Markets Served 

Improve Medication Adherence

In both the telemedicine market and the medication adherence market, there is a need to understand and track how medication is taken at home in order to understand and improve medication adherence.  Current solutions rely on the medication user to self-report when and how they take their medication.  As the number of medications and supplements a person takes increases, it becomes difficult to remember what was taken when and communicating medication habits with doctors and pharmacists becomes overwhelming.   Even when medication reminder apps are used, the self-reported time when the medication was actually taken may not be accurate, and as has been observed in Relay Medical’s own user studies, many seniors and people with declining health find it difficult to use complicated technology solutions.  The use of the Pharmatrac Medication device on the other hand, is seamless.  Medication users need only to cluster their medication in the device instead of in their hand and take it as usual. The Pharmatrac Medication device solves the problem of the unreliability of self-reported medication use by automatically recording and reporting what medications are taken and when they are taken.

When connected to telemedicine solutions, doctors are automatically informed of how the patient has adhered to the protocol, so they can immediately diagnose an adherence problem and recommend solutions.  Patients will no longer need to collect their medication and discuss with the doctor one by one, the doctor will already have the information to provide data driven care.

When connected through adherence apps, the medication users and their caregivers will be able to view the consumption habits and easily share the information with their doctors.  The pill counter data will be used with pharmacy-connected apps to automatically refill a prescription when the medication has run out, instead of when the pharmacy thinks it should be refilled, leading to less waste and buildup of medication.

Telemedicine Market

It is expected that global telemedicine services will be in heightened demand amid the Coronavirus outbreak and through its aftereffects. In response to the crisis, an emergency healthcare bill in the U.S. was passed on March 4, 2020 increasing Medicare coverage for telemedicine to seniors, vastly expanding the coverage to patient care in their homes.  This is expected to increase spending on telehealth by $500 million(1).

In 2018, the telemedicine market size was valued at US $31.46 billion globally, and it is expected to reach US$108.08 billion by 2025(2). This growth will be driven by advances in technology, demand for better healthcare in rural areas and the increased prevalence of chronic diseases.

Medication Adherence Market

Medication non-adherence is a world-wide problem that costs payers and healthcare systems billions of dollars annually and puts consumers at significant risk.  In the United States, around 50% of all prescriptions filled are taken incorrectly.  “Incorrectly” is defined as incorrect timing, dosage, frequency or duration(3). Annual costs of non-optimal medication use are estimated to be US$528.4 billion in the US (4).

In 2016, the global market for medication adherence was nearly $1.7 billion, and it is expected to grow to over $3.9 billion by 2021.  The market consists of both hardware-based adherence systems and software-based applications.  The expected growth will be driven by the strong need to improve adherence (as indicated above) and the growing number of people around the world with chronic diseases(5).

References
1. https://mhealthintelligence.com/news/breaking-telehealth-coverage-included-in-coronavirus-spending-bill
2. https://reports.valuates.com/market-reports/QYRE-Othe-2M208/global-telemedicine-market
3. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/wr/mm6645a2.htm
4. Watanabe, J. H., McInnis, T., & Hirsch, J. D. (2018). Cost of Prescription Drug–Related Morbidity and Mortality. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 52(9), 829–837. https://doi.org/10.1177/1060028018765159
5. https://www.medgadget.com/2019/12/medication-adherence-market-2019-global-analysis-opportunities-and-forecast-to-2024.html

Caregivers

It is estimated that in the US, approximately 39.8 million unpaid caregivers (16.6% of Americans) provide care to adults (aged 18+) with a disability or illness or (1). In Canada, 8 million Canadians (28% of the population aged 15 and over), provided care to family members or friends with a long-term health condition, a disability or problems associated with aging (2).   While this has many benefits for the health care system and for the person being cared for, it can take a toll on the caregiver.  Caregivers are likely to experience psychological distress as a result of care-giving; 30% of caregivers helping a parent, and 46% of caregivers helping a spouse have described experiencing some form of psychological distress (2).

The Pharmatrac system offers peace of mind to caregivers by automatically informing of them when their loved ones take their medication.  When the person being cared for uses the Pharmatrac Medication Bowl to take their medication, the caregiver can use the Companion app to track and monitor medication habits. They can choose to be sent an alert every time the medication user takes their medication, and can have access to summary reports on trends and behaviour. 

References
1.https://www.caregiver.org/caregiver-statistics-demographics
2. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/75-006-x/2013001/article/11858-eng.htm#a5

Medication Adherence Apps

Many people who take multiple medications per day use medication reminder and tracking apps to help them keep on top of their medication regime.  When these apps are used to track medication usage, they require manual input on a daily basis to keep the records up to date. 

Our API can enable other medication adherence apps to be used with the Pharmatrac Medication bowl to seamlessly track all the medication taken, without the need to manually enter the data.  In addition, though our API, a medication adherence app could send reminder events directly to the Medication Bowl with audio signals and coloured lights, if desired.

non-Adherence

As described above, it is estimated that the additional costs to the health care system due to non-optimal medication use is $528.4 billion in the US (1).  These costs are due to treatment failure, or new medical problems resulting from non-optimal use. Depending on the person’s insurance coverage, these costs are incurred by government payers, individuals and/or by health insurers.  Improved medication management could reduce these avoidable costs and improve outcomes for patients.

The Pharmatrac system provides evidence that medication is taken as prescribed, which could reduce potential future costs for the insurers. 

Expensive Medication

Insurers are also concerned about the rising cost of medication, to the extent that they are even paying for clients to travel to countries where the medication can be obtained at a lower cost (2).  When a patient does not take a mediation correctly, or at all, especially in the case of very expensive specialty medications, this cost is incurred by the insurer.  This cost will likely be incurred if the medication that was taken incorrectly did not achieve the desired effect. 

The Pharmatrac system can track expensive medication, providing assurance to the insurers that the medication costs are not wasted.

References:
1.Watanabe, J. H., McInnis, T., & Hirsch, J. D. (2018). Cost of Prescription Drug–Related Morbidity and Mortality. Annals of Pharmacotherapy, 52(9), 829–837. https://doi.org/10.1177/1060028018765159
2. https://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2020/02/14/utah-prescription-drugs-mexico