We all are now habitual to getting things done with just one click. Groceries, snacks, food items, lunch, dinner, you name it, everything can be ordered within minutes. Thanks to a simplified payment system, ordering things online has become faster and more convenient. With so much digital advancement, why should medicine delivery fall behind?
Medicine delivery apps are here to fulfill all the healthcare demands of a patient. Just like food delivery apps they’re convenient, and they’re connected to patients’ pharmacies, and available 24/7. This article highlights the crux of building a successful medicine delivery app for pharmacies and patients. Dive in and get valuable insights on medicine delivery app development.
Benefits of Using Custom Medicine Delivery Apps in Pharmacies
In a traditional pharmacy system, both pharmacists and patients may face significant challenges such as unavailability of medicines, and this can be a major issue for those suffering from chronic conditions. Patients may have to look for another pharmacy or wait for days for medicines to arrive. This takes up time and can cause health deterioration as well.
Furthermore, delays in orders, invoices, and waiting hours at the pharmacy are some of the other hurdles faced in a traditional pharmacy store. In another scenario, where a pharmacy is linked with a medicine delivery app, then a majority of the challenges dissolve in no time.
Here are some of the benefits of using a medicine delivery app in pharmacies:
- Kickstart an online pharmacy business
- Get in-depth analytical reports
- Manage medicine orders meticulously
- Handle supply chain and logistics effectively
- Deliver medicines within a day
- Attract patients from a vast geographical area
- Seamless payment systems
- Refill reminders for patients
- Search and buy medicines easily
- Allow patients to manage addresses, orders, and user profile
Now, from the above benefits you may think that e-prescription software and medicine delivery apps have a lot in common. So, which one to go for? Which one’s worth it?
Well, e-prescription software works in a three-way process – the physician who writes an e-prescription, the pharmacy who receives it, and the patient who gets the medicine. Whereas a medicine delivery app may or may not process in this way, however, a prescription is needed to acquire drugs. Another difference is that over-the-counter drugs can be ordered via medicine delivery apps, which isn’t possible with e-prescription software.
Top Features of Medicine Delivery App
To ascertain that patients’ needs are met, the medicine delivery app includes features for four different areas: pharmacies, patients, delivery agents, and admin. Let’s have a look at the features in detail.
For Pharmacies
- Registration: Every app must have this feature to manage medicine deliveries. Registration consists of all the basic information of the pharmacy such as pharmacy name, location, pharmacists’ details, and more.
- E-prescriptions: Pharmacists can easily gain access to e-prescriptions uploaded by patients through this feature. Digital prescriptions ensure that pharmacies provide the right medication to the patients
- Dashboard: Pharmacists can view everything here, from orders and deliveries to supplies and payments.
- Order Management: Activities such as prescription verification, drug returns, refunds, and orders are all handled via this feature.
- Payment Gateways: A safe a secure line for hassle-free payments. Pharmacies can link their bank account or PayPal account to the app to receive payments directly.
- Medicine Order Notifications: Pharmacies receive notifications as soon as an order is placed by the patient. This ensures a speedy delivery process.
- Order History: Provides a holistic view of all the past medication orders here for reference. It can be saved offline if needed too.
- Delivery Tracking: This feature allows pharmacies to keep track of all the deliveries, whether orders are delivered on time, misplaced, or not delivered.
- Chat: This feature allows patients to interact with the pharmacies in case of queries such as dosages, availability of medicines, side-effects if any, etc.
- Discounts and Offers: Everyone loves to save a little bit of money. Pharmacies can place discounts on specific drugs for new users or for the ones who are regular.
For Patients
- Login: Patients can create an account to build their profile that can be managed by them. They can view their data via this profile.
- Upload Prescription: This feature allows patients to add their e-prescriptions for the pharmacies to view, verify, and deliver the medicines.
- Profile Management: It includes aspects such as password recovery, personal information, medical history, payments, address, etc., which can be altered if need be.
- Search: Here patients can search for medicines based on category, and check for availability before placing orders. Over-the-counter drugs can also be found here.
- Place Medicine Order: The app allows you to select medicines and place orders. Patients can even save them for later.
- Payment Gateways: Ensure to offer multiple payment options such as PayPal or credit cards over a safe and private payment system.
- Medicine Details: Provide a detailed description of every medicine because patients are most likely to check the contents of each drug. Include side effects, composition, dosages, storage instructions, etc.
- Order History: Find all the past orders here. Helpful patients wish to place the same orders again in the future.
- Feedback: User feedback forms are helpful to improve applications and offer customer support when in need. It is a powerful feature for user retention and attraction.
- Refund: This feature allows patients to seek a refund when the medicine is not delivered, is misplaced, or wishes to return it.
- Notifications: A useful feature to remind patients of their medicine refills, order delivery, payment dues, and more.
- Order Tracking: Patients can keep track of when they’re likely to expect the medicine delivery and seek customer support if it’s not delivered on time.
- Chat: For asking queries to pharmacies regarding drug availability, prescriptions, and other essential information.
For Delivery Agent
- Registration/Login: This is the first and most important feature for a pharma delivery driver. It should be possible for couriers to register in the medication delivery app. The best way to do this is by integrating social login. After registration, couriers will need to enter their personal information into the app.
- Push Notifications: This makes couriers’ work easier since they get push notifications when they receive a new order and about any changes that happen to the order.
- Navigation: Couriers should have the ability to use various map systems to find the best route to their destination without having to leave the app.
- Delivery Status: This feature allows the delivery agent to update the status of the order from “received” to “delivered.”
- Work Status: Manage work days of the delivery agent, easily set the status as ‘working’ or ‘day off.’
For Admins
- Dashboard: A comprehensive dashboard to manage all orders, deliveries, customers, third-party vendors, etc.
- Payment Gateways: Integrate with multiple payment solutions to enable user payments directly within the app. Including a few solutions automatically increases the chances of attracting more customers.
- Analytics: Real-time analytics will provide insights into orders and their status, cancellations, chargebacks, and so on.
- Order Tracking: Administrators should be able to view all orders placed by users across all registered pharmacies.
- Customer Support: Ensures that all issues and problems faced by users are solved. Admins should have the ability to call users for clarification.
- Inventory Management: It is an essential feature that allows to replenishment of products at the right time, tracks expiration dates, and prepares for seasonal peaks in demand.
Tech Stack for Medicine Delivery App Development
| Role/Function | Tools |
| Development OS | Mac OS, Mac OS X, Ubuntu |
| Programming Language | Kotlin, Java, Objective C, Swift, Ruby, Node.js |
| SDK | Android SDK, Cocoa Touch, iOS SDK |
| IDE | Android Studio, AppCode, Xcode |
| Web Frameworks | Flutter, Ruby on Rails |
| Web Servers | Apache |
| Database Servers | MongoDB, mySQL |
| Cloud Servers | AWS |
| Storage | Cloud |
| Navigation | Google Earth, Google Maps |
| Social Media | Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn |
| MailChimp, Twilio, SendGrid | |
| Analytical Tools | Google analytics |
| Payment Gateways | Braintree, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Stripe, etc. |
The Process of Medicine Delivery App Development
1. Research and Planning
Every healthcare mobile app development requires a solid research and planning process. In the case of a medicine delivery app development, consider highlighting essential aspects such as
- What competitors are indulging in?
- What’s the estimated budget for the medicine delivery app development?
- Development team required to complete the project
- Hardware and software requirements
- Time needed to develop the application
Once these aspects are finalized then go ahead with the implementation. It’s best to have the entire roadmap ready before going ahead as it prepares the team for what’s to come and what’s expected.
2. Partner with a Healthcare App Development Company
Partnering with a healthcare app development company may give the boost that’s needed to kickstart the project because they are well acquainted with the rules and regulations of the healthcare industry. This ensures that none of the rules are missed and the app is made compliant. HIPAA, FHIR, HITRUST, etc. are some of the standards used for healthcare app development.
3. UX/UI Design
Well, the best part of app development is prototyping. A prototype decides whether the medicine delivery app will make it or not in the market. It also helps developers to improve the app based on user feedback.
The UX/UI design pretty much includes the look and the feel of the app which is a part of the prototype. Aspects such as colors, fonts, aesthetics, toolbar, and anything to do with the look of the app are included in the design process.
4. Coding the App
Once the design is wrapped up, it’s time for the coders to take control. The tech stack mentioned in the article is some of the tools used by the developers to code the medicine delivery application. Front-end and back-end development takes place with the help of the tech stack like Java, Kotlin, Apache, Node.js, Python, etc.
5. Testing
Once the app is ready, it’s time to test the waters. Whether the app will work or not depends on the testing process. It is done manually and automatically. Bug issues are rectified here, and if the app needs extra finishing it can be done after the testing.
6. Release and Maintenance
Now it is time to launch the app in the market. Depending on the platform – Android or iOS or both, the app is released on the Play Store. But, the store of medicine delivery app development doesn’t end here. The application release is followed by a rigorous maintenance process which includes constant updates on features and functionalities.
If you’re looking for a mobile app development company to build your urgent care app, then connect with Arkenea, a healthcare software development company with over 13 years of experience in the field. We build world-class applications that match industry standards and fulfill your requirements.