Doctor Scheduling App Development Case Study
Sharing Onix’s experience in developing custom doctor scheduling apps
This doctor scheduling app case study shows how Onix built a bespoke system with CRM, EHR, and PHI functions and a scheduler that builds optimal house call routes.
Healthcare
Industry
5 specialists
Team size
USA
Location
6 months
Project duration
[ Business context and goals ]
A small medical clinic and doctor service wanted a standalone solution for scheduling house calls: each of their doctors was daily visiting up to 12 patients at their homes, nursing homes, and hospitals.
They wanted a new custom doctor scheduling system to reduce manual planning effort, errors, and time consumption.
The new scheduler needed to be synchronized with existing electronic healthcare records (EHRs). This would provide the clinic and doctors with real-time access to each patients’ medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunization dates, allergies, radiology images, lab results, etc.
The doctors also needed an app to manage their schedules, optimize routes, and conveniently access current patient data during house calls. It had to perform smoothly on a smartphone or tablet regardless of the operation system.
[ Product scope ]
The tasks of Onix’s team included:
Creating an app for administrators to manage doctors, patients, and house calls
Creating a mobile/tablet-friendly app for physicians to manage their scheduled house calls, build optimal routes, and access patient information in real time
Ensuring secure handling of protected health information (PHI) in the apps
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App users and flow
Administrators
Administrators use the web application to manage the patients’ information and create schedules for the doctors.The patient information enters the system in two ways: from EHR, and if a patient is not on EHR, administrators add them manually.
Doctors
Doctors use the app on a phone/tablet in lieu of a native mobile application.It provides information about scheduled house calls and allows doctors to retrieve each patient’s history and past house calls data.
Typically, a doctor logs in, reviews the day’s route, and contacts patients to confirm their house calls. Then, following the app’s directions, they visit all patients on the list. Once a house call is completed, they mark it in the app.
At the end of the route, all information is automatically available to administrators for review, creating a closed operational loop between planning, execution, and reporting.
Project phases/details
Discovery & requirements
First, Onix’s experts analyzed the clinic’s and physicians’ workflows to define scheduling logic and constraints.
Simultaneously, they identified integration needs regarding EHRs and maps, as well as security requirements.
UX & user flow design
The design was prepared by Onix’s designers who studied EHR and CRM systems and navigation/delivery applications as a reference. They used Sketch to make the wireframes, and upon the client’s approval, created high-fidelity interactive prototypes in InVision.
Simplicity which the client required not only saved on the budget for the user interface design but provided the basis for an excellent user experience.
App development
The admin side of the application was developed quickly using templates, which also helped to reduce the initial cost of the app development:
﹂User roles and permissions (Super Admin, Admin, Doctor)
﹂Admin panel with a simple interface: adding users, patients, and doctor-patient relations
﹂PWA: doctor’s login, Google Map integration, daily route page, ‘Start route’
Iterative enhancements
New features were gradually included in several releases of the product so that the end-users could test it as it evolved.
The scheduling algorithm that calculates the doctors’ daily routes using multiple parameters presented the main challenge for the team. Along with improving the algorithm, they expanded the reporting features and usability.
Testing & optimization
The team conducted the testing necessary to:
﹂Validate the scheduling logic
﹂Gauge and optimize performance on mobile devices
﹂Optimized for real-world usage conditions including poor connectivity
The app structure & features
Admin panel for the clinic staff
It enables the administrators to:
Add other users (admins and doctors) and edit user profiles
Add patients, addresses, additional details, and doctor-patient relations
Add information about hospitals and staff
Schedule house calls
Add the doctors’ and patients’ info to routes
View reports of 10 types: Missed Patients, Completed Visits, Audio Notes, Provider Visit Summary, Referral Census, Referrals, Routes, New Patients, Documents, and Weekly Route Overview
Progressive web application (PWA) for doctors
The PWA enables physicians to:
View their daily route as a list of patients/addresses to visit or as the patients’ locations on the map
View each patient’s medical records and past house calls
Change the order of patients in a route
View scheduled patients for weeks and months in advance
Confirm/cancel house calls and add patients to the queue
Make notes regarding a house call in five formats, including text, audio, and voice-to-text
Killer feature: Scheduler
Administrators plan the doctors’ house calls, and a scheduling algorithm builds the doctors’ daily routes based on:
The frequency of prescribed house calls, e.g., biweekly or every Tuesday
The doctor’s working time (limited to 12 patients per day)
The location of each patient
The patients’ information
Distances between patients
Minimalistic design
Core technology stack we used
Frontend development
Angular,
TypeScript
Backend development
PHP,
Python
Results and prospects
This doctor scheduling app development case study demonstrated how EHR, CRM, and maps components can be orchestrated into a single workflow that significantly reduces manual coordination and improves field efficiency.
The clinic staff appreciated the intuitive and fast scheduling system and found it highly beneficial for their administrative tasks.
Similarly, the doctors appreciated having their daily plans and routes always at hand, as well as the ability to view their workload for the entire month.
Given these results, a scheduler like this could be valuable to any organization that sends specialists to visit customers. The fast-working scheduler algorithm can also be applied in logistics, for example, route planning by delivery companies, either in its current form, as a framework, or customized for specific needs.
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FAQs
What are the core features of a doctor visit scheduling app?
A doctor scheduling system features role-based access (admin, doctor, and staff) with appointment scheduling, route planning for home visits, patient management, EMR access, calendar sync (daily/weekly), notifications, reminders, route optimization, reporting, and analytics.
More advanced solutions should be integrated with EHRs and allow for voice notes and offline access.
How can a scheduling app be integrated with EHR systems?
Such integration is typically done via APIs provided by EHR vendors. They enable a scheduler to pull patient data and medical history, sync appointment details, and update visit outcomes and notes.
What are the security and compliance requirements for online doctor scheduling app development?
Since doctor scheduling apps handle sensitive patient information, they must comply with HIPAA, GDPR, or other applicable local health data regulations.
A doctor scheduling system must follow standards such as HL7 and FHIR, use end-to-end encryption, support secure authentication, implement role-based access controls, use secure cloud infrastructure, and maintain audit logs and activity tracking.
How long does it take to develop a custom doctor scheduling app?
The time required for doctor scheduling app development depends on the project's complexity. An MVP can take 3-5 months to launch. A mid-level solution with integrations can take 5-8 months to build. An advanced system featuring analytics or even AI may require up to 12 months or longer.