Hundreds of thousands of working days saved in the Nordics – ten million medicine doses delivered with medicine dispensing robots

Welfare technology at the forefront - Evondos medicine dispensing robots have distributed ten million doses of medicine in the Nordic region. More and more municipalities choose to introduce medicine robots for clients' in-home care. They become more independent and medicine management gets safer, while at the same time allowing homecare organizations to allocate their resources better. Now Evondos, the company behind the service, has reached a milestone of ten million medicine doses distributed. Of these, 200 000 have been distributed in Umeå, Sweden. 

- It's about supporting people so that they can take their own medicines for as long as possible. We see that the majority of our patients are very satisfied, says Mia Tegström, Head of Home Care in Umeå.

Evondos was founded in Finland in 2007 by entrepreneur Mika Apell. He got the idea when he thought about his childhood visits to his grandmother in eastern Finland and noticed how stressed the nurses were when they came and would distribute the medicine several times a day. Apell thought that medicine dispensing maybe could be automated and therefore also increase medicine safety, and along with this create more time for the healthcare professionals to be present and have conversations with their patients.

Since then, Evondos has expanded rapidly throughout the Nordic region and recently reached an important milestone – the robots have delivered 10 million doses.

- It's fantastic! Behind every single one of those ten million doses of medicine, there are people who enjoy greater independence and an easier everyday life. As well as safer medicine management. A recent study showed how the service resulted in a 20% reduction in the number of quick visits but the total time spent with the clients did not decrease to the same extent.* This shows that the staff can, with the help of Evondos, extend other visits to the clients. Each dose also means a routine trip less for the staff, who can plan their working days better and set aside more time for human care. This makes their work more meaningful," says Eetu Koski, Ceo of Evondos.

Each visit to dispense medicine is estimated to take about 15 minutes, meaning that the ten million doses of medicine distributed by the robots, without the involvement of a nurse, have saved up to three hundred thousand working days, without considering the travel time.

- Our medicine-dispensing robots have become an important part of the digitalization of healthcare. We are proud of what we have achieved and are pleased with all the positive feedback we receive from both customers and patients. In addition, we reduce the climate impact when we reduce the number of car journeys – this creates positive effects on many levels, says Eetu Koski.

In addition to fewer trips to patients to distribute medicine, the robots also reduce the stress of the staff. This is an important factor for employees, but also for the future.

- We have an ageing population in the Nordic region, which means an increased need for recruitment in healthcare. By improving the working environment of healthcare professionals and making the job more meaningful and less stressful, we hope to increase the attractiveness of the care professions, says Eetu Koski.

In Umeå municipality, Evondos has been used in home care since 2018. Drug robots have become a part of everyday life, handing out 200,000 doses of medicine so far.

We implement digital tools to be able to meet the future. Here in Umeå, we will have significantly more elderly people in the near future, while at the same time, we will not be able to work more in healthcare. This is a gap and this means that we need to change the way we work," says Mia Tegström, Head of Unit in home hare in Umeå Municipality.

For more information or interviews, please contact:
Eetu.koski@evondos.com

Evondos offers services for patient-safe medicine management in home care. Using a medicine dispensing robot in the home enables a more independent life for the patient while helping them to take the medicine at the right time and at the right dose. Evondos was founded in Finland and has subsidiaries in Sweden, Norway and Denmark and sales in Iceland.

Read the study here.