How Much Does it Cost to Develop a Doctor Appointment App Like ZocDoc?

The development of the online market has led to significant changes in the health industry. When the population was first introduced to doctor appointment app development, it became clear that this was something the entire population had been eagerly awaiting. People’s lifestyles these days often do not permit the time needed for an annual check-up.

The health industry is undergoing a major digital transformation, and applications such as Zocdoc are at the forefront of this revolution. Doctor appointment app solutions allow patients to schedule and book appointments with physicians online. However, creating an app like Zocdoc requires navigating a variety of aspects, each with its own complexities and costs.

Zocdoc isn’t just an appointment-booking platform. It incorporates real-time doctor availability and specialty search filters. It also offers insurance provider matching, appointment management, and telemedicine capabilities. As patients seek streamlined access to healthcare professionals and appointments, the importance of understanding the complexities of Doctor Appointment App Development costs cannot be understated.

The doctor appointment app development requires meticulous planning, precise selection of technology, and strict security and safety requirements. In this post, we’ll examine the most important cost factors that determine the cost of creating an app similar to Zocdoc.

What is a Doctor Appointment App Zocdoc?

Doctor appointment apps are a result of innovative technological advancements, allowing users to schedule doctor appointments with just a few clicks. These apps are highly useful for clients seeking a healthcare consultation quickly and easily. One of the most popular and well-known examples of such an app is Zocdoc.

With Zocdoc, users can find and book appointments with experienced doctors in various specialties, including Primary Care, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dentistry, Dermatology, ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat), Psychiatry, and Orthopedic Surgery. In addition to these services, Zocdoc stands out for its ability to scan insurance cards. Users can scan their insurance cards to find a list of doctors who accept their insurance plans, helping them access better healthcare options.

This popular online physician scheduling app is completely free and available for download on both the Google Play Store for Android users and the Apple App Store for iPhone users. It has received over 1 million downloads on both the Android and iOS platforms.

Benefits of Doctor Appointment App Development

To understand why investing in doctor appointment app development is important, let’s look at the main advantages.

Round-The-Clock Booking From Anywhere And Anytime

Doctor appointment app development allows patients to schedule appointments at any time and from anywhere. It eliminates the need for receptionists and office staff to manage appointments. The apps enable you to consult with doctors while on the go, and they also help doctors connect with patients, even in remote areas.

Properly Plan Your Schedule

The on-demand app development benefits both doctors and patients. For doctors, it allows you to manage the number of patients you wish to see on a given day. Whether it’s during a hectic schedule or a time when you need to maintain social distancing, you can plan your schedule without hassle.

Reduce Cancellations of Appointments

This is one of the most challenging issues with manual or phone-based appointment scheduling. Sometimes, patients fail to show up after booking an appointment, or they arrive late due to the lack of automated reminders with manual booking. A doctor’s appointment booking app can send appointment reminders to ensure patients visit on time.

Access Patients’ Details From Any Device

For doctors, the appointment booking app provides access to patient appointment information and other details from any device. The app allows users to reschedule or cancel appointments in case of urgent situations. It operates on the cloud, enabling easy access to past appointment history.

Boost The Efficiency Of The Staff

The doctor appointment app development can create an organized system where patients schedule their own appointments. This reduces the time your staff spends handling phone requests from patients to schedule appointments, allowing your employees to focus on other tasks and increase overall efficiency.

Enhance Patient Satisfaction

It’s essential to support patients, and their experience is vital for both physicians and the team. By using an online doctor appointment app, you can improve customer satisfaction. Since patients won’t have to wait in long lines at the doctor’s office, they’ll appreciate the convenience, allowing them to manage their time more effectively.

Must-Have Features of a Doctor Appointment App

The features of doctor appointment app development differ from those of traditional eCommerce or sales applications. The app requires special features tailored to the medical field to ensure users make the most of their app experience.

User Login

One of the most important features when creating a doctor appointment mobile app is user profiles. Both patients as well as doctors can very  easily register on the app. The app will then create an account to allow access. Additionally, it ensures the authenticity of users, keeping the system secure.

Availability of Doctors

Patients can search for physicians and view their real-time availability. This feature allows them to schedule appointments based on the dates and times doctors are available. It saves time at clinics by notifying patients of doctors’ online availability.

In-App Notifications

A Zocdoc-like application should inform users about appointments and the status of their bookings. For example, if a patient requests an appointment with a doctor and the doctor is unable to accommodate it, the patient should be notified. Additionally, once the specialist confirms the appointment, the patient should be informed via in-app notifications or text messages.

Slot Management

The application allows patients to check their doctor’s availability and choose the appropriate time slot. In the doctor’s panel, patients can manage their appointment slots. They can accept, cancel, reject, or postpone appointments as needed.

Compare Doctors

To personalize search results for users, an appointment app like Zocdoc will offer a feature that allows users to compare doctors. Users can search for specialists and review their ratings, pricing, and experiences. This allow app users to make more informed decisions.

Reminders in Real-Time

The doctor appointment app should include real-time notifications for doctor availability as well as appointment reminders. For example, if you are scheduled to see a doctor at 3:30 p.m., the application should notify you by 2:50 p.m. about the appointment. This will help ensure you are prepared and ready for the appointment.

Easy Payment Integration

Users should have multiple options to pay for medical expenses. The Zocdoc app, for instance, offers various payment choices. App users can set the app according to their preferences, making it easy to use effectively.

Geo-Location

Include a feature that allows users to find medical facilities and doctors near their location. Utilize Google Maps and Apple Maps, integrating them within the app to provide accurate location predictions.

Reservation of Appointments

This is the core feature of your app. Users should be able to easily make appointments at the clinic or hospital of their choice, selecting the specific department they wish to visit.

Medical Background

All information about previous appointments, any health issues or conditions, prescriptions, and medications currently in use should be listed in one location. This makes it simpler for a doctor to access the necessary details for the next visit.

Review Of The Doctor 

This section should contain information that the doctor shares regarding the patient’s condition and the medications prescribed. It should be updated after each appointment, giving patients access to the details whenever needed for future reference.

E-Prescriptions

Doctors can provide patients with prescriptions via the app. If the patient wishes to order medication, prescriptions are automatically sent to the pharmacy. This reduces the burden on both parties.

Ratings and Feedback

Each registered or listed doctor has ratings and reviews based on their service to users. Zocdoc goes a step further by verifying the authenticity of reviews. It also double-checks to ensure the reviews are genuine. Ultimately, users choose the doctors they prefer based on these ratings.

Ability To Access Medical Histories And Health Records

While users interact with the app, it tracks and records their medical history and health records. This information is stored in the cloud, ensuring its safety. It also allows users to view their health history and reports at any time in the future.

How Much Will It Cost to Create a Doctor’s Appointment Booking App Like Zocdoc?

The costs involved in doctor appointment app development, like Zocdoc, range from CAD 43,000 to CAD 85,000. However, the price of creating a doctor-on-demand app like Zocdoc will depend on several factors, such as the platform, type of app, UI layout, features, tech stack support after the app’s launch, and the geographical location and expertise of the app development company.

Additionally, incorporating Artificial Intelligence and machine learning into an appointment scheduling app for doctors could increase the cost to around CAD 130,000. Reach out to a reputable doctor appointment app development company to help bring your idea to life, on time and within your budget.

Factors Influencing Doctor Appointment App Development Cost

The demand for doctor appointment app development for mobile phones, such as Zocdoc and Practo, is growing rapidly due to their profitability. Another reason for the increasing popularity of mobile doctor appointment booking apps is the wide range of capabilities they offer. 

These apps provide excellent scalability. Every entrepreneur today is trying to determine the cost of developing an online doctor appointment app like Zocdoc. Several factors influence the creation cost of a doctor appointment booking app which include:

Number of Features

The cost of doctor appointment app development largely depends on the number of features you want to include in the app. Basic functions like doctor search, user integration, payment integration, appointment scheduling, and more are essential.

Additionally, modern features such as AI-driven health assistants, remote medicine, multi-language support, Electronic Health Records (EHR), and others can increase both the development cost and time. These additional features will also require extra testing, resources, and ongoing maintenance, which can further increase costs.

Project Complexity

The complexity of the project reflects the amount of expertise required for its development. For example, developing a mobile app with a basic appointment-booking system is less complex than building apps that include real-time video consultations, detailed analytics dashboards for physicians, automated reminders, and other advanced features.

Platform Selection

The platform you select can greatly affect the development costs for a doctor appointment app. If you choose to build the app for iOS, Android, or both, it can directly impact the cost of development. If you choose to develop a native app for either the iOS or Android platform, it may be cheaper than developing for both platforms separately. 

Additionally, you can leverage frameworks such as React Native or Flutter to create cross-platform apps. This reduces development costs because developers can work with a single codebase for multiple platforms. It is also important to select the best platform based on your audience’s preferences, the devices they use, and other factors. This can greatly help you reach your target audience effectively and improve the user experience of your app.

UI/UX Design

The appearance of your app has a direct impact on user satisfaction and engagement. If you create an app that is attractive and easy to navigate, it is essential to employ a skilled and experienced design team. However, you may need to budget more since experienced designers typically cost more.

On the other hand, if you design an app with a simple layout, it could be more economical, as you may not need to hire a professional developer for design. Implementing advanced features, such as customizable animations and accessibility functions, could increase the cost of design. However, these features will undoubtedly enhance the overall quality of your app.

Scalability Requirements

While scalability is essential for any doctor appointment app development, it may add cost. If your application serves many users or adds new features over years, the scalable design is essential to be properly implemented starting from the beginning.

The process of developing a scalable app involves the creation of strong backend solutions, cloud hosting load balancing. This can increase the amount of development expenses. In the end, it’s beneficial as it helps make the app able to handle any future demands without impacting efficiency.

Integration With 3rd Party Services

Connecting to a wide range of third-party services like telemedicine platforms, payment gateways, and more is essential to providing sophisticated functionality to your application. However, this increases costs for development as well. 

Third-party integration requires APIs, license fees, custom development, and more. It guarantees the seamless integration of your app. In particular, you could incorporate payment services like PayPal, Stripe, and other systems to increase the flexibility of your application. However, it could increase costs as well.

Development Team Location

The location of the healthcare apps development firms is another element that affects directly the costs of doctor appointment app development. The primary reason is the fact that development costs vary in accordance with the location. 

In the case of recruiting developers from the US, they charge more cost and therefore can be costly. The hiring of mobile app developers in Asia is affordable. The most crucial aspect to consider is to maintain the perfect equilibrium between cost and experience.

Conformity with Industry Regulations

One of the most crucial things you should consider while creating the app for health care is that it must be compliant with regulatory requirements of the industry. The app should be secure and protect privacy, secure data. There are different laws in each country when it comes to developing an app for healthcare.

Implementing these regulations could significantly affect the cost of development. It is due to the fact that it requires extra resources to set up encryption, storage solutions for data as well as secure authentication protocols. Keep the fact that any non-compliance sanctions can damage the credibility of your application.

Selection of Tech Stack

The tech stack you choose to use will directly affect your doctor appointment app development costs. Additionally, making use of the correct technology to build applications for doctor appointments is crucial due to a variety of reasons, including the ability to scale, speed and price. In addition, a variety of backend technology and databases such as MongoDB, Django, and other databases play an important role in determining overall costs of development.

Development Timeline

The length of time required to develop applications can affect the cost of development in a variety of ways. An application that is developed in a shorter timeframe may require the hiring of numerous developers, which increases the cost of development. 

However the longer timeframe might require higher costs for managing the project. So, it’s crucial to determine a realistic timeframe and maintain a balance between the quality and speed in order to handle cost effectively.

Top Strategies to Cut Down Doctor Appointment Application Development Costs

Below are five ways to lower the cost of doctor on demand app development:

Prioritize and Focus on MVP

It’s not advisable to build the entire app right from the start. Instead, define the core features that will provide the most value to your customers (patients or healthcare professionals) using the simplest and most efficient execution. This approach allows you to evaluate the market, gather feedback, and implement improvements without spending a lot of money on sophisticated features.

Embrace Agile Development Methodology

The method focuses on breaking down an entire project into smaller parts and ready feedback loops. This allows you to cut your course, permits the priority of features according to the users’ feedback, and could add additional features that can raise doctor appointment app development cost.

Leverage Pre-built Components and APIs

Open-source health applications are often built using pre-designed Software Development Kits (SDKs) and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that offer capabilities such as appointment scheduling, user authentication, and telemedicine integration. Utilizing these tools can speed up development and reduce the resources needed to create everything from scratch.

Explore Cross-Platform Development Options

Native apps offer superior functionality; however, it’s worth considering cross-platform options, such as React Native or Flutter. These frameworks will enable app developers to write one codebase that easily works on both iOS and Android, ultimately reducing both cost and development time.

Outsource Strategically

Outsourcing is one of the most efficient ways to reduce the cost of developing mobile apps for healthcare. Not only do you gain access to global talent, but the outsourced team can handle the entire SDLC, including development, design, and QA testing, all in one place. This frees you from managing the SDLC team, allowing you to focus on core operations and lower expenses without sacrificing quality.

How Can Doctor Appointment Apps Earn Profits?

The development of doctor-on-demand apps offers significant revenue potential through various monetization methods. If you plan to take advantage of the expanding digital health market, you can earn money and provide valuable services by implementing the following app monetization strategies:

Subscription Model

This is an extremely popular app marketing strategy, where users are charged a regular fee for access to premium products, personalized services, and exclusive content. If you create apps like ZocDoc, you can offer users personalized health advice and medical guidance.

In-App Advertising

This revenue generation method is ideal for apps with a large user base. The app owner can display ads within the app, including video ads, interstitial ads, and banners. However, it is crucial to ensure that the ads are relevant to the app’s content and do not hinder the user experience.

In-App Purchases

This monetization method allows users to purchase extra features, virtual goods, or other content within the app. If you create a health check app, in-app purchases are an excellent way to generate more revenue and increase user engagement. For example, your app could offer in-app purchases for educational content or premium consultations.

Data Monetization

Doctor-on-demand apps often collect valuable data from users, such as health-related metrics, medical history, and other lifestyle information. This data can be used to develop insights that can be offered to pharmaceutical companies and other health organizations. Be sure to consider user privacy and obtain consent before sharing their information.

Freemium Model

The freemium model offers a free base version of the app while charging users for premium features. This model attracts a large number of users and encourages them to upgrade to the paid version. For example, in a mental health app, you could offer a free meditation exercise, while charging for premium features such as personal therapy sessions.

Final Thoughts

As we look to the future, the current healthcare apps we use today will be more popular globally. As you can see from the earlier discussion, the necessity for doctor appointment app development is growing daily alongside the increasing demands of patients and the changing lifestyle. Ultimately, it is clear that the need for doctor appointment app development is more important than ever. However, it is essential to remember specific rules when creating the medical app.

How much does it cost to build an app like ZocDoc? An important question may arise if you want to build an appointment-booking app like Zocdoc and Practo. When you have the right strategy and an emphasis on user-friendly experience, you can leverage the benefits of doctor on demand app development to provide an effective solution for healthcare providers and patients.