What Is Healthcare Web Development and Why Turn To It in 2024

A powerful web solution for a healthcare domain is an essential operating tool to fulfill the needs of every medical organization. Healthcare web development allows the physicians and healthcare administrators to control different workflows through one particular system. A web solution is also easily accessible for patients who’ll be able to get on-time prescriptions from their doctors.

As a healthcare web development company with 12+ years of hands-on experience in the domain, we have prepared our own medical web development insight. You will discover the healthcare website development basics, essential preparation steps to build a web product, healthcare web developer hiring options, and many more.

The healthcare website is a virtual reflection of the medical establishment practice and the instrument to gain the health facility’s aim. It allows patients to get answers for the issues they need in a user-friendly manner. Moreover, the medical managers will control all the healthcare establishment workflows more straightforwardly and efficiently.

Let’s look into stats to prove the popularity of healthcare web development.

• People search for medical results a lot – there are about 70,000 healthcare-related searches on the Internet per minute.
• According to Amra and Elma statistical research, 89% of patients use online feedback to estimate the medical provider’s services
• About 71% of patients state that they search for another provider if the current one doesn’t have enough information on their website.

All the above data proves that the healthcare website is a valuable source of medical information that should be developed and maintained for your medical facility. Moreover, you may need to develop a site for your facility for the following reasons:

Communication with patients 24/7. The people need doctors' accessibility day and night to ask the questions they need. The chatbots, feedback forms, or other communication channels implemented on the website will show patients they aren't alone with their issues, and there's always somebody who cares about the health solutions.

A trusted brand creation. When patients look for the best care possible, they check every tiniest thing starting from the clinic's website. So, the web resource should be regularly updated after the web development for healthcare, as it's also an essential component of your brand's reputation.

Relevant data exchange. The opening hours, contact information, photographs of the facility or equipment, contact form options to simplify inquiries, and the ability to schedule an appointment online are all key aspects that hospital websites might provide. Relevant information promotes a better user experience.

Advertising enhancement for your hospital. When your website appears on the top page of all the major search engine result sites, it has a higher chance of connecting with more of your potential target audience. Therefore, combining the use of search engines with Internet advertising is an excellent way to raise awareness.

Here are the TOP-5 trends for you to make your health website stand out of other medical service providers and attract customers.

With the rise of telehealth services, healthcare websites are increasingly integrating telemedicine features. This includes real-time video consultations, appointment scheduling, and secure messaging systems. As patients seek more convenient ways to access healthcare, web developers focus on telemedicine software development and its further integration with your health website. It prioritizes user privacy and compliance with healthcare regulations.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning in healthcare are revolutionizing medical web development by enabling personalized care solutions. Healthcare web developer teams are leveraging AI to analyze patient data, predict health outcomes, and recommend tailored treatment plans. AI-driven solutions are improving the efficiency of health delivery through websites from chatbots providing preliminary diagnoses to algorithms identifying high-risk patients for proactive interventions.

IoT in healthcare refers to interconnected medical devices and sensors that collect and transmit patient data in real-time. Healthcare websites are integrating IoT devices to enable remote patient monitoring, chronic disease management, and preventive care initiatives. While integrating IoMT, developers are focusing on interoperability standards, data security protocols, and seamless device integration to ensure the reliability and accuracy of IoMT data transmitted through web platforms like healthcare monitoring systems, telemedicine platforms or EHR solutions.

Blockchain is gaining traction in healthcare web development for its potential to enhance data security, integrity, and interoperability. Developers are exploring blockchain-based solutions for securely storing and sharing Electronic Health Records (EHRs), managing consent frameworks, and facilitating secure data exchanges between healthcare stakeholders. By leveraging blockchain, healthcare websites can mitigate cybersecurity risks and improve trust among patients and providers regarding data privacy.

Cybersecurity threats are becoming more sophisticated, prompting healthcare websites to implement robust security measures. Health web developer teams are adopting encryption protocols, multi-factor authentication, and intrusion detection systems to safeguard sensitive patient information and mitigate cyber risks. Additionally, compliance with regulations such as Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is driving the implementation of stringent security protocols to protect patient privacy and confidentiality.

We'll list the core features that should be implemented in medical websites to help them perform their major functions they’re built for.

The document management feature facilitates the secure storage of patient data, organization, and retrieval of patient records, medical reports, and administrative documents. It allows authorized users, such as healthcare providers and administrators, to upload, categorize, and manage documents efficiently.

The medical website should have a health information source (particularly, articles, videos, infographics, and interactive tools) to educate and empower patients in managing their health and wellness. A health information source should be presented in a clear, concise, and user-friendly format, promoting medical data literacy and informed decision-making among patients and their families.

This health site feature enables users to efficiently organize and track their activities and appointments. Users can create tasks, set reminders, and prioritize activities such as medication schedules, doctor appointments, and health screenings. Integrated with user profiles and calendars during the web development for healthcare, this feature ensures seamless coordination between patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers. Moreover, it enhances overall patient care and adherence to treatment plans.

The patient community serves as a valuable resource for peer-to-peer encouragement, advice, and empathy, particularly for those facing similar health challenges or undergoing similar treatments. It promotes camaraderie, resilience, and empowerment among patients, contributing to improved emotional well-being and quality of life.

Your medical site should offer a comprehensive provider search tool for patients to find healthcare providers, specialists, and facilities based on various criteria such as location, specialty, language, and insurance coverage. The provider search feature facilitates access to high-quality care and fosters patient-provider relationships built on trust and compatibility.

Moreover, your website needs the testimonials page for showcasing positive feedback and experiences from satisfied patients, highlighting the quality of care and services offered by the healthcare provider. It contributes to building trust and credibility, demonstrating the healthcare provider's commitment to patient satisfaction and outcomes.

The invoicing functionality allows patients to conveniently settle their medical bills and healthcare expenses securely. They can also view and manage their invoices, make payments using various payment methods, and track their payment history online. Moreover, this feature enhances billing efficiency, reduces administrative costs, and improves the overall patient financial experience by offering flexibility and convenience in managing healthcare payments.

This web development healthcare tool allows users to assess their symptoms and receive personalized recommendations for appropriate medical care. Users can input their symptoms, medical history, and other relevant information to generate potential diagnoses, treatment options, and next steps. The tool also provides valuable guidance and reassurance to users seeking information about their health concerns and empowers them to make informed decisions about seeking medical attention or self-care measures.

It’s not a secret that before starting to develop a healthcare site you should do a great volume of preparation work. An outsourcing vendor experienced in medical software creation can help you consider all the ins and outs of this complex project.

So, below we offer the most essential web development healthcare steps you should pass through with your software development provider. All the steps are given regarding our Software Development Lifecycle.

In order to start cooperation with a healthcare web development provider like Cleveroad, you should leave a request on the company’s website. It has to contain the details of your medical site concept, that will be processed by the Business Development Department. The specialists will study the information you’ve presented, and contact you back within 24 hours to boost health web development further.

You can also sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to protect the uniqueness of your medical web product idea, before the cooperation proceeds to the next stage.

At the Solution Design, you will have communication with the Solution Team (particularly the Solution Architect, the Business Analysts and the UI/UX designer). Tailored specifically for health web development projects, these specialists delve deeper into your health organization’s needs and goals to define the business challenges for the future software to solve.

These activities help them to outline the project scope, create a top-notch functionality set and think out the solution architecture for your upcoming medical website. Moreover, they form a proposal and prepare a rough cost estimate.

Discovery Phase services from Cleveroad are meticulously designed to transform your health site project requirements into a well-defined plan, ensuring accelerated development timelines and enhanced product quality. During this critical phase, we outline your medical facility’s processes and detail the gathered requirements. This includes identifying the platforms to be covered, specifying features to incorporate, and integrating essential third-party services such as HIPAA-compliant payment gateways or geolocation services.

Our skilled designers start conceptualizing the user experience, mapping out intuitive design concepts to enhance user engagement and satisfaction. This step results in preparing a detailed estimate for your health website creation, ensuring transparency and alignment with your budgetary constraints.

After the UI/UX designers finish creating your future medical site’s interface, they hand your project over to the healthcare web developer team. The developers’ task is to encode the previously chosen set of functionality for your future hospital site. They create your health website features during the sprints – two-week periods to prepare the product’s features, fully or partially. The health web developers also integrate your health site with different medical systems and third-party services. They may also use the health tools or create the following medical digital systems for further integration like:

• EHR/EMR software development
• Medical device integration
• Pharmacy management software development
• Medical CRM software development, etc.

The QA engineers work in a tight cooperation with the developers and designers during the stage of your health site development. They are responsible for the overall website’s performance, and that’s why they check for bugs in every piece of code, and make bug reports if something goes wrong.

After the QA engineers ensure that the health website work is stable and smooth, the development team starts to move your healthcare site to the live server. If you are satisfied with the outcome, the developers hand the project materials (e.g., health site design sample, project plan, source code, medical site link, etc.) to you.

However, if you need to have support and maintenance services, the provider’s developers will keep working with you. Their purpose will be to further bugfix the created website for your medical facility, and update it with new features.

It's high time to discuss the factors determining the healthcare web development project cost, and we’ll talk about the most common ones.

Time-to-market, or TTM is the time length required to develop the medical website and launch it. We’ll give some examples of typical TTMs for you to consider.

• Launch as fast as possible. This option is the best for the fluid markets and Minimum Viable Product development.
• Strictly obeyed to the timetable. Used when the health web product development is outsourced and the date of release is agreed between the IT vendor and the client.
• Performance priority. Typically utilized in outsourcing software development companies, when the managers have to deal with a number of projects or features to integrate.
• Priority for sales. Applicable when the team plans the solution launch to overcome the low outcomes. For instance, the project may be released on the day of the event which will boost the financial profit.

If you need to build a custom health website from scratch, it will be resource-consuming for your project budget but effective for your business, as you’ll get a unique and scalable web resource customized for your clients’ needs and user-friendly even for customers with health restrictions.

To be effective nowadays, a medical website must contain dynamic, changeable material that can be controlled from the admin panel (e.g., CMS, or admin console). The more features you add to a health site, the more difficult the admin panel gets. As a result, it is vital to remember that the majority of the complex web development healthcare labor is performed by domain IT experts behind the scenes by developing a complex backend website architecture.

What other points should be considered as the project price influencers? We can name the following ones you should pay attention to:

• The web project type. The complexity and scope of the health web project significantly impact the overall cost.
• Tech stack to use. The choice of programming languages, databases, and third-party integrations, can affect development time and resource requirements, consequently influencing project costs.
• Design complexity. Intricate design elements, animations, and interactive features add to the development effort and may require specialized skills, impacting both time and cost estimations.

We explore the most widespread IT hiring options to help you find the health web developer experts capable to create a medical website for your business needs.

Opting for a freelance healthcare web developer can be cost-effective for small to medium-sized projects. Freelancers often bring a unique set of skills and flexibility to the table. However, it's essential to thoroughly examine the freelance health developer expertise, their past work, and reliability, as these specialists can occur untrustworthy as to terms to finish your project or other aspects.

Building an in-house team of healthcare web developers provides a high level of control, collaboration, and customization. Having an in-house health web development team allows for effective communication, immediate feedback, and a shared understanding of the company's goals.

Kindly note that this option also entails higher costs, as you need to cover expenditures like salaries, benefits, and infrastructure prices. Moreover, recruiting, onboarding and retaining in-house health web developers may be time-consuming for your company.

Outsource healthcare software development to an experienced IT vendor can be a strategic move for organizations seeking a balance between cost-effectiveness and time-saving. Outsourcing allows you to tap into a global talent pool, often at a lower cost compared to maintaining an in-house team.

When considering a healthcare technology partner, it is advisable to explore the option of outsourcing the development of a health website. We’ve prepared a table regarding the most popular outsourcing regions with health web development prices for an hour of working to your consideration.

Revising the table, you can see that North America and Western Europe are the most costly regions to outsource your healthcare web development. However, the expensiveness doesn’t mean top quality.

At the same time, Central and Eastern Europe outsourcing offers an ideal balance between price and quality. This outsourcing destination is popular due to its skilled workforce, competitive pricing, and convenient location in relation to Western Europe. Outsourcing to this region allows access to experienced professionals while retaining control over the development process.

Let’s talk more about the practices your healthcare website should reflect to offer the medical services legally and securely save sensitive patient data.

Ensuring robust security measures is paramount in healthcare web development due to the sensitive nature of patient data. Implementing encryption protocols, secure authentication methods, and regular security audits help safeguard against data breaches and unauthorized access.

For example, applying to Cleveroad for medical site creation, you will get a health website responding to all the requirements for PHI and e-PHI data security and storage, as well as safeguarding patient confidentiality and data security, as well as industry-standard data encryption and information residency and retention.

Adhering to healthcare regulations like HIPAA, GDPR or FDA guidelines is essential for legal compliance and healthcare data security. Understanding and implementing these regulations into the web development process ensures that the platform meets necessary standards for privacy, data handling, and medical device compliance. Regular audits and updates to policies and procedures help maintain compliance amidst evolving regulatory landscapes.

Designing healthcare websites with a user-centric approach is crucial for providing a seamless experience for patients, caregivers, and medical professionals. Prioritizing accessibility features, clear navigation, and mobile responsiveness enhances usability for patients with diverse needs and devices. Incorporating intuitive search functionalities, appointment scheduling tools, and informative content ensures that users can easily find relevant information and services, fostering engagement and trust in the healthcare provider.

Facilitating interoperability between healthcare systems enables seamless data exchange and collaboration among healthcare providers. Using standardized protocols such as HL7 integration and FHIR promotes compatibility and data consistency while simplifying interoperability. Moreover, integrating healthcare APIs allows for the secure exchange of patient information while maintaining data integrity and privacy.

Healthcare website development flow with scalability in mind ensures that the platform can handle increasing user loads and data volumes without sacrificing performance. Utilizing cloud-based infrastructure, load balancing techniques, and caching mechanisms optimizes website speed and responsiveness. Regular performance testing and monitoring help identify and address bottlenecks, ensuring a smooth user experience even during peak traffic periods.

Cleveroad is an outsourcing healthcare web development provider headquartered in Estonia. Since 2011, we have been creating the turnkey medical digital products, like EHR, ERX and EMR for medical, telemedicine and remote care organizations to maintain the physical and mental well-being of their patients.

Cooperating with us, you’ll receive:

• Expert support of healthcare software development team to build modern healthcare web product effective for your medical brand building
• The consultation with one of our Healthcare subject matter specialists as to your healthcare website or web app development
• Necessary skills and knowledge to perform third-party integrations of your healthcare website with your internal systems (e.g., e-RX, EHR/EMR software, patient portals)
• IT services on-demand: creating a medical website from scratch, UI/UX design services, DevOps Services, and many more
• Quality assurance and control at all the levels of your healthcare site development

In order to prove our expertise in healthcare web development, we’d like to tell you about one of our projects — Clinic Management System for rehab service provider.

Our client, a rehab clinic in the USA, has asked for our help in creating a personalized clinic management solution to improve appointment management and streamline workflow. Our team was requested to create a clinic management system with EMR module and apps tailored to the client's requirements, user roles, and healthcare standards. Moreover, we had to provide data migration services on AWS cloud hosting, to meet all the requirements for HIPAA-compliant systems.

We had to implement the following medical web functionality:

• Booking for consultation appointments
• Patient profile
• EMR with billing and user management
• Admin panel to deal with the clinical management system
• Web and mobile apps for patients
• ePrescription solutions

As a result, our client has got a personalized medical solution that includes appointment booking, real-time scheduling, e-prescriptions, and other essential features for efficient management of administrative and operational activities in healthcare facilities. The clinic's data was securely transferred to new storage in compliance with HIPAA regulations. The integrated functionality allows the clinic to effectively manage all processes, streamline workflows, and reduce the risk of schedule conflicts.