Earlier this year, a company called PillDrill launched an RFID-enabled pill-dispensing system designed to help patients manage their medications and monitor their well-being. The solution, also known as PillDrill, is based around a device called a Hub, which contains a built-in RFID reader. Users can attach passive RFID tags to pill bottles, pill packs and other types of medicine containers. The company also offers an RFID-enabled weekly pill organizer consisting of seven removable pill containers (pods), each with its own RFID tag attached to its base.
Once a person’s medication schedule is programmed into the PillDrill website, the Hub flashes a light and emits a tone whenever it is time for a user to take his or her pills, and its large LCD screen displays precise dosage information. To indicate that the dosage has been taken, the patient waves the appropriate pill container over the Hub.
This information is forwarded to the PillDrill server via a Wi-Fi-based internet connection, enabling loved ones or caretakers to receive notifications through a smartphone app, in order to help ensure drug compliance. The PillDrill app, compatible with Apple iPhones and iPads, can be downloaded at the iTunes website (a version for Android smartphones is currently in the works). Alternatively, caretakers can receive notifications via SMS text messages and e-mail.
Also part of the system is the Mood Cube, which is printed with the images of five faces, each depicting a different emotional state, to correspond with a user’s current frame of mind or pain level: Great, Good, OK, Bad and Awful. A patient merely swipes the applicable face to register his or her current mood. This helps users and their caretakers to understand how medications are affecting them, by tracking patterns over time and correlating how they feel with what they’re taking.
Explaining what inspired him to create the PillDrill system, Peter Havas, the company’s founder and CEO, says his goal was “staying connected with my octogenarian parents on the other side of the world (Australia) and having peace of mind knowing that they are taking their important medication.” The company cites a review of scientific literature showing that poor medication adherence causes 10 percent of hospital admissions annually in the United States, and costs more than $100 billion in avoidable health-care spending.
“We chose RFID technology because it is simple in application and well tested over many years,” Havas adds. “Our internal team had good RFID expertise, and we did not need to hire an external consultant. We conducted multiple rounds of testing over many months to ensure that the system would work as designed.”
Since its commercial release in April 2016, the PillDrill has received a positive reception from consumers. “In addition to general praise from users, we have received many helpful suggestions,” Havas states. “Fortunately, the thoroughness of our initial design phase has meant that the current version of the product still has a very good lifespan.”
The company’s website sells a complete PillDrill kit, consisting of the PillDrill Hub, 12 RFID tags, two weekly pill organizers (one for mornings, the other for evenings) and a Mood Cube, for $199. Currently, the PillDrill kit can be purchased only at the company’s website, but it is expected to be made available at the website of pharmaceutical retailer CVS by early 2017.