Month: October 2020

HOW TO DEVELOP A HIPAA COMPLIANT APP?

The year 2020 has been nothing short of a rollercoaster ride. Events (mostly unfortunate) have kept on happening at an unprecedented pace.

However, these challenging times call for creative measures, and when you combine sharp business minds with modern technology, it opens up a whole host of opportunities. One such opportunity that has opened up during COVID-19 is the development of various Health Care Apps to help reduce the pressure on the Health Care Department of countries.

Individuals and companies have realized that this pandemic has presented the chance for advancements in the not-so-familiar Telemedicine industry. We have witnessed a significant increase in the launch of Health-related apps in Google’s Play Store and Apple’s App Store by established Health Organizations.

However, these apps must be HIPAA Compliant before launching them into the market.

What is HIPAA Compliance?

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), introduced in 1996, is the regulatory standard that a developer has to follow while developing an app. There are other compliances, but they vary from nation to nation. HIPAA is the standard for all countries.

The purpose of HIPAA is to provide a high-level of security for mobile app users to protect their medical records and Personal Health Information (PHI).

If you can’t guarantee the safety of a patient’s confidential information, your app and brand’s integrity will get diminished forever.

How can you make your app HIPAA Compliant?

There are specific Guidelines, Security Safeguards, and Fundamental Elements that you need to follow to make your app HIPAA Compliant and trustworthy for your users.

So, what are they?

The fundamental HIPAA Guidelines are-

• Only authorized users should have access to ePHI, i.e., electronic Protected Health Information. The ePHI includes patients’ confidential information such as medical records created, stored, transmitted, or received in any electronic format or media.
• Data transmission should be fully encrypted to protect the integrity of ePHI.
• A system of monitoring communications containing ePHI should get implemented to prevent accidental or malicious breaches.

The three HIPAA Security Safeguards to get implemented include-

• Technical Safeguards:
  
• Network infrastructure and cybersecurity, such as malware protection, encryption, and firewalls.
• Complete encryption of data that can be stored or transferred through Algorithms like AES (Advanced Encryption Standard).
• Automatic Logoff feature, which will protect PHI when someone loses their device while logged in your app.
• Unique User Identification, i.e., each user must have their own login credentials. Even employees should not use a common username or password to log in.
• Security Lock or DND feature to give the user control over data sharing.
• Emergency Access Procedures, i.e., during an emergency, there should be a way to access only necessary ePHI.
• Physical Safeguards:
  
• Protection of the backend, i.e., where the ePHI gets stored through a multi-factor authentication system.
• Protection to limit and access control to physical work sites where ePHI is maintained, such as locks or alarm systems.
• If the user deletes your app after some time, all the sensitive data, including ePHI, must be wiped out to ensure no healthcare data remains on the device.
• Administrative Safeguards:
  
• Staff training ensures that all the policies, procedures, and documentation get appropriately followed to maintain the app’s security standards.
• In the event of a data breach, a contingency plan must get implemented to notify all the affected parties.
• Information Access Management to provide access to only relevant ePHI.

Certain fundamental elements need to be in place to ensure proper HIPAA Compliance-

• Appointing a Compliance Officer and a Compliance Committee.
• Executing all the written policies, procedures, and standards.
• Conducting regular training for Employees.
• Conducting internal monitoring and auditing.
• Promptly responding to any data breach incident and taking necessary measures.
• Developing effective lines of communication.

In Conclusion, the current scenario demands the growth of Digital Health Care through apps. The basis of an application is the level of security provided for the end-user, and if your app is not secure enough, there is no point in launching it in the market.

If you plan to invest in the healthcare sector and develop a HIPAA compliant technological software or app, look no further than 6DegreesIT. Our professional developers will leave no stone unturned to create the most secure and reliable product for you, which will yield your desired outcome.

Contact us today!

PROGRAMMATIC MARKETING: THE FUTURE OF ONLINE ADVERTISING

As the Internet has rapidly grown over the years, business minds have realized the importance of taking their brand online. Once the development is done & the web platforms get set up, it’s time to make people aware about your product. Without promotion, it’s nearly impossible for an online business to survive. Therefore, companies have started combining SEO with a PPC campaign to advertise their business.

But, with time, the online advertising landscape has changed drastically. New techniques pop-up frequently, and before you know it, your competitor moves ahead of you by making use of them. One such technique is- Programmatic Advertising/Marketing.

What is Programmatic Advertising?

When technologies like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) get used for buying digital advertisements online through an automated system, it is known as Programmatic Advertising. It doesn’t involve pre-set prices or any human negotiation. Hence, the name- Programmatic.

Benefits of Programmatic Advertising

⦁ Unparalleled Targeting

An advertising campaign aims to target the right audience. And Programmatic is undoubtedly the best when it comes to targeting a specific audience. The software getting used eliminates all the flaws of a traditional ad campaign. Once your ad gets seen, you can see how many impressions get made, who all looked at your ad, their locations, etc.

⦁ Higher ROI

Through Programmatic, you can target based on a specific gender, location, interest, education, age, browsing behavior, etc. This specified targeting results in fewer wasted clicks.

A Google Ad displays your ad even to those who won’t give it a second glance. On the other hand, Programmatic ads are considerably cheaper, as publishers are also finding it hard to sell their ad space. Thus, the rates are usually low. Therefore, you can start a Programmatic campaign with a small budget and end up making a high ROI.

⦁ Multichannel

One of the key issues with traditional advertising channels such as AdWords and Bing is that they have their network of sites where your ads are displayed. For instance, when you run a display campaign on AdWords, your ads will only get shown on Google’s partner websites. Fine enough. But what about other websites that are not part of Google Display Network? Similarly, if you run a video ad, even if your campaign is running with the world’s largest ad network, you’ll only be able to reach YouTube.

Programmatic advertising provides you access to a massive inventory of ad networks, publishers, and ad exchanges.

⦁ Better Reporting & Tracking

Unlike traditional ad campaigns, an advertiser will not have to wait until the end to find out the results and drawbacks. Programmatic allows for real-time reporting. Therefore, you can judge the success of the campaign from the start.

⦁ Total Automation

Programmatic gets widely recognized as a new-gen ad strategy as the software does the bulk of your work. It reduces the stress of advertisers as there are no negotiations with a human. Thus, advertisers can channel all their focus on developing the best content and strategies for their ads.

⦁ Real-Time Bid Adjustments

Programmatic Advertising involves Real-Time Bidding (RTB), which is nothing but a real-time auction between advertisers. At a time, multiple advertisers can bid on an impression. Advertisers can determine their target their valuable audience and then adjust their bidding accordingly.

Working of Programmatic Display Advertising

Before understanding the working of Programmatic, it is crucial to learn about the terminologies used in this technique by advertisers and publishers:

⦁ Real-Time Bidding (RTB):

Buying and selling of ad space online via real-time auctions that happen in milliseconds.

⦁ Demand-Side Platform (DSP):

Software that is used by advertisers to buy ads automatically. It is more of technology rather than the software. Some of the leading DSP platforms include Turn, MediaMath, Invite Media and DataXu.

⦁ Supply-Side Platform (SSP):

SSP is a technology platform used by publishers to sell advertising space automatically. It is the publisher’s equivalent of DSP. Some of the leading SSP platforms include Google, OpenX, Right Media, and PubMatic.

⦁ Data Management Platform (DMP):

A data warehouse that’s essentially a software that holds information about consumers and customers, DMP collects information primarily through cookies that get used for advertiser targeting.

⦁ Ad Exchange:

It is a digital marketplace where advertisers and publishers buy and sell ads. Leading ad exchange platforms for programmatic advertising include OpenX, The Rubicon Project, and Google.

So, how does the entire process work?

1. Publishers create ad space on their websites via SSP and connect their SSP with an ad exchange.

2. Advertisers set their target audience, cost, budget, and other necessary details with their DSP and attach it with an ad exchange.

3. A user visits a website. All the information about the user gets sent to the ad exchange.

4. If the user’s information matches an advertiser’s defined audience, he will enter the auction for RTB. If it’s programmatic direct, the ad will get served.

5. The advertiser with the highest bid will win the ad space for programmatic RTB, and his ad will get served.

6. The publisher will get paid for the ad.

Types of Programmatic Display Advertising

Depending on the advertiser’s requirement, there are two widely used Programmatic Ad techniques:

⦁ Programmatic RTB

In RTB, a real-time auction is conducted between advertisers to see who comes out on top. For example, a user is playing a game. In between the levels, an ad is displayed in front of the users to entice them. Programmatic RTB decides which ad will get shown in between these levels. The highest bidder’s ad gets displayed.

There are two things that you can test and analyze with your RTB campaign: optimization and expansion.

Programmatic RTB can get used to generate CPM (Cost per Mille), CPC (Cost per Click), CTR, Leads, and can even be beneficial for testing purposes.

⦁ Programmatic Direct (Automated Guaranteed / Programmatic Guaranteed)

What if you want to buy ad space for a week or 10k impressions on a highly relevant website? You cannot do it with GDN and programmatic RTB.

But you can do it with programmatic direct.

This method bypasses bidding and makes your ad guaranteed every time the page is loaded and successfully passes your set criterion for targeting.

Programmatic Direct gets suggested for companies looking for Engagement, Brand Awareness, and Website Visits.

Programmatic RTB Vs. Programmatic Direct

The first question that arises in an advertiser’s mind- What type of Programmatic Advertising should I invest in to gain maximum output?

For advertisers new to this technique, it gets highly recommended to run an RTB campaign because they typically have lower costs while providing you with enough data to optimize your campaign. Even Statistics show that programmatic RTB is 70% cheaper than programmatic direct.

But, if you own an established business looking for premium placements and brand safety, then you can go for programmatic direct.

In Conclusion, we’re regularly witnessing the powerful new examples of Programmatic getting paired with other marketing channels. Programmatic Marketing is on the rise – and there are competitors out there already implementing and reaping benefits from it.

If you are planning to venture into Programmatic or looking to combine it with your existing PPC and SEO campaigns, look no further than 6DegreesIT. With our high-quality Programmatic Marketing Services, we will develop an ROI-driven strategy for your ad campaign to deliver your desired outcome.

Contact us today!

STAY AHEAD OF THE CURVE – WEB DEVELOPMENT TRENDS IN 2020

The Web Development industry is an ever-expanding domain that witnesses the rise of new and exciting trends each year. Tech giants like Apple and Microsoft are pushing towards the native apps , but it does not undermine the rate at which the Web Development industry is evolving in front of our eyes.

There are countless Web Development companies worldwide, but we only hear a few names at the very top. These big fishes have successfully established their foothold in this industry because they implement the changes according to the trends in an eye’s blink.

If not followed, these trends can leave you far behind your competitors and even hinder your opportunities to attract new visitors.

Let’s have a look at the FIVE Web Development trends you must follow in 2020 to stay afloat in this competitive industry-

1. Animation in UI

Several research types have shown that the human attention span lasts for 8 seconds, which indicates that your interface must get designed to engage the visitor within the first 8 seconds. The visual experience is one of the vital factors that decide the success of your website.

Without modifying the functionalities too much, developers can add background motion graphics, attractive transitions in header and footer, modular scrolling, animated hovers, etc. Although it is time-consuming, adding animations to your UI will increase the end-user engagement and turn your website into a magnet that will keep on attracting new users.

2. Mobile Responsive Design

Previously considered a luxury feature, the Responsive Design feature has seen a rapid increase in demand and spread like a bushfire.

Mobile Users keep increasing each year, and 2020 is no different. Nobody wants to go through the ordeal of browsing on their desktop. Instead, people prefer to browse any website through their mobile phones. Therefore, including this feature automatically increases traffic on your website.

Even Google has taken notice of this feature and added:“mobile-first indexing,”which means that the ranking of your website will now depend on how well it gets optimized for mobiles.Thus, increasing the importance of having a Responsive Website.

Bootstrap is a widely preferred technology for building a mobile responsive design as it provides a host of essential components for developing effective and efficient websites.

3. Voice Search Optimization

Voice Search Optimization is another trend that cannot get ignored. Users worldwide have become accustomed and increasingly comfortable using a voice search such as Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant.

According to Google, every 2 out of 5 searches on mobile is a voice search. Thus, the Voice Search Optimization goes hand in hand with the Responsive Design feature.

As far as a Web Developer is concerned, he/she will have to work with the Web Speech API to execute Voice Search Optimization. This API includes two elements- speech recognition and speech synthesis. Speech recognition allows recognizing the voice queries, whereas Speech synthesis helps in enabling scripts to read the text content.

This trend should be your priority if you want to stay ahead of your competitors.

4. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cybersecurity

The most prized possession of a human being is Data. Nowadays, it has become alarmingly more critical to protect your data.The scale of Cyberattacks and Online frauds has risen to an unprecedented height.

The success of a web application can get judged based on its level of Data Security.Therefore, Web Developers must take all the necessary measures to make their website secure. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is an innovative technology that enhances the level of Cybersecurity . The importance of AI has gathered momentum in recent times, and many developers have started using AI-powered techniques such as biometric logins that scan fingerprints and retinas.

The rapid growth of AI cannot get neglected, and we can’t overlook its benefit for Cybersecurity.

5. Accelerated Mobile Pages (Faster Load Speed)

We have already understood the importance of having a mobile-friendly website that caters to most of the audience. If we go back to 2015, Google launched Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) project to the public, and this project has evolved and transformed into a technology of its own.

AMP technology is a trend that encourages developers to build websites that work smoothly across all mobile devices and load in a heartbeat. An AMP page’s loading time is about 2 seconds compared to 22 seconds taken by a Non-AMP page.The loading time is decreased by 20 seconds because AMP avoids unnecessary elements of the interface and only displays necessary information to the end-user. Since Google first introduced the technology, implementing it on your website will increase your website’s visibility in SERP, thus proving to be an excellent tool for Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Developers can use the AMP HTML open-source framework to include AMP technology in their websites and improve user experience.

In Conclusion, if you are an established web developer or starting your web development career from scratch, you must keep these FIVE trends in mind while developing your website in 2020.

If you are thinking about hiring a web developer to build you a fully-functional website? Look no further than 6DegreesIT. Our professional web developers will leave no stone unturned to create the best product for you, following all the aforementioned trends.

Contact us today!