you will still be able to oversee the building of the dataset and ensure that it is according to your desired specifications.

It is also an excellent way to leverage the vendor’s expertise in creating datasets for different use cases to ensure that your technology is programmed with the most suitable custom dataset.

The disadvantage to this option is that the cost of hiring a third party vendor might be high.

In Conclusion

As much as there is still much to be achieved, computer vision is not just a trend. It is an efficient and long-term solution in healthcare. It shows great potential in the provision of quality and accurate services. Hence, to ensure efficiency, programmers continue to develop it to ensure maximum efficiency.If you are looking to build healthcare software, Appvales has got you covered. We will conceive your ideas, brainstorm, and develop software best suited for your facility. With a pool of talented healthcare software developers, you are assured of quality, efficient, and effective applications. Contact us today.