Name: Evan Fischell
Location: Battle Creek, Michigan
Company: Maven Medical
Why did you start coding?
I’ve always been interested in technology since I was four years old. It was just a hobby until I started working on programming as a career three years ago during a year off from college. I got a job as an intern at a packaging company in Battle Creek, Michigan. At some point my boss found out that I had some experience programming, so he started having me look at some of the company’s industrial software. I found that I really enjoyed improving and rewriting all of the software. By the end of the summer, software development had become most of my job.
What are you currently working on?
Currently I am working at a startup company called Maven which aims to improve healthcare by providing cost transparency to physicians as well as support for evidence-based medicine.
Often, because doctors do not know the costs of procedures they order, expensive procedures are ordered when less expensive but equally effective options are available. By providing cost transparency, Maven can help doctors order procedures which provide the best care at a reasonable cost.
My work involves building an infrastructure for creating rules which alert doctors using our technology when their actions fail to follow these proven guidelines, and suggest they instead perform the scientifically recommended actions.
Where do you see the industry going in the next 10 years?
For the specific field that I work in, I anticipate major changes over the next 10 years. Specifically, support for evidence-based medicine will inevitably grow. In that world, software applications will perform an increasing amount of medical decision making.
As far as the industry as a whole goes, I think seamless integration of technology is the future. We will increasingly see intelligent algorithms which anticipate people’s needs and perform actions automatically. Rather than having technology more visible in our lives, I expect that it will become increasingly subtle.
