Building a Mobile App for Healthcare

The Challenge

Formed by the merger of two regional systems, Ballad Health is a multi-state health system serving parts of Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, and Kentucky. The organization operates 21 hospitals along with long-term care and outpatient facilities.

Patients across the system relied on MyChart for health information but faced barriers completing other essential tasks such as scheduling appointments or paying bills without logging in. Ballad Health wanted a unified mobile experience that simplified how patients could find information, manage care, and complete everyday actions.

Modea partnered with Ballad Health to design and build a mobile app that would extend the value of their existing Epic MyChart infrastructure while offering a modern, branded, and easy-to-use experience owned entirely by Ballad Health.

Our Approach

Product Strategy

Modea conducted extensive discovery and competitive research to understand what healthcare consumers expect from a mobile experience. The team evaluated MyChart’s capabilities alongside digital leaders from outside the healthcare space, such as CitiBank and American Express, to identify usability and design best practices.

From this research, Modea identified four core principles for successful healthcare apps:

Simplified pathways that minimize screen navigation
Streamlined, branded appearance aligned with the health system’s identity
Strong hierarchy of information with prioritized access to key tools
Clear, consistent calls-to-action for confident user engagement

3-Essential-Tips_Ballad-Health_Modea_Multiple-Phone-Mockup

Patient-Focused App Design

Building on these insights, Modea designed an experience that integrates MyChart functionality while providing a seamless, mobile-first interface that Ballad Health fully owns and controls. The app enables patients to:

Request or manage appointments
Message members of their care team
Find a doctor within the Ballad Health network
View and refill prescriptions
Pay or estimate bills
Access test results, immunizations, and other health records

The design allows Ballad Health to evolve with user needs, giving them the flexibility to add new tools over time and maintain full control of their digital ecosystem.

Mobile App Development

Modea’s engineering team built the app using Ionic, allowing one shared codebase for both iOS and Android platforms. Angular was used to ensure stability, scalability, and easier long-term maintenance. The app integrates Phynd data to power the provider directory and supports Epic MyChart integration for secure, native access to clinical features.

This approach produced a mobile experience that is visually unified across platforms, easier to maintain, and flexible enough to support future enhancements while preserving the reliability of Epic’s core functionality.

Solution

The Ballad Health mobile app provides a cohesive, branded experience that unifies clinical and consumer needs. It allows patients to complete essential healthcare tasks quickly and intuitively, while giving the health system a modern, extensible platform that can evolve with patient expectations.

By combining the strength of Epic’s MyChart capabilities with Modea’s design and engineering expertise, Ballad Health now offers a digital experience that delivers convenience, connection, and control directly into patients’ hands.

Results

The new mobile experience brought core actions to the forefront and simplified navigation for patients. Users can easily engage with the features they use most—leading to higher adoption, increased interaction, and stronger digital engagement across the health system.

Accessibility Compliance

We maintained accessibility standards throughout the design and development process. The product was built to meet the latest WCAG AA compliance standards, and we conduct ongoing accessibility audits and testing across all devices and user flows.

Technologies Used

Awards Won

W3 Awards: Best User Experience, Best User Interface
Digital Health Awards

Key Takeaways

Ballad Health’s mobile transformation demonstrates how health systems can expand Epic’s value through strategic design and engineering. By delivering a flexible, mobile-first experience rooted in patient needs, Modea helped Ballad Health create a future-ready platform that supports care access, engagement, and ongoing digital innovation.