The idea of the metaverse has now become more accessible and tangible than ever before as more, and more industries have now started realizing its potential. The healthcare industry is no longer a stranger to the benefits of metaverse technology and its myriad benefits. Imagine being able to visit a doctor in a virtual space where the patients can discuss symptoms and receive diagnoses without ever leaving the comfort of their homes.
81% of healthcare executives are now considering metaverse healthcare development services for building innovative healthcare solutions accessible from around the world. The top healthcare leaders and companies are now imagining how metaverse can re-invent quality healthcare delivery, which can be understood by the market report mentioned below.
A Look-Ahead of the Global Metaverse Healthcare Market
The global market for metaverse in healthcare is projected to grow at a CAGR of 35.28% and is expected to reach a valuation of $54.47 billion by 2030. The increasing utilization of AR and VR platforms for performing complicated surgical processes with higher flexibility and precision is expected to boost overall market growth.
Other factors contributing to the growth of metaverse in healthcare include growing collaborations among the top companies for developing AR and VR solutions that improve the overall medical processes, along with expanding investment for creating metaverse for healthcare platforms. Let’s now look at the opportunities Metaverse offers the healthcare industry.
Metaverse in Healthcare: Advancements and Opportunities
Metaverse is already showing signs of new business opportunities in the field of healthcare. In order to perform healthcare experiments in a virtual setting, scientists and researchers are now using the metaverse as a platform for healthcare research and development.
Overall, the metaverse has enormous potential to revolutionize the healthcare sector by offering cutting-edge approaches that enhance patient access, quality treatment, and service efficiency. Let’s have a look at some opportunities that the metaverse creates for the healthcare industry:
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Telehealth
With the advancement of telemedicine, physical boundaries have been eliminated by getting merged with the world of the metaverse. Telehealth became popular during the pandemic and eventually replaced in-person consultations or visits with healthcare professionals for most patients and caregivers.
Even though the introduction of Covid-19 vaccinations to boost the economy and bring patients back to clinics, hospitals, and doctors seemed to reduce the use of telehealth, it still turned out to be the most reliable method of contact between patients and healthcare professionals.
Telehealth represents a significant change in the way healthcare providers offer their services in immersive, virtual, and collaborative online settings, which promotes cross-disciplinary collaboration.
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Digital Twins
A digital twin is a virtual simulation of any process, system, or product created using real data to learn more about its actual counterpart. The patient themselves could be the doppelganger of the metaverse technology in the healthcare scenario.
The concept of digital twins is expected to serve as “test dummies” for users, and can be used to forecast everything from how one can recuperate from surgery to the reactions patients will have to particular medications.
For instance, our development team at Appinventiv developed a frequency-based healthcare app Soniphi, where our team integrated bioacoustic science on mobile. Soniphi became a favorite platform for millions of users who could witness the relationship between the functioning of the human body and voiceprint.
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Virtual Hospitals
Building a virtual hospital in the metaverse gives hospitals access to a wider geographic area, cheaper operational costs per patient, lower readmission rates, shorter wait times, and other advantages.
The rapid evolution of virtual hospitals is facilitated by the combination of technologies like cloud technology in healthcare, AR/VR, IoT, and, most importantly, metaverse in the healthcare industry.
Doctors can remotely watch their patients’ health conditions at hospitals, eliminating the need for in-person visits. Patients can monitor their health and act more responsibly, on the other hand. At Appinventiv, we developed a healthcare application like YouCOMM, a messaging platform that allows patients to request assistance and communicate their needs to the hospital staff using pre-recorded messages, voice commands, and head motions.
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Digital Therapeutic
There are already indications that digital therapeutics create great metaverse healthcare opportunities. The field of digital therapeutics is expanding quickly, with uses like cognitive therapy, support groups, psychiatric assessments, rehabilitation, and – with the help of haptic sensors – even physical therapy made possible by VR and AR technology in the metaverse for healthcare.
The COVID-19 pandemic has expedited the development of digital medicines that combine the best of the physical and digital worlds. For instance, nurses can visit patients in the metaverse and conduct daily check-ups and consultations with remote monitoring.
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Blockchain Technology
The use of metaverse in healthcare has the potential to revolutionize patient care, medical training, and remote consultations. These range from medical professionals and facilities to insurers and even governmental organizations. All of these parties’ interactions could be streamlined by blockchain technology in healthcare, making it simpler to share information vital to patient care.
For instance, a secure, decentralized platform for storing medical data uses blockchain technology in the healthcare industry. It also simplifies medical personnel accessing blockchain medical records from anywhere while giving patients complete control over their health data.
After analyzing the metaverse for healthcare opportunities, you must wonder about the cost of building a metaverse healthcare app. At Appinventiv, we provide robust healthcare software development services where our experts follow an agile development process and offer a clear-cut cost estimation of your dream project.
Metaverse Healthcare App Cost: Analyzing the Factors
Now that you know the importance of venturing into the development of metaverse applications in healthcare, you might be thinking about how much will this new business cost you and whether it will be profitable or not. However, knowing the exact cost of taking metaverse in the health and wellness industry can be tricky as multiple factors are involved.
The following factors should be considered when estimating the expense of developing metaverse applications in healthcare:
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Choice of the App Development Team
The selection of your development partner is the first element that affects the cost of metaverse development services. Choose to work with a firm with a team of capable, experienced developers for metaverse healthcare app development.
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Front-End Development
While a few front-end development programming languages and frameworks are open-source and secure, others have greater usage costs. Some front-end programming languages also don’t allow for tech stack modification. Again, all these factors significantly alter the cost of developing a metaverse healthcare mobile software.
3. Backend Development
Backend development frameworks, programming languages, hosting servers, etc., contribute to the cost of the metaverse healthcare app while developing a metaverse healthcare platform. For instance, choosing a microservices design over a monolithic one provides better results and more cutting-edge solutions but at a higher cost. Similarly, using Node.js is less expensive than using Java.
4. The Application’s Complexities
In order to create a metaverse healthcare application, you must also consider the complexity of the same. This includes the technology stack, the platform being used to create the metaverse healthcare app, and features and functionalities. The degree of complexity of the metaverse in the healthcare development method is determined by each of these variables.
5. UX & UI Design
One of the most important aspects of creating any application is the UI or UX design because users must be able to see and interact with the app immediately. Therefore, it’s crucial to use the most cutting-edge technologies to make this specific section of the application appealing to the users.
Based on all these factors, the cost to develop metaverse healthcare solutions ranges between $30,000 and $400,000. Read this blog to know more about the cost of developing a metaverse application.
Now that you are clear about the cost of developing a metaverse healthcare app check out the 5-step process of metaverse healthcare app development.
Metaverse Healthcare App Development Process that We Follow
From documenting your metaverse healthcare app development requirements to ensuring a smoother launch, we follow an agile app development process:
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Project Requirement
To understand your project’s concept and to fully comprehend your needs, the metaverse experts will arrange a discussion with you. Before moving on to the project analysis phase, they would actively engage with you to collect project requirements and get started with the metaverse for the healthcare development project.
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Design Requirements
The next step includes determining the look and feel of your application, defining UI/UX strategy, prioritizing features, and planning the release. The stage also includes inferring your value propositions, characterizing your product, and formulating a well-defined scope of work.
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Development Stage
After the release plan is ready, and the scope of work is defined, the development team starts developing an MVP version of the application. With MVP, you save time by prioritizing core features and getting a quick launch in the market. Based on early market feedback, the team starts working with the advanced version of the app.
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Testing and Deployment
The developed product is tested for quality. The types of testing methods that the app usually undergoes include UX testing, functional testing, performance testing, device testing, and security testing. Once all bugs are fixed, the app is deployed on different platforms.
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Support and Maintenance
The app development team continues to provide ongoing support to your metaverse in healthcare applications by monitoring the app performance and tracking KPIs through analytics platforms. The team also provides prompt support in patching the app with improvements when required.
Take Your First Step Towards Metaverse Healthcare App Development with Appinventiv
Building metaverse 3D spaces for the healthcare sector has many benefits, including personalized care, immersive training, and remote care. Despite the security concerns, healthcare organizations are now utilizing metaverse for improved patient outcomes. However, it’s critical for you to move cautiously and address any risks or issues that might arise from using a metaverse while investing in developing one.
To allow users to build their own virtual worlds and engage in 3D interactive interactions, Appinventiv can build you an intuitive metaverse platform customized to offer your users a highly immersive experience. Connect with our metaverse experts to get started with your project.
FAQs
Q. What is the metaverse in healthcare?
A. The term “metaverse in healthcare” refers to the use of virtual and augmented reality (AR & VR) technology to build immersive digital environments where patients, medical staff, and students of medicine can engage with each other and with medical data in innovative ways.
Numerous healthcare applications, including therapy, remote consultations, training for medical professionals, and patient instruction, can be carried out in the metaverse. Healthcare professionals can better grasp complicated medical concepts, enhance patient outcomes, and provide care in a more effective and efficient manner by utilizing metaverse technology in the healthcare sector.
Q. How does the metaverse affect healthcare?
A. The metaverse can improve healthcare in a number of ways. Here’s how metaverse for healthcare can prove to be quite positively impactful:
- Medical Training: The metaverse can be used to deliver immersive training experiences that replicate real-world medical scenarios to medical students and healthcare workers.
- Patient Care: By using the metaverse to build virtual healthcare settings, healthcare providers can more effectively and quickly provide care to patients.
- Therapy: Patients with a variety of physical and emotional health conditions can benefit from immersive therapy experiences developed in the metaverse.
- Patient Education: Interactive educational materials that can be used to better educate people about their medical conditions can be made using the metaverse.
Q. What are the benefits of metaverse in healthcare?
A. Developing metaverse healthcare has a number of advantages, including reduced costs associated with conventional treatment methods, improved patient outcomes due to increased provider engagement, and improved collaboration between various stakeholders within the health system, in addition to improving patient satisfaction through better access to high-quality medical services.
