reviews
Healthcare applications are now an essential part of the healthcare ecosystem. These software solutions serve everyone, from patients to healthcare professionals, with use cases like booking appointments, remote patient monitoring, online health insurance, etc.
According to Statista research, since covid-19 pandemic, the number of downloads for mobile health apps has surged. The growth is predicted to continue in the coming years, and the mobile health app market size is expected to reach 314.60 billion USD by 2028.
If you are interested in investing in the lucrative healthcare app market and want to mark your share in the profits, you must be looking for exceptional developers to help you build a next-level healthcare app.
As the healthcare mobile app market is growing, it is also getting competitive. You must develop an app that meets the stringent requirements of the healthcare industry, improves the quality of healthcare provision through efficient features, and is secure for users.
Freelance platforms may seem a quick and easy way to hire medical app developers, but it is risky to filter developers with the right skills and experience on such platforms.
Hiring healthcare app developers from software development companies with experience in building products for the healthcare industry is the best option. We will discuss this in detail shortly.
You need to plan well to find the best developers for your healthcare app development project. First, you have to understand the skills required to build a robust yet secure healthcare app. These skills are as follows:
Primary Healthcare App Developers Skills
The primary skills for healthcare developers include the following:
- Sufficient knowledge of healthcare interoperability through integration standards like HL7 Version 2. x, Consolidated CDA, DICOM, etc.;
- Knowledge of integration frameworks like HITSP ( Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel) that guide the integration of healthcare standards into business requirements;
- Sound semantic knowledge to interpret medical information and standards. Some semantic vocabularies include SNOMED-CT for data input to the EHR (electronic health records) system, ICD-10 for system reports or output, etc.;
- Expertise in native mobile app development services for the leading mobile operating systems, like Android and iOS. Experience in using the respective technologies, for example, Java programming language, Android Studio, Android SDKs, etc., for Android app development and Swift programming language, Xcode IDE, etc., for iOS healthcare app development;
- Knowledge of hybrid app development using standard web development technologies, like JavaScript, CSS, HTML, and frameworks like Xamarin, Flutter, etc.;
- Experience in various development tech stacks like MEAN, MERN, etc., and other technologies like Node.js runtime environment, Express.js web development framework, etc.;
- Knowledge of SQL databases like MySQL and PostgreSQL, and NoSQL databases like MongoDB and Apache Cassandra.
Healthcare app developers need to have the following skills too:
- Knowledge of software development lifecycle;
- Experience in test-driven development;
- Familiar with various software architecture patterns like microservice, client-server, microkernel, etc.
- Experience in DevOps practices like CI/CD, task orchestration, metric monitoring, etc., and tools like Jenkins, Git, Kubernetes, etc.
- Knowledge of agile methodologies and frameworks, like scrum, pair programming, etc.
Other software development skills
Some other software development skills that would help your medical app developers build great mobile apps are as follows:
1. Application Security Skills
Mobile healthcare apps deal with personal patient data. Your developers need to build a robust security solution for your healthcare app. Code quality is of paramount importance as hackers often exploit bugs in the software code.
Get a complimentary discovery call and a free ballpark estimate for your project
Trusted by 100x of startups and companies like
Apart from writing good quality code, you need developers familiar with application security techniques like multi-factor authentication, compliance-as-code, etc. These developers should also be familiar with the top security vulnerabilities, including SQL injection, broken authentication, etc., and preventive measures like encryption, network security, firewalls, etc.
2. API Development Skills
Developers are required to have API development and integration experience. APIs would allow your developers to add third-party functionalities to your healthcare application without building them from the ground up. For example, healthcare solutions often integrate EHR/EMR systems to allow healthcare providers to access patients’ health records. Developers can develop software app features as APIs for easy service integration and maintenance.
Developers should be familiar with REST API architecture, GraphQL query language, and tools like Postman to create, test, publish, and secure API endpoints.
3. Cloud Computing Skills
Various cloud computing services help developers in the medical app development process. You need developers familiar with IaaS (infrastructure-as-a-service) such as AWS EC2, PaaS (platform-as-a-service) such as AWS Elastic Beanstalk, SaaS (software-as-a-service) such as Google Workspace, and MBaaS (mobile-backend-as-a-service) like AWS Amplify.
The cloud-based service platforms offer software development infrastructure, computing, and storage resources on the cloud. Your developers could focus on application development without any resource installation and maintenance work on-premises.
4. The Latest Technologies
The cutting-edge technologies of artificial intelligence, augmented reality, blockchain, and IoT are taking over every industry, especially healthcare.
Machine learning models help introduce efficiency and accuracy to healthcare services. Augmented reality techniques enhance the process of healthcare provision. Blockchain offers more security, and IoT helps to integrate remote devices with healthcare services through wearable technology.
Your developers need to be familiar with these latest technologies to incorporate them efficiently in your mobile healthcare app and offer a seamless healthcare experience to users.
5. Code Review
Senior app developers can conduct code reviews and detect code bugs and errors. Developers ensure their code quality through test cases, like unit testing, integration testing, etc. Your healthcare app developers should be familiar with testing platforms like Espresso, XCTest, and Selenium to test and review native and hybrid apps.
6. Interpersonal Skills
Soft skills are also crucial for software developers. Some of these skills include the following:
- Communication Skills:
Developers need good communication skills to explain complex solutions and abstract concepts to stakeholders.
- Team player:
Developers work closely with designers, testers, etc. You need developers who can work closely together as a team.
- Commitment:
The Healthcare industry has stringent and complex requirements for healthcare software solutions. There can be multiple roadblocks due to external factors, but your developers should be committed to overcoming difficulties and meeting project goals and deadlines.
- Empathy:
Developers need to empathize with the healthcare app end-users. They need to understand their pain points and deliver app solutions that meet their needs.
How to Find the Best Healthcare App Developers?
Now that you know the skills required in healthcare app developers, you can start looking for them. You need to go through the following steps to find the best healthcare app developers:
1. Decide the right platform to hire healthcare developers.
Hire expert healthcare app developers for your next project
1,200 top developers
us since 2016
A freelance platform might be your first choice to hire healthcare developers quickly. However, this approach would not work well for healthcare mobile app development projects. Healthcare software solutions are complicated, and there are many compliance and security standards to meet. It is impossible to find such competent app developers on a freelance basis.
Freelance platforms though quite popular are risky choices to hire healthcare app developers. The freelance platforms match your job post with profiles of freelancer developers but do not guarantee the skills and experince of these developers.
You have to screen and interview the freelance app developer yourself. In the case of any misjudgments, the result is a poorly developed mobile app. Moreover, if a freelancer leaves your project midway, you cannot do much about it but bear the loss and search for another developer.
Team management also gets harder with freelance developers, especially if there is a time zone difference. You are responsible for maintaining effective communication with each developer and between themselves. This could make your work way hard.
Freelancers also take freelance projects as their part-time work. There is a high possibility that a freelance developer is not giving the majority of his efforts and time to your healthcare mobile app development project.
Given these drawbacks of working with freelance medical app developers, we strongly advise you to hire software developers from software development companies like DevTeam.Space.
Such an experienced healthcare application development company has a thorough screening process to screen developers before they become a part of dev teams. Developers at DevTeamSpace undergo technical tests and interviews before they work on client projects.
Senior software developers manage developers at DevTeamSpace that help you in project management. Moreover, all our developers follow an AI-based agile development process. It helps to set project tasks, monitors the performance of developers, offers daily/weekly project progress reports, enables close communication with developers working on your project, etc.
We also sign an NDA as a first onboarding step with our clients and ensure the security and confidentiality of their intellectual property. We recommend you hire our highly-skilled, experienced, and managed developers for your healthcare app development project.
2. Interview the shortlisted candidates
You have finalized your hiring platform and shortlisted candidates based on their profiles. You now need to conduct interviews. We recommend you take help from experienced professionals, including your colleagues, friends, etc., with knowledge and experience in the healthcare industry, if you do not possess the required expertise.
You should go beyond the theoretical questions in the interview and ask technical questions. Judge the hands-on development experience of the candidate. Ask about past projects, complex problems they have worked on, their go-to technology stacks and development tools, etc.
3. Provide detailed information about your healthcare app development project
After you have hired healthcare app developers, you would start the onboarding process. Introduce new developers to your other team members. You need to set up communication channels and team meetings.
You would explain your healthcare app development project, including the objectives and goals, to the new developers and give them access to the required code files and development tools.
You also need to explain to new developers the job requirements and assign tasks. Set up project milestones, monitor their performance, and maintain accountability.
Tips to Hire Healthcare App Developers
Consider the following tips when hiring healthcare app developers:
1. A. Look for a competent team leader when you hire remote healthcare app developers.
You get access to the global talent pool when hiring remote developers. Remote mobile medical app developers from a mobile app development company have developed top-quality software products for many businesses. However, you might need help managing remote developers, especially if they are in different time zones.
We advise you to hire an experienced project manager or a team lead who can mentor your remote developers. This would help you manage your healthcare app project effectively.
2. Look for a mix of experience when hiring healthcare app developers.
Hire expert healthcare app developers for your next project
Your healthcare app would work with complicated technologies. There are also security and compliance issues. Junior or mid-level developers alone cannot undertake such a complex development process. You need to hire senior developers who can select the right technologies, adopt the best development practices, and guide other developers. Senior developers cost more, but their experience adds value to your project team. You could build a product that attracts and retains the right customers.
3. Focus on the experience of meeting non-functional requirements (NFRs)
Non-functional requirements such as performance, security, maintainability, scalability, etc., are as crucial as functional requirements of a mobile application. Your app should perform seamlessly under variable user load. For this, you need developers with experience in meeting the non-functional requirements of a software application.
4. Look for a flexible service provider when hiring dedicated healthcare app developers.
Now that you have decided to hire healthcare app developers from software development companies, look for a healthcare app development company that offers flexible hiring models.
Although some software development projects work well with fixed-cost models, the model only holds true for simple app development projects. Your healthcare app requirements could depend on variable external factors, such as healthcare industry regulations, end-users requirements, etc.
Therefore, look for a healthcare app development company that offers hiring developers based on the time and materials (T&M) model. This flexibility to scale up and down your developers according to your healthcare application development requirements will prove cost-effective for you.
Examples of coding questions to ask during the interview when hiring healthcare app developers
Ask questions that help you assess the hands-on skills of developers. The following are a few examples:
1. What are some of the healthcare technology standards that a business should follow?
Some of the healthcare IT standards include HIPPA (Health Insurance Portability and Profitability Act), HITECH (Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act), GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), HL7, etc.
2. How can a developer ensure healthcare app security?
An app development team takes multiple steps to ensure healthcare app security against cyberattacks or breaches, like restricting access to health data and applications, implementing data usage controls, encrypting data at rest and in transit, conducting regular risk assessments for healthcare organizations, etc.
3. How are machine learning algorithms used in healthcare app development?
Healthcare mobile app developers use machine learning algorithms like K-nearest neighbor, random forest, and support vector machines for clinical decision support, patient self-management apps, etc.
Submit a Project With Zero Risk
As mentioned, healthcare software development projects require expert software development skills and exceptional domain knowledge. You cannot risk the success of your healthcare app in the market by hiring subpar developers.
DevTeam.Space is a community of field-expert software developers with experience in building market-competitive software solutions for various industries, including healthcare. All our developers are vetted for their technical skills, motivated to develop successful software products, and managed by experienced software developers.
You can send us your initial project specifications via this form, and we would match you with the best-suited app developers for your healthcare app project. One of our account managers will get back to you and help you further with the onboarding process and answer any questions you may have.
