Cross platform app development offers a great way to avoid the pitfalls when building applications for healthcare (mHealth). The COVID-19 pandemic stimulated the need for remote delivery of healthcare services as people were forced to remain indoors out of fear of infection. Companies specializing in developing applications wasted no time grabbing this opportunity.
mHealth apps enable users to access a wide range of medical services. These apps collect sensitive personal information about people like medical history and payment details, presenting challenges for data security and compliance. In this blog, we will discuss some of those challenges along with the reasons why cross platform app development is a great way to overcome them.
Understanding Risks Associated with Healthcare Mobile App Development
Developing mHealth apps presents a few unique challenges for companies engaged in building them. In addition to the usual challenges of functionality and good user interface, developers must also consider a few other factors. That is because healthcare is one of the most heavily regulated industries, and applications for it must balance everything with user expectations. Let’s talk about some of the risks associated with developing healthcare apps.
Cybersecurity
The presence of Protected Health Information (PHI) on mHealth applications makes them prime targets for hackers. PHI includes details that can identify individuals and the care they need to be provided with. Some of the details include name, address, phone number, email, social security number, and so on. This information is extremely valuable on the black market, and places on the dark web can fetch good money for it. So, this makes healthcare applications a potential gold mine for malicious actors looking to make a quick buck.
Let’s talk about some of the main vulnerabilities in healthcare apps:
Data Leaks
A medical app may leak sensitive data to other apps or over the internet to unauthorized entities. Victims of this vulnerability might not even realize it has happened to them.
Bad Server-Side Control
A mHealth app may exchange data packets with a backend web endpoint that is not adequately secured. This leads to insecure functioning of APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), opening the door for hackers.
Weak User Authentication
This is one of the most common reasons for data breaches across the world for any kind of application or software. The lack of good user authentication makes it easy for hackers to bypass security features and access private data.
Insufficient Encryption
Private data exchanged over apps need to be encrypted while in transit. Inadequate encryption can lead to hackers intercepting personal data.
Insecure Client-Server Connection
Without the necessary encryption protocols, the communication between a medical application and a server may not be secure enough. This provides opportunities for hackers, especially if they are on the same wifi network, to intercept communications and discern the nature of the packets exchanged.
Improper Session Handling
All kinds of apps store cookies on devices during every session. The cookies help the companies track user behavior within the apps and also enable marketers to display advertisements according to users’ preferences. If the storage of cookies isn’t done by following proper security protocols, hackers can compromise a session and get hold of sensitive user data.
Insecure Storage of Data
Improper coding or file permission for data storage can make private user information vulnerable to unauthorized access.
Third-Party Integrations
Application programming interfaces are used for third-party integrations with mobile applications. In the case of healthcare apps, such integrations may help with the functionality or user interface. For example, an app for virtual consultations might include an integration with electronic medical software. If such integrations are not secure enough, it could lead to a data breach.
Compliance
Since healthcare is a heavily regulated industry, applications for it would need to comply with those regulations. In fact, there are separate tests conducted to ascertain that healthcare mobile apps are in compliance. A lack of compliance attracts serious legal consequences that include steep fines and even prison time. Additionally, the loss of reputation that goes with lawsuits and fines usually results in companies shutting down.
The two main regulatory protocols that all healthcare apps need to comply with are HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). HIPAA applies within the United States and the GDPR is applicable in the European Union.
HIPAA and GDPR are guidelines that healthcare software developers need to follow to ensure a certain degree of data security. Neither of the regulations offers any kind of certification of compliance. However, there are private companies that carry out exhaustive testing to ensure that a healthcare app complies with all the stipulated guidelines.
Data Siloes
A data silo is a data set that belongs to one department of an organization and is not completely accessible to the rest of the organization. This happens when the systems used by the department may be developed using a varying programming language and tech stack as the rest of the departments. When it comes to healthcare, data siloing results in data not being seamlessly accessible across the organization.
The problem of data silos in healthcare is best understood with a real-life example. A hospital’s radiology department, pharmacy, and EHR system may all become silos of data because of varying development stacks. As a result, these departments may not be able to exchange data seamlessly, resulting in care teams working with incomplete patient information. This increases the time needed for healthcare providers to make uninformed clinical decisions. Moreover, providers may sometimes neglect certain pieces of clinical data due to an increase in workload, which can adversely impact medical outcomes for the patients.
The effect of data silos becomes worse for patients who need extensive care over a period of time. Patients suffering from rare or severe chronic diseases or patients involved in major accidents often require continuous care from multiple providers over months. The inability to share data seamlessly can impact treatment decisions, leading to a potential deterioration of the patient’s condition.
The Benefits of Cross Platform App Development For mHealth Applications
Cross platform app development has shown enormous potential in being able to overcome the usual obstacles. Let’s discuss how this approach to building apps helps avoid the usual pitfalls seen in mHealth application development.
Consistency in Cybersecurity
The development of mHealth apps dictates that security measures be up-to-date, robust, and uniformly applied across all platforms. This is paramount as healthcare applications will work with sensitive personal information on patients. This is where the advantages of cross platform app development kick in.
The cross platform app development approach allows for healthcare mobile app development using a single codebase. This codebase can then run on both Android and iOS operating systems. This means that the security measures need to be implemented only once, despite the app being used on multiple platforms. This kind of uniformity guarantees that users across all platforms will have the same level of security. There is a certain degree of unreliable security, even if healthcare providers and patients use a wide array of varying devices with different platforms.
Easier Maintenance with Cross Platform App Development
An additional benefit of cross platform app development makes it easier to update and maintain the medical application. Any updates needed to existing security protocols would require changes to just one codebase. This would then be applied across all platforms, lowering the possibility of oversight or inconsistency.
In contrast, separate codebases for each platform would require additional efforts for updates, leading to possible errors or inconsistencies. To sum it up, cross platform app development not only helps improve data security but also streamlines the updating and maintenance process.
Prevention of Data Silos
The prevention of data silos is one of the biggest advantages of cross platform app development. The reason for data silos is that different systems can’t communicate or exchange data seamlessly because of variations in their tech stacks. As mentioned earlier, this lack of rapid communication and data exchange within a hospital hampers clinical decision-making and also impacts patient care.
An app built using cross platform app development frameworks functions on multiple operating systems using a single codebase. This allows it to access data from multiple sources and integrate with them more easily. This facilitates simplified data exchange among various departments that might be using varying systems. In other words, cross platform app development prevents the formation of data silos at healthcare organizations.
Uniformity in Compliance
Cross platform app development goes a long way in helping application developers to comply with regulations like HIPAA and GDPR. A single codebase makes it easier to implement and maintain the necessary data protection measures across all versions of the app. This uniformity helps ensure that all users, regardless of the platform they are using, are provided with the same degree of data protection.
As mentioned above, a single codebase also makes it easier to update the data protection measures. If the regulations change, cross-platform app development teams can implement the changes simultaneously across all platforms. This lowers the risk of non-compliance on any one platform due to inconsistencies in data protection measures.
Since the cross platform app development approach prevents data silos, it can ensure that data is handled through a single, secure system. This not only results in an ease of data exchange but also lowers the risk of data breaches and unauthorized access. These factors blend together to provide a reliable and efficient means of ensuring compliance with data protection regulations.
The Emergence of Telehealth
The concept behind telehealth is not new. It has been discussed among healthcare professionals as well as some policymakers for over a decade. But it took a global pandemic to turn it from a concept to a viable solution. The COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone to remain indoors, which prompted the need for remote access to medical services. That is where the need for telehealth solutions gained momentum.
Telehealth uses digital and telecommunication technologies to disseminate healthcare services. The pandemic created a massive surge in the popularity of mHealth applications in its wake. This created a massive opportunity for developers to build applications to meet the new demand. However, this growing demand also brings with it an increase in the possibility of data theft. With cyberattacks growing ever more frequent and audacious, data protection regulations and security protocols may likely evolve to meet the changes. Cross platform app development is a great way to build mHealth applications. It sidesteps all the pitfalls and empowers companies to serve their stakeholders better.
Conclusion
As more and more applications continue to roll out for medical purposes – booking appointments, virtual consultations, personal fitness, medication management, and more – navigating the data security landscape becomes trickier. Cross platform app development is a powerful tool to meet the combined challenges of security, interoperability, and compliance of healthcare mobile apps. It helps to alleviate the cybersecurity risks, improve user trust, and pave the way for a safer future for mHealth.
FlatworldEdge is a market leader in software and IT services empowering clients with the latest technologies. Our cross platform app development solutions are aimed at helping companies broaden their online footprint and grow their customer base rapidly. Contact us to learn how we can accelerate your growth.
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