A couple of weeks ago I had posted
a review on an iPhone app called RxmindMe. RxmindMe was created a few years ago and since then been on Apple's "What's Hot" for Medical chart consistently and recently acquired by Walgreens. Since my post, the original creator of the app, Harold Smith, has contacted me and agreed to do an interview discussing how a medical professional, whether it be a medical student, resident or physician, should go about taking their ideas for medical apps and bringing them to life. Hopefully, his advice can come in handy to those looking into entering the mobile health world.
MDRoadMap: Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background.
Harold Smith: I graduated from Virginia Tech's Computer Science program in 2004.
Since then, I've been doing mostly work for the Department of Defense,
working on systems were security is the priority. I started doing
mobile development work about three years ago when the iPhone 2.0
software came out.
MDRoadMap: How did you come up with RxmindMe?
Harold Smith: I have to take Prevacid every day and I had about a 25% success rate.
So, I started from the ground up writing RxmindMe to help myself.
After getting and initial version done, my now fiancée convinced me to
put it on the App Store - which I did. It originally had about 4
reminder types of and when acquired by Walgreens it had 9.
MDRoadMap: What was the single most important thing that you think made RxmindMe so successful besides the idea itself?
Harold Smith: The execution of the idea. Anyone can write an App (Seeing as there
are 500,000 on the Apple App Store - anyone can) - but to make one
that is great takes time, patience, and lots of work. Concentrating on
the User Experience (UX) is key. Listening to user feedback,
responding to emails, and putting out constant updates drives user
satisfaction. We executed the idea well and were also lucky enough to be
featured in Apples "What's Hot" for Medical for 12 months straight. We
sat at pretty much #1 the entire time.
MDRoadMap: What advice would you give to a medical student, resident or physician to go from "an idea to an app?" What is the process should they follow?
Harold Smith: A few things. Solve small problems is probably the biggest one.
RxmindMe solved a single problem: taking medications. It wasn't trying
to be everything for everyone. People asked to put appointments in it,
making it a "Health Vault" type of product, but it wasn't where it
should have gone. You don't need to build an EMR for the iPhone - you
just need to figure out one problem to solve.
Even if you have an idea, getting it completed is the hardest part.
You have to be willing to pay for it is what it boils down to. You can
use sites like vworker.com to find programming talent. But, vet the
developers. You aren't going to find many people anymore willing to
work for "equity" - so don't count on that.
MDRoadMap: Any suggestions on where to look for capital to pursue the idea?
Harold Smith: There are Family/Fools/Friends, Angel investors, Venture Capitalists, or even your own checking account. More established physicians may have a bit
more personal money to invest in their idea. Medical students will
have a tougher road to travel.
Yesterday, I just found out about
Healthbox too, which is something
to look into if you want to pursue an idea.
The "best" part about Medical Apps are, there aren't a whole lot yet -
and some of the ones available aren't terribly well executed. It has
the least amount of products in it, within the App Store.
MDRoadMap: What are common mistakes not to make along the way?
Harold Smith: Do a lot of planning up front. Know exactly the problem you want to
solve. Be as detailed as possible when coming up with use cases,
scenarios...everything. Understand HIPAA compliance and how it applies
to you and what you are doing. And, you must be passionate about it. Also, ship as soon as you possibly can!
MDRoadMap: What were some successful marketing strategies that you used to make your app well known in the medical world and adopted by patients?
Harold Smith: The most successful marketing strategies were, just developing a really good product, listening to customer feedback, and enabling customers to spread the word. I spent a lot of time refining the App, killing bugs, refining the user interface, and seeing what did and didn't work.
Within the App's main screen, I created a tab for "Contact Us" - allowing users to email our support email address directly. This enabled users to contact me through the App instead of through a the App Store review process, which helps no one. Also in there, I stuck a "tell a friend" button that allowed people to reach out and engage other people, without me doing a thing.
We got picked up by a few blogs and big sites like Gizmodo and that helped tremendously. But, being picked by Apple to appear in the "What's Hot" speaks for itself.
MDRoadMap: How was your app purchased by Walgreens and what is your relationship with them now?
Harold Smith: My relationship with Walgreens is amazing. Their acquisition was a breeze and it has been fantastic working with them this entire time!
Harold Smith Twitter:
@haroldsmith3rd
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All responses in this interview are directly from Harold Smith and except for grammar edits, the responses have not been altered . These responses represent his opinions.
