The first wave of COVID-19 has shown everyone that no medical system is perfect. The second one pushed telehealth development much further than anyone could ever expect. This made the electronic health system one of the most profitable around the globe. Facing the third wave of coronavirus pandemic, modern society requires new tools to develop the global medical system. Here mHealth comes to save the day and become a new step in the eHealth system development.

Like any other technology, mHealth has its own pros and cons, which brings uniqueness to it. In this article, any startup owner or a potential investor can find interesting facts about different aspects of mHealth application development and its pros and cons in the healthcare system. 

What Is mHealth Exactly?

Talking about digital medicine, 90% of people confuse mHealth with telemedicine or telehealth. Are they connected? Certainly. Are they the same? No. So, what exactly differs mHealth from other modern medical technologies?

First of all, mHealth is not the name of technology itself. It is an abbreviation for mobile health. mHeath operates as a part of telehealth, the same way telemedicine does.

You may be aware that telehealth encompasses a broad spectrum of different medical services that can be provided online via modern technologies. Telemedicine is a part of telehealth. It operates only when a consultation with a doctor or a track of health indicators is required.

The term “mobile health” is used to describe the usage of medical services via mobile phones or smartphones. It is a part of telehealth that can work only on smartphones. And right now, it is the most popular type of telehealth application possible.

According to the statistics, in 2021, more than 3.5 billion people use smartphones. Around 60% of them have at least one app to monitor their health. It is 4 times more than the number of computer users around the globe. This statistic works as a perfect indicator for all app developers ‒ it is time to create new mobile health apps.

An Implementation of mHealth

mHealth applications, like any others, require several things to become successful on the market. Let’s look through some important factors that a potential investor needs to take into account in order not to be confused in the future.

What Does It Take?

The cost of mHealth application strongly depends on several factors, such as:

• The country in which an app will operate. Different countries have different policies and requirements for applications;
• The set of features and functions an application will provide. It should be decided which features an app will have, and what functions will be available to the users;
• The quality of work of the developers that will create the application. “Quality” means the stability of work, security of information, and privacy. The better the quality is ‒ the higher are the chances that the service will have many users;
• Branding and advertisement. No matter how good an app is, without proper advertisement, it will take years to gain at least several users and some profit. Adequate branding will help a medical application get new users faster.

Who Implements Such Software?

When a person decides to invest in mobile health application development, he/she needs to choose a future developer. In modern application’s development market, several options are available:

• Freelancers;
• A team of in-house developers;
• A third-party software development company.

Let’s see the main differences between these three options.

	Freelancers	In-house developers	Third-party software development company
The cost (compared to other options)	The cheapest option (doesn’t require training or workspace)	The most expensive option (requires training, workplace, etc.)	The medium-price option
The amount of time required to start working	The time for recruitment of freelancers (1-4 weeks)	The time for recruitment of a team, their training, etc. (1-10 weeks)	The time to find a good software development company and sign a contract ( 1-3 weeks)
The quality of an application	No guarantees about the quality	The quality strongly depends on the training of workers and their skills	Good quality is guaranteed (such companies usually have experience in the software development)

Looking through these options, the logical conclusion comes. The third-party company’s team of developers is a great option for people who want to invest in this niche. It doesn’t require much from a potential investor but still guarantees good results.

Choosing a development company can also become a challenge for a potential investor. He/she needs to look through the features and functions the company can provide. Diversido.io can create new medical applications, helping you with the full development cycle. An investor simply needs to contact the company and name the functions required. Diversido is an experienced member of the software development market. On their website, anyone can not only start app development but get a consultation about your project.

Mobile Pros and Cons of Medical Technology

Said before, all technologies have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is what makes them different from each other and brings some uniqueness to each of them. Mobile health applications are no exception. In the table below, you can check more details.

Pros	Cons
A lot of apps are available on the market, making it easy for a new product to enter the market	mHealth applications are illegal in some countries, which makes it difficult to implement
With mHealth, communication between a doctor and a patient becomes possible from anywhere	Many mHealth applications do not operate on smartphones with older software
mHealth makes medicine more accessible to people	mHealth applications still lack security and privacy. The more people use them, the more people become victims to hackers who steal the data from mobile phones