Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/316458
release from MTS, Orlando, FL, the supplier of the blister cards, the results showed that patients' confidence in taking their medications increased from 7 percent to 93 percent when using the company's RxMap blister cards. Additionally, 36 percent of patients credited the blister card for playing a role in improving clinical results and helping reduce visits to the emergency room and hospitalizations. In February, MeadWestvaco offered a new version of its blister-based adherence packaging, Dosepak Express, that includes its Optilock technology. According to the company, the annual cost of nonadherence in the USA is estimated to be $317 billion and $125 billion in the European Union. Most compliance packaging involves blisters, but there are also innovative bottle-based platforms. One is GlowCaps from Vitality, Cambridge, MA. Its device replaces the cap of prescription vials. When its time to take a medication, the special cap flashes and plays an audible signal. Separate wireless units can be plugged in to electrical outlets in other rooms to expand notification coverage. Furthermore, the unit will telephone the patient and/or contact other people if the medication is not taken within 2 hours of the original notification. It also generates reports. GlowCaps is intended to manage only one bottle and one medication, but other container- based systems, such as Med-Time XL from E-pill, Wellesley, MA, incorporate pockets for multiple medica- tions. At the proper time, a pocket opens and a tone is emitted. These types of unit are not very portable or con- venient for travel, but they do alert the patient, notify the 12 May 2014 Tablets & Capsules Example of an RxMap blister card from MTS. The cards were used in a study by Prof. Sharrel Pinto, University of Toledo, that compared patient confidence in self-administering their medications using the card versus using self-organized vials, boxes, and pouches. According to MeadWestvaco, which introduced its Dosepak Express with Optilock package in February, non-adherence in the USA is estimated to cost $317 billion and $125 billion in the European Union per year. Bottles from AdhereTech, New York, NY, automatically measure how many tablets or capsules a patient takes and when they're taken. If a dose is missed, the bottle reminds the patient by placing a telephone call or sending a text message. physician of the level of adherence, and automatically reorder the prescription. More convenient is Pillbacker, which MedeStat of Cyprus, TX, is developing. It com- prises a compact tablet/capsule organizer case that fits most smartphones and comes with a reminder app tai- lored to the Pillbacker compartments, each numbered for easy identification of the medications. Another bottle-based approach is available from AdhereTech, New York, NY. These bottles automatically measure how many tablets or capsules a patient takes and when they're taken. If a dose is missed, the AdhereTech bottle reminds the patient by placing a telephone call or sending a text message. The bottle also lights up and sounds a chime. AdhereTech's device is in a clinical trial Pillbacker from MedeStat includes a tablet/capsule organizer that fits most smartphones and comes with a reminder app. c-Bauerart_8-13_Masters 5/14/14 10:13 AM Page 12