Medical Web Development: Design, Features and Technologies

The coronavirus epidemic has increased the market for medical specialists. Hundreds of millions of people search the internet for health-related information. The number of searches regarding Healthcare Services has risen by 20% in the last few months. As they try to adjust to this new reality, many businesses are in desperate need of healthcare website development. The business’s website is the face of its medical practice. Because people these days are very demanding, having a website for medical services is almost a requirement. The medical site must be convenient and user-friendly in order to have a pleasant experience for patients. We’ve put together a detailed guide on medical website development, design, and growth to address all of these concerns. This article will discuss medical website development and design, as well as the associated challenges and costs. As a reliable software development company, we base our knowledge on extensive research gathered while working on various health-related web and mobile projects. Continue reading to learn more about the processes, or scroll down to get a reasonably accurate quote.

1. Why Would You Need an Up-to-Date Medical Website

There is no doubt that healthcare providers require websites — of course, they do. A website is an excellent investment for any business these days. It’s almost as if you don’t exist if you don’t have an online presence. While one can debate the truth of this statement regarding a personal Facebook page, there is no second opinion when it comes to growing a business.

Medical website development can provide numerous advantages to a healthcare facility:

1. Increased accessibility – A website is more accessible than a call center because it does not require as many employees, provides patients with visual information, and does not have phone queues. While you may keep your call center for those, who do not use the internet for whatever reason, having a website will significantly reduce the workload on your employees.
2. New marketing opportunities since patients can find your clinic online, which is where most people look for information these days. People who aren’t your patients will be able to find your clinic with professional search engine optimization and a solid medical information database on your website.
3. You can provide all of your clinic’s information in one location – This includes information about the doctors you employ, their credentials, your clinic’s services, and so on.

This is only the tip of the iceberg, but these advantages would be enough reason to create a great website and app for your clinic. That was prior to COVID-19.

As the pandemic demonstrated, one of the most critical services is online access to healthcare. For many businesses, this was the final push toward digitization, but for healthcare providers, the COVID-19 impact was so massive that it’s still difficult to comprehend.

From now on, the digitization of healthcare will almost certainly be much faster, and no clinic can afford to fall behind.

Whether it’s the general difficulty of moving large amounts of data from paper to computer or government-imposed bureaucracy, the medical industry still has a long way to go in terms of digitization. However, the procedure has begun. More hospitals and clinics are implementing electronic health record/electronic medical record (EHR/EMR) systems and telemedicine.

• EHR/EMR systems: Healthcare facilities use these systems to keep track of their patient’s medical records.
• Telemedicine Websites: On-demand Doctor Websites / App (Aka, Telemedicine) is a branch of medicine that focuses on delivering healthcare services over the internet, including scheduling, consultations, and prescriptions. Developing a telemedicine platform is similar to developing an online medical website, although there are several variations.

2. Main Usage of Medical Websites

Aside from the accessibility and marketing requirements mentioned above, developing a healthcare website can help your medical establishment — a clinic, a hospital, a lab, or a doctor’s practice — perform better. We want to go over a few of them here.

2.1. Communication Channels Between Doctors and Patients

A clinic web portal can provide more than just a phone number for patients to call in order to schedule an appointment with a doctor. You can also set up a chat and/or video call with the doctor on a regular basis. This will reduce the need for at least some personal visits and improve the experience for busy patients.

2.2. Means of Automating Specific Features

When it comes to certain tasks, a chatbot can be even more efficient than a human employee. A machine-powered assistant, for example, will make fewer mistakes, such as mishearing a patient’s preferred date and time for an appointment. A bot can also assist patients in renewing or ordering prescriptions.

Non-urgent questions can be submitted via an online form; doctors will review and respond to them later. No form will be accidentally misplaced with proper design and sorting features.

All of this will free up time for your employees to perform administrative tasks that robots cannot yet perform.

2.3. Educational Resources

A health portal of some kind is a massive win for a medical establishment. Instead of relying on search engines and social networks, you can post scientifically supported health information so that patients have a reliable source.

Simultaneously, a health portal accessible to doctors can be used to create a database of clinical decisions for future reference. This will undoubtedly be beneficial in many cases, shortening the time required to treat patients.

3. Healthcare Website Development | Key Considerations before starting

Nowadays, there’s no doubt that all healthcare providers need a website. It’s almost as if you don’t exist if you don’t have an online presence. Although one can debate the truth of this statement when it comes to a personal Facebook page, there isn’t much space for debate when it comes to growing a company, especially in the healthcare sector. Your healthcare solution will be reliable and quick thanks to the best medical website development practices combined with new technology.

3.1. HIPAA and HITECH compliance

Patient care providers deal with protected health information (PHI) on a regular basis. PHI refers to all health-related information that is covered under HIPAA rules. Data on health conditions, symptoms, insurance, patient forms, and financial qualifications are all examples of confidential data.

HIPAA compliance is required for a medical service provider’s website. HIPAA defines the protocols for handling, storing, and transmitting personal health information. HIPAA is based on four basic rules:

• The Privacy Rule
• The Security Rule
• The Enforcement Rule
• The Breach Notification Rule

An organization must meet all of the required data handling requirements, appoint a HIPAA compliance officer, prepare and publish a policy, and ensure data encryption to become HIPAA compliant. HIPPA is augmented by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), which offers patients additional protection.

They must, first and foremost, have online access to their Secure Health Records and be informed of any data breaches. Furthermore, if a data breach involves the personal details of 500 or more patients, the medical provider must notify the US Department of Health and Human Services or similar.

Similar requirements have been in place in Europe since 2018 in the form of the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR. The GDPR applies to all websites that handle user data, not just health-related platforms. Depending on where you’re launching your medical website, you’ll need to check local medical and personal data legislation.

3.2. Detailed Privacy Policy

A strict privacy policy is required for a medical website because it processes a lot of confidential and sensitive data. All users should be able to see the policy, which should outline the types of data you receive, the methods you use, and how you process, encrypt and store data. If you work in the European Union, you can employ a GDPR lawyer to assist you in developing your privacy policy.

3.3. The Use of SSL Certificate

You can use HTTPS and SSL certificates whether or not your medical website sells anything. This security protocol ensures a reliable server link. All data traveling from your website to the servers is encrypted using this protocol. SSL certificates are available in a wide price range, ranging from free of charge to $4,000 per year. The price is determined by the level of security offered and the number of domains for which SSL certificates are available.

3.4. Website Responsiveness (Mobile)

Website responsiveness became more critical than ever before as the internet migrated from PC to other devices. Any website should look fantastic on a large computer monitor as well as a tablet or smartphone.

If a website fails to have a positive user interface on all platforms, the service provider risks losing clients. Consumers are unlikely to trust any healthcare providers with a badly built website or mobile platform.

According to Statista, around half of all web traffic is generated by mobile devices. Mobile devices (excluding tablets) produced 50.81% of global website traffic in the third quarter of 2020, having steadily hovered around the 50% mark since the beginning of 2017.

3.5. Quick Loading Time

Health websites should be lightning fast when it comes to loading times. Users expect a website to load in under 2 seconds on average. If they wait any longer, you risk losing future customers. For medical web growth, fast load times should be high on the priority list. These pages are more likely to rank higher in Google search results and appear near the top.

Google has its own Website Speed Checker that you can verify and identify the reasons which cause your website to become slow.

3.6. Content Rich Websites

The goal of creating a website for a medical IT solutions should be to build one that is full of useful information. At each point of the customer journey, you must provide patients with relevant content. Pricing information, patient testimonials, contact and location information, a FAQ section, and so on should all be included on the website. Pay careful attention to how the “About us” page is built.

According to Business2Community, 70% of small business websites lack a simple Call to Action (CTA) on their homepage. Don’t follow in the footsteps of these companies. Make your medical practice website one of the 30% of businesses with successful CTAs.

3.7. Improve Website with SEO Practices

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is critical to the success of any website. That is yet another reason to have a knowledge base. Relevant information presented by professionals using current SEO best practices will raise your website’s ranking in Google, increasing the frequency with which it appears in search results. More frequent appearances in search results will result in more visitors to your website. Some will click on the link, and some will decide to visit your clinic. That is, if your website is visually appealing and up to date.

4. Medical Web Design Trends

Clients are easily distracted by the cluttered and disorganized website. Users want to find details quickly and conveniently, so the website should be clear and easy to navigate. Nowadays, patterns shift rapidly, making it impossible to keep up with them all. The most recent developments in medical practice website design are listed below.

4.1. Responsive Website Design

A responsive website is one that is user-friendly. It means that the design of medical websites takes into account various screen sizes and resolutions. Patients nowadays use smartphones and tablets to access information about the hospital. According to Statista, mobile devices account for roughly half of all web traffic.

4.2. Flat Design

The use of minimalistic and succinct elements in user interface design is known as flat design. As a result, you get a simple but striking interface that helps you to concentrate on the website’s content. Furthermore, since flat design uses basic design elements, it can speed up the loading time of a website.

4.3. Micro Animation 

Micro animations, as the name suggests, refer to tiny animated portions of the user interface. Micro animations help to attract users’ attention to your website and make it easier to navigate. Micro animations, on the other hand, should not be used in abundance on your website. They can be used in conjunction with apps.

4.4. Hamburger Menu 

The use of minimalistic and succinct elements in user interface design is known as flat design. As a result, you get a simple but striking interface that helps you to concentrate on the website’s content. Furthermore, since flat design uses basic design elements, it can speed up the loading time of a website.

4.5. Bright colors

The use of minimalistic and succinct elements in user interface design is known as flat design. As a result, you get a simple but striking interface that helps you to concentrate on the website’s content. Furthermore, since flat design uses basic design elements, it can speed up the loading time of a website.

As you can see, users anticipate seeing clean, vibrant websites with animation in the near future. There are numerous medical website design firms that can create a website that meets all of your needs and objectives. Additionally, Savvycom also provides UI/UX design services. If you’re interested, you can learn more about our best work in Medical Website / Mobile App Development by visiting our Behance Account.

4.6 Accessibility

The goal of web design accessibility is to make websites easier to use for people with disabilities. This is even more important for clinic websites than for other types of websites. When it comes to websites, accessibility features are typically aimed at users with vision impairments and physical limitations, though steps can be taken to assist people with other challenges as well.

Some websites have separate versions of pages designed specifically for people with various types of disabilities. This version is accessible via a button on the home screen or in the menu. However, an increasing number of businesses are incorporating accessibility into the basic design of their websites.

To comply with accessibility guidelines, use high-contrast icons and buttons that are easy to see and understand, as well as keyboard and voice navigation. Inquire with your software outsourcing company about their designers’ familiarity with accessibility principles.

4.7. Progressive web application

Progressive web applications, or PWAs, are a web development trend used by businesses that do not see the need for or cannot afford to create a mobile app for their business. A PWA is a web page that can be placed on the home screen of a mobile device and accessed similarly to a mobile app. At the same time, because they are web pages, PWAs are more accessible to build than mobile apps and don’t require a lot of storage space or processing power.

5. Technologies For Developing Medical Website

Websites for healthcare providers vary greatly, and much of the technology used will depend heavily on the exact list of features you wish to implement and the healthcare webs developers with whom you will collaborate. Our developers have compiled the technology they employ when working on healthcare projects. If you want to see an example, look at the table below.

Front-end	JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Vue.js, React.js, Bootstrap, Highcharts
Backend	Ruby on Rails, Elixir/Phoenix, Node.js, Sidekiq
Sign-up/sign-in	Facebook API, Google API, Amazon SES
Data storage	Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage
Databases	MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, Redis
Scheduling	Google Calendar API
Notifications	Twilio
Video calls	WebRTC, RTMP
Chat	Firebase, Twilio
Payments	PayPal, Stripe
Video/audio playback	AWS Lambda, FFMpeg, m3u streams

6. Key Features of Medical Website Development

Whether you run a general practice hospital or a specialized clinic, you’ll need certain basic features.

The most basic option for a clinic website consists of only a few pages and virtually no on-site interactions. Here are the essential features for a basic healthcare website:

1. The home page – This is where you introduce your facility and highlight everything important — the most popular procedures, any events, or information about your highly qualified doctors.
2. Contact information – Provide a phone number, email address, and a contact form for your facility.
3. The address of your clinic, as well as a map of its location.
4. A page introducing your doctors and detailing their qualifications and work experience.
5. Photos will enhance the page’s as well as your website’s professional and trustworthy appearance.
6. Hours of operation – If your doctors have different schedules, providing hours for each doctor will be beneficial.
7. Testimonials – As previously stated, most people look up information about doctors and clinics online. Positive reviews on your website may influence potential patients’ decisions.
8. Pricing – Your prospective clients will want to know how much they will have to pay for your services. It may be advantageous to provide discounts, such as for the first visit, or to hold events. However, you must proceed with caution so as not to appear erratic.

The above information can even be implemented on a single scrollable page. A single-page application can also be created (SPA). An SPA is a website that rewrites content dynamically on a single page rather than reloading entire pages when a user moves between them. SPA content reloads faster than traditional website content, making this type of website more appealing to people with slow internet access or limited traffic.

However, if you want to gain a competitive advantage in the medical market, you’ll need a more sophisticated website. You’ll need a patient and doctor side, as well as an admin panel, on your website. A designated employee or a team of employees can manage the clinic’s side of the website in most modern clinics. These workers could be receptionists or medical assistants, and they could also be doctors.

According to experienced healthcare web developers, the following features are beneficial for any modern clinic.

6.1. Individual patient profiles

When someone becomes (or wishes to become) a patient of your clinic, they will appreciate the dedicated space where all interactions with your clinic can be stored: all records of a patient’s previous and planned visits, issues that brought them to seek medical assistance, sample results, payment history, prescriptions, and more.

Even if your clinic specializes in one type of medical care, such as a dentist’s office, you still provide a variety of procedures and activities.

Having a personal space necessitates the inclusion of a signup/login feature in your medical practice website development. You might consider integrating registration via Facebook or Google for user convenience, but be cautious not to allow third parties access to your patient’s health information.

6.2. Scheduling

The ability to schedule an appointment online without making a phone call is beneficial to both patients and doctors. It reduces the workload of receptionists who schedule appointments for patients who call or visit the clinic.

To schedule appointments through a website, your medical website developers must create an interactive calendar that syncs with servers and updates frequently to avoid double bookings.

6.3. Notifications

Implement notifications to remind users of upcoming appointments, blood test results, or prescriptions that are ready for pickup. Push notifications are an option if you’re creating a PWA. You can use notifications in a personal space or an automatically triggered email or text message on a traditional website.

6.4. Base of knowledge

When they suspect they or someone they know is ill, they look for a doctor. You can create a knowledge base for the ailments you treat to make it easier for users to find doctors. This knowledge base’s information must be true and verified. It may include a general overview, symptoms, and treatment methods, among other things. People should always learn from a reputable source that is informed by the World Health Organization and compliant with health-related legislation rather than from a random person on Instagram who may or may not make things up.

6.5. Search

Users should be able to search for information on a large hospital’s website if they’re creating one.

• Names of doctors
• Departments
• Procedures and tests
• Symptoms
• Keywords

A smaller specialized clinic, such as a dentist’s, gynecologist’s, or therapist’s office, will have fewer categories, but some.

6.6. Video consultations via the internet

Telemedicine has been on the rise for some time now; it saves time for people who are always on the go, as well as people with disabilities who may have difficulty visiting a hospital. With the COVID-19 outbreak, telemedicine has become the primary option for healthcare, as hospitals have become overcrowded, sometimes quarantined, and people have been confined to their homes.

There are several methods for managing online consultations. The best option is to have a video chat option right on the website, but incorporating this type of functionality may prove to be a financial and technical challenge. Another option is to use an API to integrate a third-party video conferencing service, and this is less expensive, faster, and just as effective.

6.7. Chat

Chat functionality can be used in conjunction with (or instead of) video conferencing functionality. For many people, on-site consultation with a medical specialist is more convenient than a phone call. Patients can also use a chat to book appointments and obtain prescriptions, as well as by clinics to notify patients of new appointment times and test results, send payment reminders, and so on.

6.8. Online transactions

If you’re delivering prescriptions or integrating online consultations into your website — whether through video, chat, or both — you’ll need to provide your users with ways to pay for services without having to visit the clinic. You’ll need to integrate a payment gateway for this. Choosing a payment service is critical. Such services have varying fees and terms of service, and your development firm can conduct research and present you with several options.

6.9. Admin Interface

Your clinic’s website will need to be managed. Designated employees, such as assistants or receptionists, will be responsible for checking and updating schedules, as well as sending patients any relevant information, such as test results. Administrators should also have the ability to add and remove doctors and other employees.

An admin panel’s design is typically much simpler than a client-side website’s. There’s no reason to make an admin panel look flashy, and a functional and efficient user experience is far more important than a beautiful interface.

7. Cost For Healthcare Website Development

You’ll need to know exactly what features you need, settle on a template, and select an outsourcing web development company to estimate the exact cost of medical clinic website development. Rates vary from one IT Company to the next. Based on the features mentioned above and our own design and development speeds, Savvycom can give you a very rough estimate.

The following experts would be required for a medical website development project:

• Project manager
• Web designer
• Frontend developer
• Backend developer
• Quality assurance specialist

A hospital website development will take about 5 to 7 months to create. The development cost can start at $50.000. And you can hire more than one designer, frontend/backend developer, or QA specialist to expedite development. Of course, the price will rise under these circumstances.

If you’re on a tight budget, you can skip features you believe can wait and implement them later. However, we recommend preliminary research to determine whether certain features are essential. While the medical industry is still in its early stages of digitization, your competitors are also preparing. Proper research will assist you in prioritizing which features to implement.

8. Step-by-Steps Guide To Medical Website Development With Savvycom

Medical website design and development usually take several subsequent steps to ensure the most efficient product creation. Let’s consider them in detail.

Step 1: Initial Contact

• Submit a project description on the our website.

• The Delivery Manager will contact you within 24 hours to schedule a consultation.

• Arrange a meeting with the team and request an NDA for confidentiality if necessary.

Step 2: Solution Design Stage

• Meet with the medical web development team which includes a business analyst, a solution architect, and a designer.

• Define your key business goals, work scope, main constraints, concerns, and basic quality attributes.

Step 3: Discovery Phase

The team translates agreed-upon requirements into a development plan, including:

• Regulatory requirements depending on the region,
• Creating a detailed feature list,
• Analyzing business processes and creating documentation,
• Conducting a quality attributes workshop,
• Preparing an exact cost estimate for the project.

Step 4: Design and Prototyping

• A UI/UX team creates a design concept for an intuitive user experience.

• The team creates a prototype of the future medical website, considering all minor details.

• After your approval, the design is forwarded to the development team.

Step 5: Development and Quality Assurance (QA)

• Frontend and backend developers ensure the site functions correctly and quickly.

• Frontend developers use JavaScript and TypeScript and the Angular and React frameworks.

• Backend developers use languages like Ruby, Elixir, Python, PHP, Java, and use frameworks like Ruby On Rails and Phoenix.

• Developers integrate cloud server platforms such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) and use APIs for third-party integrations.

• QA accompanies each development stage and conducts regression testing upon completion.

Step 6: Release and Support

• The team moves the completed site to the live server on the release day.

• You receive all project materials, including links, specifications, and design details.

• Post-release, you can continue cooperation with the provider for updates, new features, and bug fixes.