Healthcare is one of the most promising business sectors especially in developed countries like the USA and Canada where the government is spending a huge percentage of GDP on the healthcare sector. 

COVID-19 situation is also fueling the healthcare sector with people being more concerned over their health. 

To meet the rising healthcare service demand and eliminate the healthcare crisis caused by COVID-19, the Canadian government has recently announced an aid package worth  $240 million. 

Needless to say that developing a healthcare app is a totally safe bet considering the current market situation.

If you believe the same and planning to develop a healthcare app, you have come to the right place. 

In this blog, you will learn about 

• Top healthcare app in Canada - Oscar healthcare app
• Reasons why Oscar healthcare app is so popular
• Oscar app features to consider to develop an app like Oscar healthcare app
• Top challenges associated with healthcare app development
• PHIPA Ontario rules
• Cost to develop an app like Oscar healthcare app

Insight into top healthcare app in Canada - Oscar healthcare app 

Oscar is one of the oldest mobile app-based healthcare startups in Canada.

In 2012, Oscar decided to bring healthcare services online by developing an app named Oscar. 

The Oscar app is equipped with groundbreaking features that streamline many healthcare-related operations.  

By using the Oscar app, users can easily manage their health insurance policies and connect to physicians remotely within minutes. 

To motivate users to stay fit and healthy, Oscar lately added a feature in its app which counts the user steps and rewards them with Amazon gift cards if users reach their daily goal. 

Because of its human-centric approach, more than 250,000 users and 3,500 doctors are using the Oscar app. 

Reasons why Oscar healthcare app is so popular 

The popularity of the healthcare app relies on the ways it solves user problems.

Oscar healthcare app is a solution-oriented app. Meaning, it was uniquely designed and developed to solve the deep-rooted problems of users. 

The following are the top problems Oscar healthcare app solves. 

• Delayed care: 

Canada is in the midst of a physician shortage. Thus, timely access to care is becoming difficult with every passing day. 

Oscar healthcare app solves this challenge by streamlining the healthcare operations which free up hours for available doctors.

As an upshot, patients can easily get rapid care. 

• Expensive care: 

It is much costlier to visit physicians in-person than to access healthcare service from the comfort of your home through the virtual care feature of the Oscar healthcare app. 

Though OHIP covers the fee of an in-person visit, patients are still liable for transportation costs and the time they spend in the waiting room. 

•  Ineffective care 

The medical history of the patient is very crucial to cure patients quickly. But it is a tedious task to manage the medical history of the patient if a physician is following the paper-based processes. 

Oscar healthcare app stores every medical data of the patient in a proper digital bundle and enables physicians to write prescriptions after studying the patient’s medical history due to easy access to data. 

Oscar app features to consider to develop an app like Oscar healthcare app in Canada

Deciding on the feature set is a vitally important step.

A precisely defined feature set results in a balanced mobile app that satisfies the exact requirements of the users. 

The following are the top Oscar app features which you should consider to develop an app like the Oscar healthcare app. 

• Search: Let users search for symptoms, doctors, and drugs.
• Communicate: Let users talk to a clinician, over the phone, anytime. 
• View: Let users view all health information and Oscar plan info - all in one place.
• Pay- Let users pay for the selected plan.

Top challenges associated with healthcare app development

Healthcare mobile app category does not have a single parity with other app categories as other apps just save time and costs while healthcare apps save lives. 

Because of this only objective - saving lives - the healthcare app development isn’t as easy as it sounds. 

The following are the top challenges associated with healthcare app development. 

• OHIP billing codes 

Because of OHIP, the physicians who diagnose patients are paid by the government, not patients. Meaning, you should integrate a module in your healthcare app to enable physicians to submit invoices of who they diagnosed. For that, your app should support OHIP billing codes.

• EHR integration 

A healthcare app should fetch data from other healthcare providers such as hospitals, clinics, laboratories. 

If you integrate your app with a trusted EHR (Electronic Health Records) system, the app automatically gets patient data such as medical history, demographics, allergies, lab results.   

• PHIPA compliance 

A healthcare app should be PHIPA (Personal Health Information Protection Act)  compliant to ensure patient data privacy and to avoid a fine of up to $500,000. 

This is the major challenge and thus, let’s study PHIPA Ontario requirements separately. 

PHIPA Ontario requirements 

PHIPA is the act that applies to personal health data. It governs the personal health data which is collected, used and disclosed by the app automatically or by the admin manually.  

It protects the following information: 

• Any health information related to patients’ physical or mental health 
• Any health information related to patients’ family 
• Any information related to the plan of service for individuals requiring long-term care   
• Any payment information of patients 
• Any eligibility for healthcare information of patients 
• Any information related to the donation of body parts 

Here are the top PHIPA Ontario requirements: 

• Collect, use, or disclose the data of the patients only if they voluntarily agree. 
• If other information will serve the purpose, do not collect, use, or disclose the data.
• Do not collect, use, or disclose more patient data than the requirement. 
• For marketing purposes and fundraising purposes, express consent is required.

We accomodate a dedicated team of compliance experts who will work with our development team to make sure you only get a compliant mobile app.

Cost to develop an app like Oscar healthcare app or Oscar Alternative app satisfying PHIPA Ontario requirements

We are an Ontario-based top IT management and healthcare app development firm.

Our expertise in EHR integration and healthcare app development makes us proficient to convert any of your healthcare app ideas into reality. 

We accommodate app developers, app designers, business experts and legal advisers who all work together to make your business journey painless. 

Feel free to contact us to share your requirements and to get a personalized quote.

Our business expert will welcome you with a free insightful IT consultation.