App architecture101

Healthcare App Architecture 101 David Y. Kay

If you can design a system, you can build an app.

What can an app do?

• Dumb question?

• No way. Let’s explore.

Wearables

What can computers do?

Math.Or things that can be reduced to math.

But how?

Moore’s Law

Moore’s Law

Design

User Flow Wireframes Mockups

Design

System Architecture

API Server

Native App

HTML&

Javascript

Database

Web vs Native

Web vs NativeNative Hybrid Web

Application

iOS / Android

HTML & Javascript

Firefox

iOS / Android iOS / Android

HTML & Javascript

Application

Embedded Browser

Tools

EasyPowerful

Windows vs Linux

Open Source

Open Source Benefits

• Hiring

• Re-use

• Reduce maintenance cost

• Better modularity

Cloud

?

Cloud

Hardware

DIY Cloud Managed

OS

Application

VM

Hardware

OS

Application

VM

Hardware

OS

Application

VM

Buy vs Build

• Is this your differentiator?

• How is the documentation / support?

Hiring• In-house

• On-site

• Remote

• Contract

• USA

• Overseas

Carpenters vs Engineers

Culture

“$78,755 per year”

payscale.com

Developers are expensive

hardware:

Make efficient use of expensive computer…

programmers:

“hardware is cheap - and programmers are expensive”

-Jeff Atwood

“the constraints imposed in building large software systems are the limitations of our own minds.”

-Hal Abelson

Static Dynamic

vs

Languages

Correctness

• Is someone going to die if something goes wrong?

• Fitbit? Not a problem.

• Pacemaker? Big problem.

You can do it yourself!

• Programming is not just for wizards

• …and you don’t necessarily need to learn it!

• Ari’s IFTTT example

Codeless Apps

Hardware

What’s it cost?

• $5K - millions.

• [Cite some numbers here]

Regulatory

FDA

Predicates

Additional Resources

• Rock Health: The Entrepreneur and the FDA

• FDA Webinar on Digital Healh

HIPAA

• Privacy Rule

• Security Rule

• BAAs

BAAs

Hardware

OS

Application

VM

You’re on your own!

It’s on Amazon.

}}

Cloud, Revisited

Hardware

DIY Cloud Managed

OS

Application

VM

Hardware

OS

Application

VM

Hardware

OS

Application

VM

Revenue Models• One-time purchase

• In-app Purchase

• Subscription

• Advertising

• Others

Who is your customer?

• Consumer

• Provider

• Med device / Pharma

Reimbursement

• Coding

• Reimbursement Consultants

Key Question

• How does this add value?

Do I need an app?

• Use the minimal effort to achieve a great solution

• Often this is a tricky thing to accomplish

“If this app were an employee, what would its job description be?”

-Brennan Dunn

Recap

• If you can design a system, you can build an app

• Hardware is cheap, programmers are expensive

• Focus on what matters

Let’s wind up.

Recommended Reading

• Joel on Software - The business of Software

• Paul Graham - Startup & Hacker Culture

• Steve Yegge - Rants on programming culture

• Ray Kurzweil - The Singularity is Near

Recommended Reading

Self-studyMore Structured

More Hardcore

Fin

@DavidYKay

[email protected]

DavidYKay.com