The telemedicine app market is booming globally and is predicted to make more than $175 billion by 2026. As healthcare organizations, entrepreneurs, and app developers look to capitalize on this growth, one of the most common questions is: what is the real cost to develop a telemedicine app?
Table of contents
Nevertheless, the price can drastically vary depending on the app’s features, complexity, design etc. However, if we can figure out the core parts that make up a telemedicine app, we can get an idea of what a reasonable budget is, including planning and launch.
In this detailed guide, we will look at:
- The main cost factors in telemedicine app development
- A breakdown of typical pricing for core app features
- Additional costs to factor into your budget
- Tips for controlling overall costs
With realistic budgets starting from around $30,000, telemedicine app development services can offer an affordable way for healthcare providers to expand their services. Understanding the key telemedicine app development costs involved allows you to plan your project wisely.
Key Factors That Influence Cost to Develop a Telemedicine App
As a new digital health segment, there are no fixed prices for building a telemedicine app. Costs can vary based on several key factors:
- Platform (iOS, Android, web)
- Complexity of features
- App design
- Developer team location
- Integration with external tools
- Testing and quality assurance
Most of the time, iOS development is more expensive than Android. Depending on the app, it can be quite complex with dense features such as video consultation, Electronic Health Record (EHR) integrations and prescription handling — which naturally adds more time and budget. The experience level of your developer team does matter, too.
Breaking down the cost for your particular app by core features and development phases will help you estimate the cost.
Breakdown of Telemedicine App Features and Costs
Though the process to develop a telemedicine app is different depending on the needs of the practice, most are similar in many ways. Here is a look at the estimated cost of telemedicine app development for some of the most common components:
User Authentication and Login
Enables users to access the app securely.
Estimated cost: $1,000−$3,000
Video Calling
Allows real-time video consultations between patients and doctors.
Estimated cost: $3,000−$8,000
Instant Messaging
In-app chat for non-urgent patient-doctor communication.
Estimated cost: $2,000−$5,000
Prescription Handling
Sending/receiving/managing prescriptions digitally.
Estimated cost: $3,000−$7,000
Payment Integration
Accepting payments and processing insurance claims.
Estimated cost: $3,000−$10,000
EHR/EMR Integration
Syncing with electronic health/medical records systems.
Estimated cost: $5,000−$10,000
Dashboard/Analytics
Insights into user behavior, appointments, and revenue.
Estimated cost: $2,000−$7,000
HIPAA Compliance/Security
Protecting sensitive patient data.
Estimated cost: $5,000+
Appointment Scheduling
Self-service booking for patients.
Estimated cost: $3,000−$8,000
As you can see, costs can vary significantly within each category based on the exact features and functionality sought.
App Design, Development, and Launch
Coding features are not the only thing you need to do in order to create a telemedicine app. You need to coordinate carefully across a number of stages of a healthcare product, from early planning stages to post-launch updates, to bring a secure product to market.
First, you intensely research your target users, then build out an intuitive app flow. Rough interfaces wireframed result in higher fidelity visual designs. These activities upfront create the context for the rest.
On the development side, your team first starts configuring robust backend infrastructure like servers and databases. This ensures smooth data integration with features yet to come. After setting up a scalable foundation, front-end user stories can take shape. This is where bringing screens and options to life for patients and doctors happens.
Once core app functionality is built out, exhaustive tests follow. You must do a HIPAA compliance check and eliminate bugs before launch. Speaking of which, don’t forget about final app store preparations and paperwork for distributing your product smoothly.
After launch, performance metrics are monitored, and user feedback is gathered and released in the future. Iterative capture of market share is the most successful approach to creating telemedicine apps, as most telemedicine apps will have multiple versions before they achieve market share. Analytics is set up and responsive to customers’ input to prevent stagnation.
In essence, releasing a telehealth platform is a continuous journey – not a single sprint. By budgeting adequately across planning, design, development, and post-deployment activities, you can maximize your chances of crafting a five-star product loved by physicians and patients alike. Once you develop a telemedicine app, the hard work is behind you.
Tips for Controlling Telemedicine App Development Costs
Agile, iterative development styles are well suited to telemedicine apps. Deploying an elegant minimum viable product (MVP) with the most essential video consult features in the first place is the most cost-effective approach.
Next, customer feedback and usage metrics will inform what extended capabilities to build next. Wherever possible, proven third-party tools should be used, and complexity should be kept to a minimum up front, with non-critical features to be added in follow-on releases.
Savvy product owners also utilize global talent networks to find skilled developers at reasonable hourly rates. That helps stretch budgets. In some cases, you may even leverage internal engineering teams to shoulder part of the app testing or interface design work.
Don’t attempt to construct elaborate functionality all at once. Prioritizing market-ready features prevents cost overruns. Once your telemedicine app sees initial traction, you can continue evolving its capabilities over subsequent releases. This incremental approach lowers risk and aligns investments closely with customer demand.
Conclusion
Building a telemedicine app is a lot like building a rocket ship: To build a secure, compliant, and user-friendly product, you have to coordinate across a wide technology stack. The price depends on the features you choose, from video consultations to integration with prescription handling.
With careful planning and focus on what is essential, entrepreneurs can launch basic telemedicine apps for between $30,000−$40,000. However, EHR systems, analytics, and payment processing can easily cost more than $100,000.
By breaking out the costs of the major technical components and phases to develop a telemedicine app, you will be able to come up with a realistic budget estimate that will save you from sticker shock in the end. There are two key tactics for delivering a cost-effective app to the market: Scoping features and carefully controlling scope creep.
