The Meds Babysitter

If you're anything like me, you hate taking medicines.  Administering medications can be tricky; so with the Med-eMonitor System, physicians can monitor to ensure patients with high-risk of stroke are properly taking their meds.  InforMedix is sponsoring the pilot program at the University of Pennsylvania.Here's how it works:

The Med-eMonitor™ System is a combined medication and care plan adherence solution. The System comprises a portable patient interface device and automated data upload and download capability using a cradle connected to the patient's phone line. The device is programmed remotely via the Internet. Patient medication compliance, health status, quality of life and physiologic data are accessible daily via a secure, customer-specific Internet site. The System provides Health Care Providers secure access through a role-based security system.

The Med-eMonitor Device sounds a chime, which prompts patients/members to take medication, contains the medication and automatically tracks patient adherence, eliminating the need for hand written diaries. This fully integrated system conveniently combines these features with an easy-to-read display screen. The system reminds, educates, monitors and reports on up to 25 medications per patient. The five most critical medications are physically held in the device storage compartments, which are sensored, allowing for a time and date stamp when medications are accessed. Twenty additional medications, outside of the device, can be managed via a "Virtual Compartment" feature. This feature also allows for prompting, education and monitoring for non-oral forms of medication.

In addition, a series of queries may follow at any pre-selected interval following the taking of the medication, requesting facts about the occurrence of possible adverse events, or relevant physiologic measures. The patient may be prompted to assess how they are feeling or doing at a given time during that specific day. Data may be input via full-scale visual analogue scales that enable easy entry of numeric values such as glucose levels, systolic and diastolic blood pressure values, pain levels, etc.

Med-eMonitor System Press Release and Product Page [via MedGadget]