The problem was seen as a pill management deficiency and innovation responded with pill boxes of different sizes and shapes, some with electronic features and many with timing methods. Most of this effort resulted in very cumbersome activity of moving pills into various compartments within a device. Pre pouring, which is not an acceptable practice unless done by a professional with the appropriate labelling of containers, is used in the process of filling a pill box. There are many errors made and for this reason pill boxes have not been accelerated to an appropriate solution in institutional care. There exists a disconnect between professionals and pill box users, in that, claims of correct usage cannot be verified. Doctors and consumers are left to resort to the guessing game with lethal consequences in some instances.
Then there are the dispensing machines and automatic dispensers that have become more common in usage today. These too have their share of challenges because of moving parts and other issues relating to identification of medication that are moved from the original prescribed containers. There are many creations and you can see them by searching the internet. Here again,none have accelerated to being the ideal solution and the problem of avoidable cost continues to rise with no rational solution being presented to healthcare professionals until now. Investors claim that they are tired of hearing stories of just another pillbox or dispensing machine.
But what if the problem could be approached differently? Afterall, consumers just need to know when to pick up a medication container and take the required dose and to do this for any number and types of containers simultaneously. If they can be taught and easily research their condition and drug at point of use with the medication container in hand would open new doors of learning, understanding and communication.
The automatic logging of each action will be a major benefit and instructions via a display at point of usage will eliminate many errors.
Notification needs to be powerful and persistent and communicated wirelessly when beneficial.
When medication is not working as expected, doctors and clinicians should be able to remotely change a medication schedule or make other adjustments by having access to realtime medication usage data for each medication along with vital sign numbers.
There must be a way to allow for the independent use by the sight and hearing impaired since this would boost confidence. The solution needs to address all these concerns because of the critical nature of many drugs. Out of these needs, Ownum and Pharos emerged.
Pharos is a paradigm shift from the focus on pill dispensing to the management of any type of medication in most containers. It is neither a pillbox nor a dispensing machine or the more popular smart dispensers. Pharos presents new thinking by eliminating the moving of medication from the original container and keeping them where they legally belong then managing the containers. To do this we had to enable a container to give a significant notable and persistent alert until the container was picked up. For future products, we have created a method to identify each container and create 3-way communication with the container, the patient and the doctor, and a way to determine the identity of the individual who picked up the container. The process allows a doctor to remotely schedule when a container must be picked up and also helps the doctor to determine adherence.
Achieving these goals would be especially beneficial in the institutional care environment where pill boxes and dispensers are not generally permitted. However medication can always be used from their original container while in institutional care settings. Pharos will lead the efforts in this challenge.
Pharos is one of a line of solutions that focuses on managing medication while keeping them in the legal safety of the original prescribed containers. There are numerous additional benefits that will become apparent as we evolve including the ability to track an authentic container from manufacturer to consumer via a retailer. We can then instruct with direct notice to each of many containers and make remote adjustments to dosing schedules.
