Patient adherence to medication regimens can mean the difference between complete recovery and living with lingering poor health and additional complications related to the original condition. We’ve written about smart pillboxes and pill packs designed to help with prescription adherence via patient reminders and monitoring reports sent to a patient’s care team.
Intent Solutions‘ latest release of its Tad medication dispensing system will use the Internet of Things (IoT) technology via AT&T LTE-M low-power wide-area cellular networks for realtime adherence monitoring. Previous versions of the Tad system connect with a tablet or smartphone via Bluetooth wireless. The mobile device transmits the data via the Internet and a home Wi-Fi connection. The problem with this is that if the patient doesn’t have a suitable mobile device, the data from the Tad dispenser can be collected when the prescription is refilled at a pharmacy but this eliminates the real-time reminders or monitoring.
The new Tad systems with LTE-M connectivity solves this problem by connecting wirelessly without the need for a separate mobile device in the home. It can report to care team portals directly, “out-of-the-box,” without connecting to patient devices via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.
IoT connectivity via LTE-M has many potential applications in health care and other applications with its low-power demands and long battery life. Initial applications of the Tad LTE-M system will focus on patients with illnesses and conditions for which prescription adherence is most crucial for recovery.
