1 in 5 Americans have tried or are currently using mHealth apps and fitness trackers. At least 5% of adults in the US regularly use a health tracking application to track their medication and illness. These statistics are phenomenally significant.
The astronomical growth of mHealth apps can be attributed to the increase in smartphone usage, internet and social media availability, need for remote monitoring of health, rising demand for better healthcare solutions, and technological advancements in the global healthcare system.
So, what difference does a health tracking application make?
Eventually, it can vastly reduce healthcare costs for patients and providers since we are focusing on preventive methods to stay healthy.
Even with a large market, there were hardly any apps that offered women-centric services. With half the world’s population as the target market, the FemTech segment has finally started to grow.
FemTech
According to Vision Research Reports, the women’s health app market size is predicted to reach $4.9 billion by 2028 globally.
FemTech is using digital technology to develop software, applications, products or services that cater to women’s health. Although a large chunk of the health apps in the market right now cater to period or pregnancy tracking, FemTech covers many more subjects in women’s health.
Why is it important to develop women’s Health Tracking Apps?
The women’s health market has never been looked at as a niche market that needs catering to. With the ‘she-economy’ growing expansively, the idea of having a specific health tracking application catering to the needs of women has gained attention.
It is important for women to have greater control over their health. These apps will help women track their periods, understand their body health, predict ovulation, anticipate the need for birth control pills and more.
It will help women understand their overall health and bodies better, reduce unwanted pregnancies and help deal with medical issues.
These apps also provide a scientific understanding of health conditions, timely diagnosis and treatment. For instance, if women track their periods regularly, they would detect any abnormality in their cycles. You can use this timely information to seek immediate medical attention.
One of the significant advantages of FemTech apps is that it ensures health tracking is available to women living in remote locations. Besides, some places consider women’s health issues as taboo topics. Women –from remote areas – can also seek medical help and advice on topics such as unwanted pregnancies, infertility, birth control, menstrual health, and sexual health.
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Developing Women’s Health Tracking Apps
Before you give the go-ahead for health tracking app development, understand the target market. Design an app to satisfy a specific need, and understand which need-gap your app will fill. Then, identify your resources, functions of the app and data compliance. Pay special attention to security, as the information gathered is sensitive.
Lets’ look at some key features a good women health tracking app should have:
1. Onboarding or Inboarding
If you want women to start using your app, you should make it convenient and practical. To get users onboard or sign up for your app, try the time-tested email notification and password approach method. These days, fitness tracking application development companies are also using social media integration for onboarding. Inboarding is when users discover the app while actually using it.
2. Complete Health Profile
If you can get users to sign up and register, then it’s great. Still, if you don’t want to scare your new users with a lengthy registration process, allow them to skip it. Either way, the next step in the process should be gathering important specific information.
It is crucial to pay attention here – gather only specific information that will allow you to offer personalized content. Since users divulge highly private information, any hint that you might be asking additional questions will surely scare them away.
3. Functionality
Choose a functionality that has a broader need and market. You don’t have to be confined to designing only a basic fitness tracking application. You should create an app that tracks women’s health during the cycle to evaluate the changes and offer constructive analysis.
Provide current-day in the cycle information, ovulation period, approximate date for next period, fertility and more.
Also, make sure your app is intuitive in nature and that it doesn’t overburden users with constant questions.
4. Symptoms Tracking
Include an additional feature of symptom tracking in the app where users can monitor their symptoms, detect patterns and identify irregularities to provide accurate analysis.
Many health tracking app development companies are using AI technology and machine learning to collate large amounts of shared user data to generate customized reports for each user.
Besides this, adding a wearable feature in the app helps collect additional data – blood pressure, sleep cycle and heart rate, among others.
5. Notification
Having pop-up notifications is a great way of reminding users to log in entries, consume medications on time and get intimation of the next cycle. Notifications also help you to stay engaged with users.
You should maintain a fine balance in having the correct number of notifications/reminders on the app. One too many and users can find the app intruding.
It would help if you tried to build in algorithms that constantly use the information to analyze, evaluate and identify health concerns.
6. Information Sharing
Information sharing is a two-pronged feature. Many apps allow users to share information about their health with their partners and doctors. This makes it easier for them to start conversations about topics they are uncomfortable with.
It is important (from a mental health perspective) to have a social network to connect and share personal health issues. Considering this, health tracking app development companies try to have in-built social groups where users can share their health concerns and knowledge.
7. Consultation
To make the fitness tracking application more meaningful and reliable, it is important to provide a digital consultation facility. While it is great to get instant information via an app, sometimes women find it easier to talk to a real specialist.
Apps that provide online consultations, medical advice from specialists, and help with medical prescriptions through calls or messages can have a winning edge over other healthcare apps.
Wrapping Up:
FemTech is no longer just a growing trend. It has become a necessity to have applications that specifically cater to women’s health. Certain health conditions can be prevented with early intervention and screening. The advancement of mHealth apps designed to meet women’s health needs goes a long way in ensuring fewer hospital visits and a better understanding of personal health.