At Evondos, a software developer can have an impact through their own technical field of interest and improve the lives of municipal home care customers

Back in the early 2000s, automation technology and robotics student Juha Koistinen was already fascinated by robotics. He hoped to one day be able to work with the technology. Early on, however, his IT career took him in a slightly different direction, on a journey from telco and developing mobile networks to the field of health tech.

Now, after a few bends in the road, Juha works in a job where robotics adds a little spice, and he gets to use all the experience he has gained throughout his career to date. Indeed, Evondos offers a wide range of roles for software professionals in areas including IoT, robotics, cloud services and server development. What’s more, Juha and his team don’t just work on any old software – their work has a significant goal.

A solution that helps local authorities’ home care customers live an independent life in their own homes

Juha joined our team in December 2020, taking the role of Senior Software Engineering Manager. This career choice was driven by a desire to move from a large company to a smaller, Finnish growth company offering good possibilities to make a difference and have an impact, and where he could work on something significant.

Evondos offers local authorities an inclusive service centred around a medication dispensing robot. The primary end user of the service is a home care customer – typically an elderly person who wants to be able to continue living independently in their own home.

“A growing trend in the health tech industry is to not think purely about cost savings, but how our service can fulfil a need or needs of the end user and have a positive effect on their lives.”

“In our work, we spend a good amount of time thinking about the end user’s emotional wellbeing, as well as their physical wellbeing. Within that is a person’s feeling of being independent, which our service can increase. A growing trend in the health tech industry is to not think purely about cost savings, but how our service can fulfil a need or needs of the end user and have a positive effect on their lives.” Juha explains.

The population is aging, and another clear trend within the care industry is a continuing shortage of staff. Carers cannot be everywhere at once. Given this, an automated medication dispenser eases the workload of care staff and frees time for other tasks.

“We also think about how the flow of carers’ work could be improved using technology, so that they have more time to actually interact with the customer,” Juha continues.

Software development for medication dispenser robots and the remote care system

So, Evondos provides a service for local health authorities’ home care customers, in the form of automated medication dispensing. We also help authorities think about which customers benefit from the service, and how they can help customers learn to use the service. The most visible part of the service is the dispenser in the customer’s home – it gives the customer the medication they need at the right time.

From a software developer’s perspective, the solution consists of two parts: the dispensing robot and the remote care system. Developers develop software for both the robot and the remote care system, which enables carers to remotely monitor how things are going at home. The remote care system allows communication both ways and alerts of possible problems, such as medication not being taken.

“The medication dispensing robot and remote care system communicate with each other and relay information in both directions. The robot is mostly used by the home care customer, but also routinely by the carer as they refill medications or carry out other routine care tasks,” Juha explains. “Carers use the remote care system mostly via a web portal, but a mobile device app (with more limited functionality) is also available. The end user’s relatives can also be given access to the remote care system.”

Possibility to focus on what interests you, within the context of a significant development project

Juha says that his work is also inspiring because the team are continually working to develop the service further, including thinking about the possibilities of incorporating modern technology such as artificial intelligence. “I hoped that by changing jobs, I would get more freedom and possibilities to make a difference. That happened when I moved to Evondos. At first, in my eagerness I was bringing too many development projects to the table, and I had to learn to find the right balance and suitable number of themes to work on,” Juha laughs.

According to Juha, the importance and the quality of his work are at the forefront of what he does. This isn’t just some software – the conversations at work often revolve around how what they do affects the health of the end user, and any possible risks associated with it. This, he says, is what gives his work meaning.

“In my work the responsibility, freedom and possibility to make a difference ensure that you learn what it really means to develop medication devices and their associated software.”

“In my work the responsibility, freedom and possibility to make a difference ensure that you learn what it really means to develop medication devices and their associated software,” Juha explains. “The work is also an interesting mix; it involves hardware-based development, with robotics and the world of IoT, but I also get to work widely with the cloud and server development side. I’ve often thought that if someone is interested in both sides, this is a great place to work.”

“Placing value on one’s work is, of course, subjective. But for me, the most important thing in my work is the thought that a home care customer can live an independent life at home,” Juha summarises. “They can take their medication themselves when it comes from the dispenser. The carer’s time doesn’t go into handling medications; instead, the carer can perhaps sit down with a cup of coffee and connect with the customer.”