Pushing Pills

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Let me see.  Was that one blue one and two red ones and one each of the white ones?  And which ones do I take in the morning and which ones at night?

Does that sound like you?   Don’t worry! You are not alone.  There are tons of us out there, stymied by our pharmaceutical regimens. The real problem is should we fail to take the right drugs at the right time, we are doing no one any good.  Because we need the right titer of medicine within our bodies to get the desired results.

The data indicate, that given six months after we visit our practitioners, only 1/2 of us are taking the right drugs and as prescribed.   So, it should not be surprising that Medicare is offering financial compensation to insurance companies and pharmacies to cajole us (the patients) into compliance.

That is why CVS (one of the larger pharmacies in the US) is testing an analytics platform (developed by RxAnte, Inc) that claims to predict which of us are likely to “go off the reservation”, in other words which of us do not take the drugs as prescribed.  That way CVS does not have to waste its resources to convince those that ARE taking their drugs to do so- just on the ones that are probably missing their stipulated dosages.

Other companies are offering incentives (folks have already decided that there is no ethical issue against doing this) , like the Blue Cross Insurance groups, providing gift cards) for those patients who maintain compliance.  Even an HIV clinic in New Jersey is “paying” poor folks to stay on their drug regimens.

Which is also why there are lots of companies out there figuring out how they can remind us to take our pills at the right time.  Companies like AdhereTech, which is developing a bottle that will change color when you need to take your pill(s).  And, the bottle will even flash red, if you missed the dosage entirely.

Another concept is to insure that patients do not take medicines beyond their expiration dates.  To that end, IDEO is working on a pill bottle that becomes all splotchy (black dots) when the medicine has expired.

One of the more radical approaches is being promoted by Proteus Digital Health.  It’s concept involves implanted sensors into a patient’s pills- to obtain real time information as to compliance.  The sensor (now within the pill) transmit information to a “band aid” the subject wears, which (acting as a bluetooth antenna) then transmits the data to a mobile app. Given patient permission, practitioners and others can access the app to determine compliance.

Obviously, these are problems that will need further thought.  Especially, if we are dealing with a patient who is already suffering from Alzheimer’s.

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15 thoughts on “Pushing Pills”

    1. I’m with you on this, Shawn. I am terrified to know that folks are not taking all their pills- or at the right time- but I am not sure I want a phone call to “remind” me every hour….
      Thanks for the comment.

  1. I am in total agreement that we need help in regards to taking our meds when we should, but that sensor implanted into the pills sounds like something out of a scary sci-fi film. That seems a little too far out for me. And what about the cost of these ideas? Our pills are already costing far too much money.

    1. I am not sure- if the health care provider provides the service- that there will be additional cost. They will be doing it to insure we are compliant, which presumably will lower our overall health costs.
      Regarding the pill “improvements”- I have no idea, Suerae.

  2. This is beyond belief. I would feel totally invaded. Might as well rape me while they are at it. I put all my sister’s medicine in a box once a week and I give it to her. She had a tendency to think she hadn’t taken it after a nap and retake it. I tried to tell that to her for years, but she didn’t “get” it until she asked for her meds while in rehab after a triple bypass. The idea of something inside the pill is terrible.
    Ann Mullen recently posted..Senior Care: 8 Tips on Safe Driving for Seniors and Others

    1. OK, Ann. As I wrote to a few others, I am less than pleased to get these “reminders”. But, what would happen if you were not there for your sister??? She could overdose! Is that more satisfactory?
      Your sister is among the prime targets for these improvements, not you or me. (OK- at least, not yet!)

  3. Wow…. meds with sensors implanted in them? I guess that makes for an interesting study. Not taking meds as prescribed (my daughter and mom) drives me crazy. My autistic son, though, he’s like clockwork every morning and eve.

  4. There are selections of people I think would benefit from this technology, your Alzheimer’s patients, some on anti-psychotics, and so on…but I’m against the idea that every adult needs a babysitter. What you take for drugs is a responsibility that if you ask for help you should receive it, but it doesn’t matter if someone calls you every hour to remind you if you don’t want to comply you aren’t going to.
    Lisa recently posted..Novae Prime by Lisa Brandel

  5. Well, this is an important point. I was thinking of getting a nurse everyday to make sure that my grandfather get his meds. If they can find something to help, then great!
    MuMuGB recently posted..French Denial

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