According to recent numbers, 50% of all Americans are prescribed approximately one pill per day. That’s a lot of people, a lot of pills, and undoubtedly many, many missed doses. These days, remembering to take your pills is often even more difficult than getting them, especially for senior citizens.
Massachusetts-based Vitality, Inc. has come up with what it contends will be a solution to the billion-dollar prescription adherence problem, and at the end of last week finally announced the product’s availability. These GlowCaps, intelligent pill caps that use an Internet connection to help remind patients to take medications on time, have appeared everywhere from the 2009 CES show to “Today” and CNN, but were still unavailable for purchase until late last week. The caps work on a four-level plan and utilize both personal and social approaches to connect with users. When it is time to take a pill, the caps flash, play a ring-tone, and even call the patient’s home phone to get his/her attention. They also send a weekly email update to a friend or family member selected by the patient to keep him/her on schedule; call with refill reminders and connect the patient with the pharmacy as supply dwindles; and even send the patient and doctor a printed monthly adherence report with incentives for compliance.
Best of all? Glowcaps supposedly fit on prescription bottles from Walgreen’s and other retail pharmacies, and require only a simple and easy installation (perfect for senior citizens). Patient compliance at all levels has been cited as one (of many!) cost concerns regarding modern healthcare, so as we have noted in earlier entries, any device that enables increased patient engagement and adherence is a welcome one.
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