Going LEAN in mHealth

Only 11% of hospital apps have 1 of the top 3 functionalities patients want

According to a survey put out by Accenture, there seems to be an important gap between healthcare organizations and patients. Today's patient is mobile, information-driven and independent. However, healthcare organizations have only recently begun the transition towards digital health and mobile.

According to the same survey, despite their best efforts, hospitals are only engaging 2% of their patients through mobile yet are spending in excess of $500,000 on overage to develop their mobile apps. With the number of consumer focused wellness apps on the market, we can assume that the issue isn't a reluctance to use mobile apps for health related activities. It seems that it all boils down to a question of product-market fit.

What's most surprising about the Accenture survey mentioned is that it claims a mere 11% of apps have at least 1 of the top 3 functionalities patients want. Why is that so interesting? Well - in this simple statistic there also is a glaring opportunity for mHealth app development teams moving forward. Simply put: give patients what they want.

Using a LEAN methodology to develop your mHealth app

It probably sounds daunting to imagine going out and sourcing all of the wants and needs of patients ahead of time to build an mHealth application for an entire health system or hospital. To be fair, it would be more than daunting and it would be one of the most surefire ways to continue the less than stellar track record of mHealth app adoption.

The LEAN methodology to product development offers an interesting shift with impressive results in other market verticals. In a nutshell, LEAN is about acquiring direct user feedback to drive product development before releasing at scale. Taking this approach not only results in a higher quality end product for target users but also reduces development costs, shortens development time and minimizes the risk of sunk costs into failed development initiatives.

What's even better is the LEAN methodology actually makes sense: it is basically the application of the scientific method to product development. A very succinct overview of the methodology would be as follows:

• Use surveys of your target audience to identify the functionalities most important to them
• Of the functionalities mentioned, identify which constitute the minimum functionality required for a product users would use.
• Use this minimum functionality to create an initial scaled back version of the product called a "minimum viable product" (MVP).
• Launch the MVP to a small group of target users and gain additional feedback from them regarding functionalities, user-experience etc.
• Use this feedback to make updates to the existing MVP in terms of UI/UX or existing functionalities as well as add new important functionalities discovered from this direct user feedback.
• Repeat this process continuously throughout the life-cycle of the product. Once the product has achieved a level of functionality that is acceptable to be launched at scale, you are ready to take your product to the larger target audience beyond your small feedback group.
• Continue to add new functionalities by limiting the release of these functionalities to small groups to gain feedback before releasing at scale.
• Most importantly, always measure everything - downloads, repeat users, usage times, which functionalities get the most, which get the least etc. This data will compliment user feedback in the iterative product development process.

If mHealth is part of your health system or hospital's digital strategy, you might just want to take a closer look at the LEAN methodology. Patients are ready for mobile and whoever is able to get it right will have a distinct advantage in the space. Oh, and that same Accenture survey also mentioned that hospitals that have a subpar digital and mobile experience stand to lose $100 Million in annual revenue on average.

Michael Scranton is the Director of Business Development at Medical Web Experts and is dedicated to helping healthcare organizations improve quality of care and patient outcomes while reducing health costs through the improved use of information and technology.