Mika Apell
Founder and CIO (Chief Internationalization Officer), Evondos
Automated medicine dispensing at home can improve medication adherence, minimise errors creeping into complex medication regimens and help patients live independent lives.
Mika Apell, CIO at Evondos, has witnessed the challenge of medication management firsthand. “When I was a boy, my mother would call my granny every day and ask if she had taken her pills,” he says. “My granny didn’t like being checked up on all the time — but my mother thought, rightly, that she needed reminding.”
Medication dispensing robot supports independent living
Though that was a while ago, the issue of medication management hasn’t gone away. In fact, it’s estimated that approximately 50% of medicines are not taken as prescribed. That’s a vicious cycle because when conditions are inefficiently managed, it harms patient health and puts an extra burden on already over-stretched health systems.
“The population is ageing,” notes Apell. “So, we should find ways to care for more patients with fewer healthcare professionals.” With this in mind, Apell founded Evondos, a Finland-based healthcare technology company, which has created a medication dispensing robot for the home.
This automated tabletop service — once plugged in — reminds patients when it is time to take their tablets and delivers their medicine to them with clear, spoken instructions. If medication is missed, the robot stores it in a locked chamber, which can only be accessed by care staff. The device can help people with complex medication needs live independently in their own homes.
Automated dispensing would give carers
more time to deliver real, human care.
Improving medication management and preventing error
The technology is currently being used by over 600 home care organisations in the Nordic countries and the Netherlands. Plans are underway to introduce it into the UK market. To date, Apell says it has dispensed more than 30 million medical doses with a 99% adherence rate.
Yet, Apell stresses that automation does not simply improve medication management. It can prevent errors from creeping into sometimes complex medication regimens, too. “If a caregiver is giving patients 10 different pills in 10 different packages, the probability for error is high,” he says. “Automation can make a real impact by preventing human error.”
Freeing carers for human interaction
Plus, he believes it can improve the lives of carers. “I remember my grandmother’s nurses being so busy sorting out her pills that they always didn’t have time to stop and talk to her,” says Apell. “Automated dispensing would give carers more time to deliver real, human care to the people who need it most.”
