How to Build a TeleHealth App: Features, Steps and Strategy

TeleHealth poduct life cycle

TeleHealth platform development speeds up the treatment of a variety of medical conditions. Accessible, handy, and convenient, such services decrease barriers and provide affordable and timely access.

Let's start with the five key stages of the telemedicine application's lifecycle:

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Step #1: MVP development

Creating a minimum viable product (MVP) is the cheapest and fastest way to validate your idea and learn a market demand. Most telemehealth startups, like Babylon or Amwell, started with an MVP.

In Agile methodologies, telemedicine app development is usually divided into several steps:

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Telemedicine app features

Clients define the full feature set for the future Telemedicine app once when project's discovery phase and SRS are finished. However, an MVP should prioritize core functionality above all the bells and whistles you may be tempted to include.

To help you set your priorities straight, we've analyzed the most successful telehealth startups and came up with a list of five core features your MVP can't go without:

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How to monetize TeleHealth app

Most startups commit to a single telehealth business model, either B2B or B2C (D2C). The first provides services to businesses, like medical centers or private practices, as well as corporate clients looking for medical support for their employees. The latter provides services directly to the customers or patients.

B2B solutions usually see a higher utilization rate, as an employer or an insurance company covers the telemedicine cost. Patients are more likely to use a medical app if they don't have to pay from their own pockets. As a result, the B2B business model does not require extensive marketing efforts to attract end-users, even if finding early adopters among businesses may be more challenging than signing up new patients.

While B2B TeleHealth companies like Teladoc are seen as the market leaders, B2C players will likely turn the tide in the coming years as people become more personally accountable for their health. However, B2C startups still need to focus their efforts on regulatory compliance, especially when dealing with personal data storage and handling.

Regardless of the business model, remote medical platforms come with a variety of monetization options, including:

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Wheel is one example of a successful telehealth monetization strategy. It enables clinics to create proprietary online solutions without wasting time on telemedicine app development. Alternatively, Wheel cooperates with employers who wish to build telemedicine solutions into their benefits structure.

Wheel raised $50 million to further develop a white label telemedicine platform. Considering the company's revenue skyrocketed from $3.3 million in Q4'20 to $42 million in Q1'21 with a customer retention rate of 90%, it is no surprise similar startups are popping up. Daily, yet another white label telehealth platform, raised $15 million in a recent investment round, while the clinic digitization platform, Memora Health, raised $10.5 million.

Differentiation is key to success

The influx of investors and big league players makes the market highly competitive for most small startups. Some teams are taking the easy road of offering telehealth as a service solution. Others prefer diving into tighter niches that host a fewer number of competitors.

Some niches are still sparse enough for small startups to thrive and succeed. These include targeted support for specific population groups or patient types, like students or older patients who have trouble dealing with technology. Chronic patients make up another significant target audience, considering six out of ten Americans suffer at least one chronic condition.

Anyway, achieving product-market fit is crucial for every medical care startup. Interviewing potential customers and industry stakeholders, testing product-market fit with a minimum viable offering, and using feedback to validate ideas are vital steps for digital health startups. Let's take a couple of topical examples.

Cecelia Health, NYC-based diabetes, and other chronic disease management company, called a 'pioneer in providing telehealth and chronic disease management services', closed a $13m Series B financing round in 2020. It has emerged as a leader in using technology-enabled digital tools and has provided over a million remote patient interactions.

According to FinSMEs report, Cecelia Health will leverage the next funding to deliver a Virtual Clinic offering "CGM training, education on medication adherence and lifestyle and behavior change, mental health screening and counseling".

Another NYC- and Dublin-based company, LetsGetChecked, providing end-to-end at-home lab testing, closed a $30m Series B financing round in 2019. Today (compared to July 2021) its value breaks the $1bn 'unicorn' barrier following $150m.

All in all, selecting a viable niche business including all pre-processes is your first point on the to-do list before developing a full-fledged product. You'll get a clearer focus on key goals and strategies, and better chances to find appropriate funding.

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Takeaway

The telemedicine market is booming, and now is a high time for building a telehealth app and joining the race for the patient. There are plenty of monetization opportunities for B2B and B2C business models. Investors are showing steady support for companies offering end-user solutions and white-label platforms.

If you decide to join the fray, start with an MVP development and keep the core features to a minimum to validate the idea fast and cheaply. And once you receive initial customer feedback, the next steps will become clear.

We are ready to make your ideas happen. Just choose among the workable solutions we are offering.

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