SIMpill solution for missed drug doses

A GP in South Africa who runs an SMS appointment reminder service, has gone one better and unveiled a pill bottle that sends text messages to patients or carers if the owner forgets to take their drugs on time.

SIMpill (right) consists of a bottle with a battery, SIM card, transmitter and chip set that enables it to behave like a mobile phone. A message with a unique ID is sent whenever the bottle is opened or closed, and if it is not received by a central server in a given time slot, a warning message is sent out.

Dr David Green, inventor and head of SMS healthcare company On-Cue, said that sending notification messages only when something was wrong was far preferable to continual reminders. "People get message fatigue in the long run. The people who need a reminder start ignoring and getting used to the text messages," he told E-Health Insider. "We send SMSs only at the time when they're needed."

There are three levels of notification, explained Dr Green. If a first dose is missed or taken at the wrong time, a message is sent to the patient. A second, and a non-clinical carer, such as a relative or friend, is told. A third message is sent to the patient's GP or care-giver if the pills continue to be taken incorrectly.

Dr Green says that although the system may not be suitable for everybody, it can be very useful for those on long-term medication, or those for whom missing a pill can result in serious medical consequences; such as sufferers of schizophrenia or epileptics.

"We advocate to our clinicians to identify the patient who would benefit most. We have one health insurer which, in total, looks after 11,000 epileptics. 350 of them are using it."

The SIMpill costs 1,800 Rand (£160) per year to run; however, Dr Green stresses that the system can deliver significant cost benefits. If somebody who suffered from epilepsy were to forget to take a pill, in South Africa their hospital treatment would cost them at least 7,000 Rand (£620).

"Current compliance monitoring systems only alert caregivers to non-compliance after the fact," explained Dr Green. "With SIMpill, we are able to alert necessary parties to non-compliance as it happens, thereby enabling real time support and care for patients when they need it," says Dr Green.

The system, which was developed in partnership with Telleumat Communications, a South African information technology and telephony company, will be on general sale next month.

SIMpill