New Device Deals with Medication Adherence Issues

Amid all the glitter of the high tech products being shown at CES this week, TabSafe is quietly promoting its new health IT product: a medication management system. The device is programmed to monitor and distribute needed medications, reducing the chance of an overdose.

The device is Web-accessible so family, caregivers and medical personnel have access to a patient's activities through a regularly updated Website. Caregivers can check on prescriptions, refill prescriptions and view all the metrics about the patient for that day.

"Medication mismanagement is costly, dangerous and deadly. In my 30 years as an emergency physician, I've seen thousands of people admitted to the hospital and put into assisted living because they couldn't manage their medications," TabSafe CEO Stephen L. Axelrod said in a statement. "We want to keep people safer, at home longer, and living more independently while giving families peace of mind and saving them money at the same time."

According to the Indianapolis-based TabSafe, incorrect usage of medications accounts for 10 percent of all hospital admissions and more than 23 percent of all new resident admissions to assisted living, independent care, nursing home and skilled nursing facilities are a direct result of not being able to take medication properly.

The TabSafe device securely stores and dispenses all the medication prescribed for a patient and the times scheduled for the medication. TabSafe field-tested devices have successfully delivered more than 10 million pills over the last six years for residents in assisted living communities.

"TabSafe provides significant benefits throughout the medication process. But unquestionably, the most important single benefit it creates is greater independence," Axelrod said. "We want to help keep people at home longer so they can have a higher quality of life and save their families the expense of putting someone into assisted living."