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W
hen Apple launched the iPhone
in 2007, it transformed the way
we think about mobile devices
and their usage. Other players
like RIM, Google (Android) and Microsoft
started adopting the changes quickly for their
survival in the mobile space. Apple made the
industry look at the revolutionized innovation a
smartphone can deliver and helped the business
growth of the industry.
BY YUVA RAJA
Best Practices and Trends
in Developing MobileHealthcare Applications
Compared to other industries, the healthcare and pharma indus
-
try was quick to respond and adopt new technologies between2000
and 2010 realizing the need for innovation when deliver -
ing its services. Now its the Healthcare and Pharma Industry
keeping itself on the edge of all emerging technology. Accord
-
ing to various studies, its going to take a reasonable amount
of
investment to develop efficient mobile healthcare applications
in
coming years.
There are various healthcare sectors looking for
comprehensive
mobile applications for various purposes that include EMR
Data
Intelligence and Reporting, Monitoring, Scheduling,
Payments,
Accounting, Tracking and more.
We will discuss key factors and best practices that any
healthcare
ISVs, SP, SIs or mobile application developer should
consider
while developing mobile applications for the life saving
industry
Healthcare.
For any healthcare application, security and compliance goes
hand in hand and its absolutely essential to adopt all
healthcare
compliances and regulations including HIPAA, HITECH, ITRF
Regulation or PCI/PHI compliances, governing the Healthcare
sector. The designer or developer should consider how to:
transmit the data between end-points
secure the usage of the data
secure the critical information during unlikely events such
asthe device being stolen, hacked or reaching the wrong hands
apply encryption technologies, authorization
and authentications.
It is smart to develop mobile healthcare applications that
support a
variety of Mobile Platforms, so that the users are free to
choose the
right device for their needs. It will help solution providers
imple
ment the solution in hospitals, clinics or pharmacies without
insist
ing on a device change to support the application.
Other critical factors to be kept in mind while designing or
devel
oping mobile applications (these are not only for healthcare
appl
cations, but applicable for all mobile application
developments).
Bandwidth the application designer/developer should
design the application assuming that the radio signal is
ofte
in lower bandwidth.
Memory mobile devices now are starting to have good
memory sizes, it is still not close to a PC or Laptop, so
the
mobile application should not be a heavy lifter.
Energy the designer or the developer should avoid pro -
gramming the application in such a way that certain activi
ties will not increase battery energy usage and reduce bat
BUSINESS & STRATEGY
LifeSciTrends | www.njtc.org | September 20118
7/30/2019 Best Practices and Trends in Developing Mobile Health
Apps
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tery life. For example an activity that
transmits the geo-location very often
will drain the battery sooner.
Data Transmission mobile network
cost is based on the volume of data we
transmit, so the application should be
designed and developed in such a way
that it doesnt transmit the same data
every time it connects with back end
systems or vice versa.
Presentation and User-Friendly the
mobile application screen design
should be simple, clear and clean,
avoid cumbersome texts and inputs.
Consider right size text, buttons and
controls as most of the operations
are triggered by finger touch on the
screens. Keep in mind the screen-
size of the device the application is
developed for.
Reduce Manual Errors any au -
tomated application should reduce
manual error and it is not dierent
for mobile healthcare applications.
A study points that CPOE & theMedication Administration
Applica -
tion reduced manual errors up to 38
percent and 55 percent respectively.
Increase Employee Productivity
mobile healthcare applications should
help increase employee productivity,
efficiency, and enable the care taker
or medical practitioner to take care of
more patients. A study indicates EHR
increased employee productivity up
to 24 percent. According to a private
study, a good Mobile Healthcare
application saves an average of 39minutes for Health Care
employees,
and allows them to provide more time
to patient care.
Increase Satisfaction eventually the
performance of the application should
increase healthcare provider
satisfaction and enable them
to serve more patients.
Reduce Labor Costs
Mobile Healthcare Ap -
plications should reduce
labor cost by automating
the manual process; and it
should not force the health -
care organizations or provid -
ers to increase the labor to handle and
manage the application exclusively to
make it work.
An Integrated Approach the success
of these mobile healthcare solutions
requires a holistic and integrated ap -
proach; capable to integrate with het -
erogeneous systems or applications.
By 2015, more than one third of the
1.4 billion smartphone users will use at
least one mobile healthcare application.
Developing the right mobile healthcare
applications will secure an important
role for healthcare ISVs, SVs and SPs in
this space.
Electronic Health Record is the most
important application driving investment
above 28% from HealthCare Industry.
Next to it, Computerized Physician Order
Entry and Medication Administration at-
tracts investment above 13% individually
(Source Motorola) Mobile Health Care applications will play
vital role taking the Health Care systems
to next level in future.
Mobile Health Care market to hit $2.1
billion by end of this year growth by
17% in each of the past two years (Source
ComputerWorld)
Health Care Application set to become
hugely popular and above 500 million con-
sumers will be using the application in next
5 years (Source Research2guidance)
More than 1/3 of 1.4 billion smart-
phone users will use atleast one Mobile
HealthCare Application by 2015 (Source
Global Mobile Health Market Report
2010-2015).
Yuva Raja is currently heading the IDEA Lab Global R&D
division of ZSL,Inc., and is responsible
for delivering the Value Added Research and Product Engineering
Services to Enterprises, Start-
ups, ISVs, and Systems Integrators utilizing the enterprise
mobile, BI, Cloud and Social Media
technologies and platforms. He can be reached at
[email protected] or 732.379.3934.
Taryn BostjancicAre you prepared for thechanges in revenue
recognitiofor research and development
deliverables?
FASB Update No. 2010-17:Milestone Method of
RevenueRecognition
The FASB has issued Update No. 2010-1is eective for scal years
beginning on June 15, 2010. The Update formalized theof recognizing
revenue based on milestoUpdate denes a milestone as an event havthe
following characteristics: (1) there is su
uncertainty at the date the arrangement iinto that the event
will be achieved; (2) tcan only be achieved based in whole oon
either the vendors performance or aoutcome resulting from the
vendors perand (3) if achieved, the event would radditional
payments being due to the ven
The Update provides guidance on wmilestone method may be
utilized to rrevenue that is contingent upon the achof a
substantive milestone. Upon complemilestone the consideration a
vendor earncommensurate with either the vendors peto complete the
milestone or the enhancvalue delivered. The consideration must reto
past performance and be reasonable rthe other deliverables and
payments in themeaning there cannot be large upfront while most of
the work is done later. Addif a portion of the consideration
earnachieving a milestone may be refunded orbased on future
performance, the coconsideration is not considered to relate past
performance, and, thus, the related mcannot be considered
substantive. Finestablishment of milestones must be doat the
inception of the arrangement. It is acif a vendor chooses to use
some other mrevenue recognition that defers some portconsideration
arising from a milestone.
The vendor must disclose in its nancial stits policy, as well as
a description of each arrainvolving milestone payments, a
determiwhether each milestone is considered suthe factors
considered in determining whmilestone or milestones are substantive
amount of milestone consideration reduring the period.
Taryn Bostjancic, CPA, is a
partner in the New Brunsw
Oce of WithumSmith+B
Certied Public Accounta
and Consultants and is a
member of the rms Life
Sciences Group. Bostjanci
be reached at 732.828.16
or [email protected]
A
Q
LifeSciTrends | www.njtc.org | September 2011
