How Much Does Telemedicine App Development Cost?

The Covid-19 pandemic has made telemedicine one of the most flourishing areas of a digital healthcare ecosystem. Connecting patients with professional medical advisors has never been this easy.

More than half of US medical advisors, doctors, and hospitals have accommodated a telemedicine program for their business, and the latest market statistics of the sector swear by it.

This article will offer an insightful glance at the telemedicine app development cost and the factors that affect it. An unerring formula to determine the telemedicine app cost can help you invest better and mitigate the overall risks.

A basic telemedicine app can cost you around $40,000 to $55,000. It is further advisable to keep in mind that the overall cost of the app may vary according to its complexity as well as the number of features. A high-complexity custom telemedicine app with an extensive feature list can cost you around $90,000 to $200,000.

Now, before diving into the various aspects of the overall cost associated with a telemedicine application, let us look at the latest market statistics that will help you understand why investing in a telemedicine app is your most promising future option.

• The global telemedicine market is valued at $87.8 billion in 2022 and is expected to witness a market share of $559.52 billion by 2027
• More than 38% of patients will seek remote care in 2022
• More than 74% of the patients in the US prefer telehealth services
• The telehealth sector is expected to witness a CAGR of 35.18% in the forecast period of 2020 to 2029

A strong uptake and positive customer perception have contributed to the rise of telehealth apps across the globe. This change from physical doctor visits to accessing medical care online, while borne out of necessity created by the pandemic, has today firmed its ground at the back of these elements –

• Greater consumer willingness to use telemedicine apps
• The increased willingness of doctors and healthcare providers to use telehealth apps
• Regulatory changes enabling access and reimbursement of telemedicine mobile apps

While, on the one hand, telehealth applications have been playing a significant role in making care accessible and affordable for consumers, the industry also shows potential for entrepreneurs looking to enter the space.

As per the rock health digital health funding report, the venture capital investment in the digital health space in the H1 of 2022 counted for $10.3 billion, while the overall funding stood at $21 billion.

As you can gather, the demand for telemedicine app development is not just a consumer-generated need but also one that is profitable for entrepreneurs looking to enter the virtual medical care space.

Before we get into the different facets of telemedicine app development cost, let us look into the players you will share the space with.

The Popular Telemedicine Apps

All these telehealth apps come with their share of feature sets. However, the intent of all those features and the apps is the same – making virtual care accessible and in real time. While some apps use new-age technologies, others keep things simple by making it easier for consumers to book an appointment and use the service.

Here is the market value of all the above telemedicine apps that can offer you a clear insight into the digital healthcare market scope:

AmWell: $263.7 million

MDLive: $198.6 million

Dialogue: $172.2 million

Doctor On demand: $820 million

Lemonaid: $102 million

The overall market share of all these telemedicine apps is well capable of defining how much of a lucrative space digital healthcare is. Now that you have a high-level idea of the examples of telemedicine applications with whom you would be sharing the telemedicine apps market, let us give you a rough idea of the cost of telemedicine app development.

How Much Does the Telemedicine App Development Cost?

To give you a rough estimate, a custom telemedicine app can cost around $40,000 to $200,000. The overall cost is further affected by features integrated into the app, the overall app complexity, UI/UX design, app prototyping, location and hourly rate of developers, app platform, etc. In short, the more complex the app, the more its associated cost.

To help you understand the costs better, we have categorized the telemedicine apps based on their complexity and have included the time frame and costs of the development for the same.

Let us summarize the telemedicine app cost with an infallible formula:

Total telemedicine app development cost = Total Number of Hours Taken to Complete App Development Processes X Hourly Rate of Developers

Now that you have a rough idea of the cost of telemedicine software or an app let us move ahead and discuss various factors that affect the overall cost.

Factors Affecting the Telemedicine App Development Cost

To apprehend the precise cost of a telemedicine app, you must understand the various factors that will affect it. Starting from an extensive feature list to the location and hourly development rates, the factors can influence the price of your app. Apprehending the factors logistically can help you make better monetary decisions while simultaneously alleviating the risks.

Feature List

The overall cost of a telemedicine app can be affected by the number of features it supports. For instance, a simple telemedicine app with a basic feature list and a nominal admin panel can cost you around $40,000 to $55,000. Increasing the number of features and functionalities can affect the overall gross price of telemedicine apps. Simply put, the more features integrated into the app, the more the cost associated with it.

A complex app with the highest functionalities and an extensive feature list can help put your business ahead in the digital space and will be worth all the investment.

UI/UX Design

An interactive UI/UX design is capable of offering the app much-needed user engagement while, at the same time, maintaining user retention. An aesthetically pleasing UI design uses multiple testing parameters to resonate with the brand’s essence. Thus, the telemedicine software cost can increase if you wish to offer your users a seamless interface and a pleasing app design.

From attracting new customers to the platform, increasing overall productivity, and boosting the brand’s image, an attractive UI/UX design goes a long way.

To determine how the designing process can affect the telemedicine platform cost, you first need to answer questions like:

• Is your app idea unique or similar to the other apps available in the market?
• Does your product already have a digital identity?
• Or do you need an app designed from scratch?
• Or do you wish to upgrade your app?

The answer to these questions will help the telemedicine app development company understand the complexity of your desired app and offer you a rough estimate of the cost associated with its design.

( Also read: How Much Does It Cost To Build a Telehealth App Like Teladoc?)

Wireframe

Wireframe charges usually sneak up while getting custom telemedicine app development solutions. Designing and developing a telemedicine app from scratch requires an architectural map of the entire development process, and that map is further referred to as a wireframe.

Since offering you the best of everything is the topmost priority, the wireframe usually goes through multiple testing norms to ensure seamless development. To give you a rough estimate, the wireframe of an app can cost around $100 to $4,000, depending on the multiple testing cycles.

App Platform

If you wish to develop a telemedicine platform for doctors, the underlying iOS or Android platform can affect its overall cost. The cost of developing an Android app is more than iOS, considering the former’s wide user base. To keep the budgets optimized, we usually recommend starting with a development for a single platform. As the app gains traction in the market, you can then switch to a cross-platform app custom to your requirements.

App Development

App development costs for a telemedicine app can be concluded based on the number of coding hours. The hourly rate of the developers, combined with the number of coding hours, can help you understand the development cost. In addition, the type of development team can also affect the overall cost of telemedicine software.

(Also read: Exploring the Role of EDI in Modern Healthcare – How It Works And Why It Matters For Businesses) 

Here is a rough estimation of the telemedicine app development costs based on the type of team hired:

Analyzing the table can offer you a quick idea of how outsourcing a development team is your best option considering an optimized budget. Outsourcing an experienced app development company can offer you a full-fledged telemedicine app capable of multiple functionalities and a seamless interface.

Location of the Telemedicine App Development Company

The location of the hired healthcare application development services organization also influences the overall app development costs. For instance, if you have chosen to outsource your project with a company in Asia, the hourly rate of telemedicine app developers will be comparatively less compared to the hourly development rates in the US or Europe.

The table below will offer you a preliminary idea of the cost of development in various regions of the world:

Team Size

Another factor that influences the cost of telemedicine app development solutions is the team size of the hired company. A professional team comprising project managers, developers, designers, quality analysts, etc., with adequate experience can offer you a telemedicine app capable of standing out from competitors. Choosing a full-fledged development team can increase the cost of the app but will ensure a greater trajectory in your business.

Developing a white-label telemedicine app requires a team of:

• 1 Project Manager
• 2 Backend Developers
• 2 iOS/Android Telemedicine app Developers
• 1 Designer
• 1-2 Quality Analysts

Maintenance

The maintenance costs for an app can be compiled at the very last stage and can be added to the overall development cost. For instance, maintenance costs can include:

• Upgrading the app to support a new platform.
• Updating apps based on new requirements.
• Changing marketing trends.

For all the parameters that require maintenance, the cost varies per the telemedicine app development company hired on your end.

Tech Stack

An important factor that influences the overall telemedicine app cost is the associated tech stack. A robust tech stack that has the power to handle a large user base while offering them an optimum user experience is the need of the hour. Thus, the more technologies implemented in the app, the more the cost associated with it.

Now that you have gained insight into the various factors that affect the cost of telemedicine apps, let us move ahead and offer you certain measures for cost optimization.

Developing an MVP: Optimizing the Cost of Telemedicine App Development

MVP for a telemedicine app is the app’s version with the most prominent features but doesn’t have all the advanced-level features. The basic idea behind opting for MVP development is to determine how multiple app users interact with your app and accept its overall concept. This will help you to get a clear idea of the audience before investing more money into scaling the MVP into a full-fledged application.

MVPs are capable of allowing you to have a good look at the app’s worth to your users without having to spend additional bucks. This is one of the most preferred ways for overall cost optimization of a telemedicine app.

Building an MVP gets you a working prototype of the app, which is test-ready. This development stage includes:

• A ready-to-implement design that includes all the key features
• The software architecture
• An app that real users can test

Let us look into the hours-wise breakdown of the time it usually takes to build the MVP of a telemedicine application.

Creating an MVP usually takes up to six weeks and costs a ballpark figure of $15,000.

Once you have tested your MVP, it’s time to upgrade it into a full-fledged app. Here, the cost is dependent on several elements:

• App versions – doctor, patient, hospital, admin, etc.
• Deployment platform – mobile, desktop, both
• Technologies used – AI, Blockchain, IoT, etc.
• The complexity of the design
• The complexity of the feature-set
• The location of the development agency

A basic version of the application which consists of a simple design, no technology integration, mobile deployment, and three basic versions – a doctor app, a patient app, and an admin panel will cost you around $40,000 to $80,000.

If you decide to build a complex feature-heavy telemedicine application that has technological incorporation and is designed to support multiple features, the development costs can be around $150,000- 200,000. And the average development time can be between 3 to 12 months. Let us get on a call to discuss your telemedicine project further.

We have now looked into the technical and monetary aspects of what it takes to build a telemedicine application. Let us move ahead and understand the various features of a successful telemedicine application.

Must-have Features of Telemedicine Mobile Apps

Wondering about how to develop a telemedicine app? Let us help you out. When you partner with a telemedicine mobile app development company to build telemedicine applications for healthcare, you get two interfaces – one on the patient’s side and one on the physician’s side. While the feature sets for both stakeholders are more or less the same, some are specific to the doctors or physicians, like payment received and managing patients’ EHRs.

Let us look into the feature sets in detail as they highly impact the cost of a mobile telemedicine app.

Registration

The sign-in feature is the primary feature of any telehealth application. The patients can log in via email or third-party applications like Google sign-in or Facebook Login. However, noting how important it is to secure the data, we recommend adding multi-factor authentication to the application.

Profile Management

The next step for a user is to set up their profile. The patients’ profile can contain their basic health details, known health conditions, and treatment history. The telemedicine platform for doctors can contain details of their experience, contact information, the hospital they sit in, etc.

Search and Filters

Patients use the search algorithms in the telehealth apps to find the right doctors. With the help of the feature, they can look for doctors in their locality, in their preferred language, specialty, availability, and consultation fees.

Video Conferencing

Video chats are the prime feature of telemedicine mobile app development and the key factor in deciding the cost of a telemedicine platform. The video should be transmitted in high quality to ensure the physician can see the symptoms. At Appinventiv, our telemedicine app developers use streaming protocols like WebRTC and RTMP to enable seamless video chats.

Text Chats and Voice Calls

For small consultations, users prefer sending text messages or making voice calls from within the telehealth mobile apps. What helps in aiding this feature is allowing users to add photos and files of their medical data. As a telehealth app development company, it is important to ensure that the platform is hack-proof and follows HIPAA guidelines.

Calendar

A calendar is one of those features both patients and doctors use, enabling them to make appointments and keep track of it. We recommend syncing the calendar with the user’s one – Google Calendar or Microsoft Calendar, etc. This way, they will get notifications of when the appointment is due.

Payments

Another key feature of telemedicine applications for healthcare is the ease of making payments. As a telehealth app owner, you can decide between creating your payment mechanism or using a third-party payment app. Note that creating your payment model will increase the cost of telemedicine software while using a third-party solution will keep it on the lower side. At Appinventiv, we integrate payment gateways in your app, which are known in the industry as being robust – PayPal, Stripe, and Braintree.

Notifications

This is another feature that is the same for patients and a telemedicine app for doctors. It helps notify patients and doctors of their upcoming appointment, a new text message or missed video/voice call intimation, payment status, etc. To send push notifications, we generally use the Firebase Cloud Messaging platform.

Having looked into the features of telemedicine platforms for doctors and patients, the next logical step would be to determine how you can monetize your telemedicine app.

How to Monetize a Telemedicine App?

Telemedicine apps bridge the gap between patients and doctors. Still, we have to take a business perspective and share all the details on how you can attract monetary benefits from your app.

Fees

One of the most common ways of monetizing the telemedicine app is fees. Like the Doctor on-Demand app that charges 25% fees from the patients for accessing app features such as doctor consultation, you too can add the fees element in the app.

Subscription

You can also go with a membership model wherein the patients take a monthly subscription to the application and pay for accessing the different feature sets of the app at a discounted rate. Also, you can provide your product as a software-as-a-service where you can tie with corporations for their employees’ healthcare needs.

Advertisements

Usually, business owners offer their interactive app space for advertisements related to their niche. As soon as your app starts getting traction and retaining users, you can monetize with the help of generic advertisements displayed on your network.

With this, we have looked into the different facets of telemedicine platform costs. The only thing that remains is to enter the business.

How Can Appinventiv Help?

Appinventiv is a top-notch organization that offers telemedicine applications for healthcare, capable of offering a guaranteed ROI. From determining the exact cost of the telemedicine app to understanding the feature logistics and how they can help you gain traction, our healthcare application development services speak for themselves. Reach out to us with your telemedicine app idea; our team will help you realize it in no time.

We recently developed a healthcare platform YouCOMM, a multi-request format app that connects the in-hospital patients with nurses for their basic needs. It is a revolutionary solution that improves the patient-caregiver communication efficiency.

The app enabled 60% growth in nurses’ response time and high CMS reimbursement for the hospitals. Adding a feather to its hat, the app was capable of receiving the Entrepreneurs Innovations Award in 2019.

Another one of our healthcare applications, Health-e People allowed us to bring the segregated healthcare industry together. The app enables the users to manage comprehensive healthcare records and assist the advanced science in finding cures to healthcare issues. The app was capable of tying an expansive healthcare world to a community.

Our full cycle of app development services amalgamated with a modern tech stack can help you stand apart from the competitors and witness imminent success. Get in touch with our team to know more!

FAQs

Q. How to make a telemedicine app for doctors?

A. A telemedicine app for doctors can be made from scratch by deciding on the app platform. Moving forward with an interactive UI/UX design and integrating all the features, a dedicated app development company can help you choose the right tech stack and cater to regulatory health compliances.

Q. How much does it cost to develop a custom telemedicine app?

A. A custom telemedicine app with an extensive feature list can cost around $80,000 to $200,000. On the other hand, a basic telemedicine app with few features and a simple UI/UX design can cost anywhere between $40,000 to $55,000.

Q. What are the basic inclusions in the MVP of a telemedicine app?

A. An MVP of a telemedicine app consists of a mobile or a web platform, HIPAA Compliance, separate panels for the patient, doctor, and admin, integrated payment gateways, and video and text chat capabilities.

THE AUTHOR

Amardeep Rawat

Co-Founder and Director