The pilot will start out with a small trial and will graduate to a larger trial based on chronic disease control medications, diabetes, cholesterol, and high blood
pressure. Some of the comments in the article stated the messages were annoying but some didn’t mind.
The results will be interesting to see as the entire success relies on making it simple without being disruptive. The bottles also are wirelessly connected to the pharmacy too so there’s a touch of monitoring here as far as access, etc. and it will do auto refill processes as well. You can read my post with more details at the link below.
Express Scripts currently has 4 billion on hand with cash reserves so and wrapped up its $4.67 billion purchase of WellPoint Inc.’s NextRx pharmacy subsidiary, so the bottles should be free as pharmacy benefit managers are making huge profits. BD
The Pill Bottle That Talks To Your Cell Phone, Creates Data Reports and More…
Express Scripts Inc., the big St. Louis pharmacy-benefit manager, is about to test an electronic pill container that issues a series of increasingly insistent reminders, in a national study among patient members.
The container—actually a high-tech top for a standard pill bottle called a "GlowCap"—is equipped with a wireless transmitter that plugs into the wall. When it is time for a dose of medicine, the GlowCap emits a pulsing orange light; after an hour, the gadget starts beeping every five minutes, in arpeggios that become more complicated and insistent. After that, the device can set off an automated telephone or text message reminder to patients who fail to take their pills. It also can generate email or letters reporting to a family member or doctor how often the medication is taken.
In about a month, Express Scripts will start a small test of the GlowCap, made by Vitality Inc., a Cambridge, Mass., maker of high-tech health packaging. Express plans a larger trial focused on drugs for cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart failure this summer.
Patients using the GlowCap get reminder calls only if they opt to do so. They can opt out of having doctors and family members receive email updates. One issue the study will address is whether the device raises patients' privacy concerns, Dr. Nease says. Dr. Nease declined to comment on the study's cost or size. Participants won't have to pay for the devices, which sell online for around $100.
Express Scripts to Test Electronic Pill Container - WSJ.com
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