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When applying for life insurance coverage, there is a wide range of information that the underwriter will ask. Each question relates directly to the amount of premium you’ll pay. In addition to your name, age, and gender, the company also needs to know about your health status and history. Thus, data on whether you have diabetes or are there cases in your family, as well as any other potential risks, allows insurers to determine the exact amount of a claim. Where do life insurance carriers get client information? The primary source of information for life insurers is the application for coverage. In addition to the medical history, an applicant provides, an underwriter may request reports from their healthcare provider or from other insurance companies to which they have applied for insurance. They may also resort to knowledge bases to obtain additional details on customer background. One such source is the Medical Information Bureau or MIB Inc. If insurers do so, they use the authorization form an applicant signed with their health statement. What is MIB Inc.? MIB Group, Inc. is a non-stock corporation owned by nearly 500 insurance companies throughout the US and Canada. The organization was created in 1902 and is America’s oldest and longest continuously operating credit reporting agency accessing 100 million records and growing weekly. Source: mib.com/facts_about_mib.html MIB Inc. currently owns North America’s largest database of medical conditions on insurance applicants. Collected medicine-related records may include medical conditions, tobacco usage, alcoholism, drug addiction, and personal or family genetic history. The information in MIB’s database is encrypted and may be accessible only to authorized personnel of the member company. They contribute underwriting files to the MIB database that may be helpful to other members. Applicants can also provide the MIB with personal medical records from their healthcare provider that are relevant to the disputing conditions. When customers apply for insurance, they should authorize the use of MIB as an information resource. According to the Federal Trade Commission, MIB is obliged to provide a copy of a consumer’s medical record, if requested, to verify that all information is correct. EHR - a tool to gather data from life insurance applicants The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) is among the first, who let applicants use EHR to simplify the life insurance purchase progress. The Association worked with Cerner to test and implement EHR retrieval technology named HealtheHistory. Source: twitter.com/Cerner/status/847814228694237184 The solution is available to applicants at the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense. Thus, they are able to deliver their health data directly to the insurer via the patient portal. ‘We can’t emphasize enough how important life insurance is to a financial plan, but we also understand that the process of obtaining a policy continues to introduce challenges industrywide. By using portal retrieval technology and existing EHR platforms, we can provide our members a more secure, easy way to supply records to get a policy decision as soon as possible.’ Dr. Steven Dunlap, medical director at USAA HealtheHistory supports health data collection, encrypts data transmission and limits access to approved members. The tool connects to any accessible patient portal, facilitating the delivery of an applicant’s health history up to 30 days faster than manual retrieval options. Cerner calls this a longitudinal record. The program gathers various sources of raw data, organizes into groups by commonalities, standardizes to match industry terminology, and, as a result, formes a 360-degree view of the applicant. USAA data shows that one of five members do not carry life insurance, with many citing cost and the application process as the top concerns. Recent stats from the marketing research organization LIMRA indicate the number is much higher for the general population, with over 40% of Americans having no life insurance. By deploying EHR technology, USAA is able to speed up the application and underwriting process, without increasing cost for members. MIB Inc.: steps towards EHR integration In April 2018 MIB Inc. released a platform created to automate the acquisition of applicant-authorized EHR for accelerated delivery to the member insurers. The MIB EHR Data Platform have to replace paper-based APS (Attending Physician Statement) retrieval process by offering a unified method through which MIB’s 400 American insurers can securely access health records. The corporation is in current negotiations with leading EHR vendors to facilitate the acquisition and delivery of EHR data for the new EHR Data Platform. This platform will allow the insurance industry to drive process optimization, reduce costs and enhance data-driven decision making. ‘The EHR Data Platform naturally aligns with MIB's competencies in technology, data security, user experience expertise and our large-scale network capabilities. Our mission, and the mandate we have to serve our members, empowers us to deliver an industry-wide data solution that helps all our members drive more rapid issue of life insurance to meet market demands. MIB is owned by the industry we serve—we are the obvious choice for EHR delivery to the life insurance industry.’ Lee B. Oliphant, MIB President and Chief Executive Officer, said Weaknesses of the current system that EHR may resolve Statistics show that 20% of credit histories from the major credit reporting agencies contain errors. However, the percentage of errors in records from the nationwide specialty credit reporting agencies for insurance (e.g. MIB Inc., Ingenix, and Milliman) is unknown. Even though no official data is available, it is estimated that about 5% - 10% of medical report files are inaccurate or contain errors. EHR systems, in turn, are a substantial collection of codified data that appears more credible, since physicians add the info manually. Here insurers can find vital records of allergies, medications, surgical procedures, lab results, as well as social determinants of health. Source: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.epic.haiku.android&hl=en_US EHRs and coded data they contain can drive life insurance underwriting. However, is it a silver bullet for the industry? ‘On top of that, EHRs still don’t do the necessary job of making patient records easily available to providers and patients. EHRs were originally designed as a tool to help with billing, and they are falling short in their ability to provide data in a portable and accessible format. So in many ways, EHRs have merely replaced paper silos with electronic ones, while providers, and the patients they serve, still have difficulty obtaining health records.’ From the speech of CMS Administrator Seema Verma in HIMSS18 Conference, March 3, 2018 Improve EHR system to meet life insurers needs According to Health IT Dashboard 2017, 85.9% of doctors and 96% of hospitals use EHR systems. Patients and physicians have widespread access to the Internet and nearly everyone has a mobile device. All of these benefits provide many access points for viewing and upgrading healthcare data. For the lucky few who get their records, the information is often incomplete, and not always digital or understandable. Customers might be able to get some info in their provider’s portal but if they are consulting different specialists, they might be checking a bunch of portals. As a result, the data is scattered and unstandardized. The existence of multiple technical and terminology standards that serve similar functions is one of the key issues. Thus, the looming shadow of EHRs interoperability will be settled more quickly. Plus, communities join into a single data sharing network, in which each participant makes one connection to the web and then can access records from all parties. This is the way Carequality have created a standardized, national-level interoperability framework to link all data sharing networks. Human API released a new version of their medical data platform for life insurance carriers. The solution leverages the company's nationwide network of EHR, pharmacy, and lab integrations to deliver electronic health data for more efficient underwriting. ‘We started with two simple questions: "why can't consumers access their health data?" and "why do enterprises struggle to connect this data? These questions inspired our mission to create data liquidity throughout the healthcare ecosystem.’ from Human API website The platform includes the Enterprise Portal, where insurers can request real-time access to medical records, view the results in a longitudinal timeline, and leverage a robust clinical data flow to automate underwriting decisions. With no IT integration required, the solution enables insurance carriers to incorporate Human API into their current underwriting programs. The adoption of electronic health records has increased rapidly in recent years, opening the door for new approaches to medical record retrieval and direct consumer engagement. ‘Attending physician statements (APS) have always been the gold standard for underwriting, but they take too long and cost too much. The ability to directly access EHR data will be the biggest game changer for underwriting in my now very long career. Companies who figure out how to access digital EHR data first will find a distinct competitive edge in the marketplace’ Jennifer Richards, the Head of Life Insurance New Business and Underwriting at Mass Mutual Conclusion Despite the comparatively large hundreds-years-old databases, EHR information has the potential to essentially shatter and improve the life insurance risk assessment process. More and more companies made the investment to incorporate EHRs into their automated underwriting programs. The benefits are clear - EHR can reduce application time while improving customer experience. Hire Belitsoft - a top offshore software development company!

Mobile health is a growing IT sector that focuses on transforming how healthcare providers interact with their patients. According to Zion Market Research, the global mHealth market size is expected to reach $102.43 billion by 2022. Industry experts predict that 70% of healthcare organizations will invest in healthcare mobile app development by 2018. ‘The market for digital health tools is finally starting to catch up to the demand. Unfortunately, this increase can lead to a surge in unreliable tools. Nearly half of consumers today are considered digital health adopters—and that number is only going to rise as the benefits become apparent and tech-savvy generations get older.’ Nitin Goyal, MD, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Founder & CEO at Pulse Platform The following statistic displays the number of mHealth apps available on Google Play. During the last measured period, the store offered just over 51.000 medical apps, representing a 5.7 percent growth over the previous quarter. The most income-generating mHealth apps on Google Play are fitness and calories counter systems. Source: statista.com/statistics/779919/health-apps-available-google-play-worldwide Apps have become an essential part of the healthcare field. Medicare providers and patients all benefit from up-to-date, user-friendly, and free or minimal-cost healthcare apps. Due to rising supply, it has become increasingly important to offer a high-quality product. Thus, designing mHealth apps that provide efficient and convenient ways of providing healthcare services is among the top-most concerns of developers. In this article, we talk about what colors are best suited for healthcare mobile software and give you some examples. We then focus on app notification design. Surely we compare iOS and Android design style and show you some key differences with actual screenshots. Finally, we refer to best practices to customize your app for users with disabilities. Have an idea to create an mHealth app? Contact us to start your business! Familiarizing with colors As part of the development process, it is necessary to choose a proper color scheme and fonts. Users should feel peaceful with confidence that they run a right medicare software to address their needs and concerns. To that end, vibrant colors should be replaced with a more delicate and calm color palette. Fortunately, there are many hues to pick from both cold and warm sides of the spectrum. Cold tones are most often used for the background. These hues establish an overall sense of tranquility that is necessary to help users concentrate on the more important features of the healthcare app. White Fitbit - an activity tracker for iOS and Android Oscar Health - a health insurance app for iOS and Android Blue Calm - a meditation app A pharmacy app by Lewis+Humphreys Grey BioDigital - a 3D health visualization system Clue - a female health app Green Omada - a behavior change program HealthTap - an online doctor consultation app Warm tones are great for accent colors and for attracting attention. However, products designed in this color scheme as their dominant may be used in obstetrics and gynecology. All because in Europe and the USA, pink is often associated with the women. Pink Flo - a fertility and pregnancy calendar Blogilate - a fitness app Purple Zipdrug - a medication delivery app Cliniklik healthcare app design by Pablo Barzet, Source Yellow GoodRX - a drug price tracking app in the USA Red Pills On Time - a medication reminder and pills tracker Orange MINDBODY - fitness, salon and spa booking app App notification design Notifications are crucial to mHealth apps, especially for those that provide tracking and reminders. Giving them different designs enables indicating importance and urgency. For example, an app reminds users of their scheduled time to take a pill. Along with this, it also notifies of an upcoming physician’s appointment. To avoid confusion and highlight relevance, developers have to give the reminders various design elements. To this end, they can use color-coding, font choices, gestures, or notification behavior/animation. CareZone - a medication management app MyTherapy - a medication reminder and pill tracker Couch to 5K - a running trainer Sleep Cycle - an intelligent alarm clock For our take on healthcare software development take a look at the latest EHR we've developed. This article give insights into the approach we used: How to Build an EHR System Android vs iOS: Different design styles Most popular apps, including mHealth, are released for both iOS and Android. The following are some differences to be taken into account when developing a mobile app. — First off, the design rules for Android devices are determined by Material Design, while for iOS - by Human Interface Guidelines. The first one is based on a layered "paper" approach providing more hierarchy with realistic shadows, light, and motion. As for iOS, designers can use the effects of transparency, blurring, gradients or shadows to attract users attention. — Moving between screens is a common action users take on apps. On Android, there is a universal navigation bar at the bottom. The back button is the simplest way to go back to a previous screen and it works in all apps. Runtastic Balance Food Tracker and Calorie Counter for Android The vision on iOS is a little different. As can be seen on the screenshot below, there is no back button here. Thus, the app screen has a button on the top left corner. Moreover, designers can also use the name of the previous page behind the back icon to let customers know where they will go back. Runtastic Balance Food Tracker and Calorie Counter for iOS In addition, Apple introduced a gesture of swiping from left to right in apps to go back. The animation for the collecting samples flow for Bloodline for iOS by Bryce Thompson, Source — Apps have different areas within them, usually organized as tabs. Different sections on Android are displayed on top of the app. In addition, the Android version shows only icons on the tab row, whereas the iOS version also has labels. However, iOS app’s sections are organized as tabs on the bottom of the screen. Doctor On Demand for Android Doctor On Demand for iOS MyFitnessPal for Android MyFitnessPal for iOS — Action buttons are those that enable users to take some actions like share, upload/download etc. Both Android and iOS have their own icon styles. My Diet Coach - a weight loss motivating and tracking app for Android My Diet Coach for iOS Understand target audiences A proper quality design is important for any mobile app, but it’s especially vital when creating a program for sensitive target users. ‘I’m not the first entrepreneur to create a digital health app for patients. But as a surgeon, I’m very aware of the day-to-day issues that arise, including the nuanced relationship between patient and provider. Not all entrepreneurs in digital healthcare have this level of awareness. That means some digital health tools don’t consider a patient’s best interest.’ Nitin Goyal said The following are some obstacles disabled users have met: Blind people may use screen reader software or Braille devices to access content but only text-based. Deaf users cannot access audio content unless it is transcribed. People who can’t use a mouse have to able to access content with a keyboard alone. Users with low vision, dyslexia, or attention deficit are difficult to process extensive texts and require more white space, simple screen images, and proper color contrast. Examples of color disabilities Site: w3.org/WAI/GL/low-vision-a11y-tf/wiki/Overview_of_Low_Vision Since this field is mainly represented by older people, or who might have sensory impairments and other disabilities or technically challenged, it’s necessary to tailor healthcare mobile app design. Source: greatcall.com/greatcall/lp/is-mobile-healthcare-the-future-infographic.aspx Designing for low- and no-vision and hearing: legislation Developing software that can be used by all people without the need for adaptation or specialized design is called “universal design”. Many software companies, unfortunately, focus on the characteristics of the “average” user. ‘The term user experience is now widely used, especially by major players in the industry including Apple, IBM and Microsoft. However, in many cases, the term is contrasted to usability which is often depicted as a much narrower concept focusing on systems being easy to use.’ Tom Stewart, Chair of the ISO sub-committee With a view to making software accessible for people with disabilities, the U.S. Congress has passed legislation in a range of areas. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and its amendment 508 suggested in 1986 require that information technology funded/used by the federal government must be designed to be accessible to people with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and ADA Amendments Act of 2008 require public software be accessible to users with physical, sensory, or cognitive disabilities, regardless of what audience is targeted. In 2017, the U.S. Access Board published a final rule updating accessibility requirements for information and communication technology (ICT). Further, it boosts international harmonization, in particular with Canada, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. Designing for low- and no-vision and hearing: best practices The “mobile accessibility” standards address devices that interact with the web, including smartphones, tablets, and wearables. Most often, mobile devices have a small screen size that limits how much information users can actually view at one time. Especially, when zoom is used by people with low vision. Some best practices for helping low-vision users to make the most of small screens include: Cut the amount of the displayed content by providing a dedicated mobile version (providing fewer content modules, fewer images, or focus on important mobile usage scenarios) or a responsive design (on narrow screens the navigation menus may be hidden until a user taps a menu button). The left picture shows a page with no modification, print preview at 100%. The picture on the right shows the same page at 200%. Source: w3.org/WAI/GL/low-vision-a11y-tf/wiki/Printing_Customized_Text Provide a reasonable default size for content and touch controls to prevent text magnification by the user. The content has to be resizable without assistive technology up to 200 percent. Supply with on-page controls to change the text size (e.g. magnifying lens view under user’s finger). Source: pcworld.com/article/3131925 Avoid using complicated and decorative fonts because they can be discerned much harder. Use standard fonts like Arial or Times New Roman instead. Create alternative CSS with a highly contrasting color scheme. The WCAG 2.0. suggests Minimum (at least 4.5:1 or 3:1 for large-scale text) and Enhanced (at least 7:1 or 4.5:1 for large-scale text) contrasts. Arrange interactive elements where they can be easily seen when the device is held in different positions. Use a range of clearly contrasting colors and hues instead of relying on black and white as the design's only contrasting colors. Type1 Diabetes Mobile App Design Source: behance.net/gallery/32173645/Type-1-Diabetes-Mobile-App Avoid hard-to-see color combos, e.g: Green & red. Green & brown. Blue & purple. Green & Blue. Blue & Grey.  Green & Grey. Indicate clearly interactive elements (buttons or links) from non-actionable elements (content, status info, etc.) through the following parameters: Conventional shape: rounded-corner shaded button shape. Iconography:  question mark, home icon, back arrow, etc. for conventional visual icons. Color offset: various text color, shape with a different background color to distinguish the element from the page background. Conventional style: underlined text and different colors for links. To ensure access to all potential audiences, it is essential that software companies develop products to be compatible with assistive technology. When a mobile app is designed to be accessible to users with a broad range of disabilities, the others benefit too. For example, video transcripts enable deaf users to access the content. However, this feature allows for viewing it in a noisy environment, or for whom English is a second language. User-friendly design An important step toward a successful UX design for mHealth apps is to practice simplicity. We’ve reviewed dozens of healthcare apps, both on Google Play and App Store, and noticed there is one thing in common: simplistic or minimalist design. Indeed, such programs give users a clean and professional experience. ‘Don’t re-invent the wheel. Use models and frameworks developed by others, and modify them as needed [...] and incorporate what has worked before. Once that framework is established, it’s easier to go in and add elements that personalize or brand the experience.’ Jeffery Kendall, SVP and GM at Kony Health tracking app by Jakub Antalík Source: dribbble.com/shots/2834322-Health-tracking-app-case-study It is also essential to facilitate the register/sign-in process. User authorization has to take the minimum amount of time avoiding numerous screens and clicks. The simplification principle also applies to emergency data accessing, like doctor phone number, prescription medication, or allergies. Icon sets used in healthcare apps should be highly intuitive so that users can easily understand what a particular icon means. However, more creative symbols can be added while including their description at hand. Thus, developers avoid the possibility of confusing their customers. Medical Icon Set by Vivek Karthikeyan Source: dribbble.com/shots/3121056-Medical-Icon-Set Medical Icons by Asif Hussain Source: dribbble.com/shots/4131178-Medical-Icons Complete Medical App by Asif Hussain Source: dribbble.com/shots/4078004-A-Complete-Medical-Application Conclusion Designing an effective healthcare mobile app requires focusing on what works best for target audiences. Design should be centered around an intuitive UI/UX and proper coloring schemes. Moreover, to reach a wide audience, mHealth apps should be tailored for sensory impairment users. You want your app to have a modern and harmonious look? Our talented designers will liven it up! Contact us for advice!