How to Choose a Healthcare App Developer

First, know whether HIPAA applies to your product

Many healthcare startups either over engineer for HIPAA when it does not apply, or ignore it when it does. HIPAA applies to covered entities such as providers, health plans and clearinghouses, and to business associates that handle protected health information on their behalf. A direct to consumer wellness app that never touches a provider may fall outside HIPAA, while still being subject to FTC rules and state privacy laws. A remote monitoring app sold to clinics almost certainly falls inside it.

A developer worth hiring will ask who your customer is, where data comes from and who sees it before proposing an architecture. Tepia maps that data flow in Discovery and documents which parts of the system hold PHI, which do not, and which vendors need a business associate agreement. That map drives decisions such as which analytics tools are allowed, what a push notification can say and how long logs are kept.

Be wary of anyone who calls a product HIPAA certified. There is no official HIPAA certification for software. What exists is a set of safeguards, policies and agreements, and a developer should be able to walk you through each one. Tepia’s guide on how to make an app HIPAA compliant lists them.

Healthcare specific criteria to score developers

General app development skill is necessary but not enough. Score healthcare candidates on these rows, and ask for examples rather than assurances. Tepia answers each with work it has done.

The device question matters for diagnostic or treatment features. A developer is not your regulatory counsel, but a good one notices when a feature such as dose calculation or diagnosis suggestions may need FDA review and tells you early.

Integration and clinical workflow experience

Most healthcare startups eventually need data from or into an EHR. Through the 21st Century Cures Act, certified EHRs expose standardized FHIR APIs, but each vendor has its own app registration, review and sandbox process, and production access can take months. A developer who has done it before will plan for that timeline and design your first release so it does not depend on integration being live on day one. Tepia’s EHR integration with FHIR and HL7 work covers Epic, athenahealth and other common systems.

Workflow matters as much as data. A nurse checking a remote monitoring alert between patients has seconds, not minutes. A therapist reviewing a client’s mood log wants trends, not raw entries. A front desk team needs intake data to land where they already work. Ask developers how they would learn those realities, and expect an answer involving ride alongs, shadowing or interviews with clinical staff.

For early stage companies, Tepia often recommends a narrow first release that proves clinical value with a small group of providers, then adds integrations once the workflow is confirmed. See digital health MVP development.

How Tepia approaches healthcare app development

Tepia runs healthcare projects through its six phase process, with a US based project manager and HIPAA aware architecture from the first sprint.

1. Discovery: data flow mapping to find PHI, interviews with patients, clinicians and administrators, and a review of EHR and third party vendors for BAAs and API access. Deliverables are an Investigation Summary, an Interview Summary and User Stories such as a care coordinator triaging overnight readings.
2. Design: a design questionnaire, moodboards and a style guide, then wireframes tested for accessibility and for what is visible on a lock screen or shared device.
3. Development and Testing: encryption, role based access and audit logging in place before features, then an Alpha and a Beta with test plans for functional behavior, user acceptance and security.
4. Training: hands on sessions for clinical and admin staff built around real scenarios, such as escalating an abnormal reading.
5. Launch: data migration, transition from any spreadsheet or legacy process, and support reps available to clinics during rollout.
6. Support: issue resolution, bug tracking, audit log review support and feature requests.

Typically Discovery runs 1 to 3 months, development 2 to 6 months and launch about a month, with EHR production access planned in parallel. As the Newport Medical Solutions CIO put it, “We were impressed with Tepia’s genuine passion for their craft.” More on healthcare app development.

Questions healthcare startups should ask before signing

Use these questions in your final round of interviews. Tepia expects them and answers each in writing.

1. Will you sign a BAA, and which of your tools will touch PHI? Every vendor in that list needs its own agreement.
2. Where exactly will PHI live? Ask for databases, file storage, backups and logs by name.
3. What goes into a push notification? The right answer is a neutral prompt to open the app, not health details.
4. How do you handle a patient’s request for their data? Export and access logs should be built in.
5. Who will we work with day to day? Expect a named project manager and engineering lead.

Then compare candidates on how specific their answers were. Vague reassurance is the most common warning sign in healthcare app development. Review HIPAA compliant software development, browse Tepia’s work, or talk to Tepia about your product.

Frequently asked questions