Despite shrinking budgets, healthcare app development is projected to continue its growth by industry experts.

Toronto, ON – December 12th, 2016: According to Red Hat’s recent mHealth survey, the healthcare industry is expected to increase spending on app development despite declining budgets. What’s causing this prioritization of app software, and what will it mean for software developers in the coming year? BluEnt has taken a look at the latest industry research to find out.

Forecasted Investment Trends

Red Hat’s survey of over 200 international IT decision-makers in the industry found that 82% of healthcare organizations have a mobile strategy in place, with 95% of these experience a positive ROI on their mobile applications. These financial results are likely what’s driving respondents’ motivation to invest in 36% more healthcare apps on average over the coming year.

Primary Users and Drivers

Another major finding in mHealth survey was that most mobile apps are currently being tailored to usage by doctors (59%), but respondents anticipate that patient demand will become the focus of healthcare app development in 2017. Broken down, the three main drivers are as follows:

• Business demand for more operational productivity

• Healthcare provider demand for improved patient engagement

• Patient demand for mobile apps

The 2015 HIMSS Mobile Technology Study reinforces this insight, as it found that almost 90% of respondents reported that they maintain mobile devices to engage patients at their organizations. Yet, respondents also stated that they struggled to effectively engage patients using existing mobile strategies. For example, the study found that 73% respondents used app-enabled portals to engage patients, but only 36% thought that it was a highly effective means of doing so.

Technical Challenges

Red Hat anticipates that technical challenges in healthcare enterprise app development will be distributed mainly in back-end integration to healthcare systems and securing access to data, at 29% and 27% respectively. In regards to on-premise vs. partial on-premise deployment models, just over half (53%) currently use the former for their mobile applications. These are favoured in the healthcare industry due to the PHI regulations that govern the protection of health information.

There is no single tool that will meet all of the varied needs of the healthcare industry; different organizations make use of (and will continue to make use of) customized solutions to achieve their goals. In a press release, Red Hat reinforced this notion by stating that “even the best off-the-shelf solutions or RMAD tools can only address some of the challenges. For the healthcare industry, a central platform may work best to help develop, manage, secure and maintain both current and future mobile apps.”

Again, the HIMSS survey findings back up this claim. 31% of respondents reported that their organization has developed organizational-specific apps for patients, and another 30% revealed that their organization is in the development stages of building their own. 10% have gone so far as to create an app marketplace where applications are distributed internally or externally to meet the organization’s needs.

BluEnt’s Response

Due to the healthcare industry’s tight budgets but high demand for app development, organizations will need cost-effective solutions from quality developers. As an experienced software development company that focuses on providing maximum value for our clients, BluEnt is in a leading position to respond to this need.

We specialize in creating tailor-made mobility solutions to address the current mobile market in the healthcare sector and beyond, including cloud-based patient records, appointment management systems and more. BluEnt will leverage these strengths in facilitating the growth of health care app development ahead.

About Us:

Formed in 2003, BluEnt specializes in proving custom websites, mobile apps, e-commerce, and internet marketing services for companies running an online dependent business or looking to develop tools to efficiently automate and monitor active processes in their organization. With 11 growing offices situated around the world, BluEnt is respected globally for its consistent quality of services and timely delivery of projects. We use our experience across industries and software applications to help enterprises derive maximum value out of their resources and investments.