Case study
Kollega: consultations between doctors, in minutes
Employee #1 at Panacea. An app that brought quick peer consultations to half of Finland’s licensed doctors, and then to Sweden.
- Year
- 2021
- Role
- Senior Software Architect & Partner
- Client
- Panacea
- Stack
- React Native, TypeScript, Node.js, Next.js, Kafka, PostgreSQL, AWS, Terraform
Context
Kollega is an app that enables and encourages speedy consultations between licensed doctors: a GP asking a dermatologist a quick question with a photo attached, instead of a referral that takes weeks. I joined Panacea as employee #1 and partner, and worked as senior software architect for two years.
What we built
- The product itself: React Native on mobile, Node.js and TypeScript services, Next.js on the web, Kafka for the event flow, PostgreSQL underneath, all on AWS with Terraform.
- Image recognition for consultations, using AI to help route and support cases.
- The kind of cross‑field consultations that simply hadn’t existed before, and that, in some cases, literally saved lives.
Growth
Kollega reached 11,000+ licensed doctors and dentists in Finland, roughly half of the profession. I was then in charge of opening the Swedish market, which grew to 4,100+ registered doctors.
Joakim excels in getting things done quickly. He has a solid toolkit for making great product decisions, including quick prototyping and A/B testing. He gets excited about new technologies and that excitement is contagious!
Jari Aarniala, CTO, Panacea