The version of Vitality’s smart pill caps that uses AT&T’s wireless network went on sale yesterday through Amazon.com.
The Vitality GlowCaps monitor whether patients are taking their medications and use AT&T’s wireless network to send reminders, e-mail reports and updates about a patient’s adherence to their medication schedule to physicians. Vitality previously had a Wi-Fi version of its GlowCaps, but that product is no longer on the market.
The GlowCaps are being sold on Amazon for $99, a price that includes the $10 cost of the cap and six months of service for the device, which runs $15 per month and includes connectivity to AT&T’s wireless network and Vitality’s reminder and monitoring service.
Vitality has not disclosed which percentage of the service charge goes toward itself and which percentage goes toward AT&T. Vitality also does not sell patient information to third-party companies such as retailers or drug manufacturers.
Vitality’s back-end service for the GlowCaps starts with a light that starts flashing one hour after a patient hasn’t taken their medication and an audio alarm which begins to play two hours after a patient fails to take their meds. If the patient fails to open the pill bottle after these reminders, a call is automatically placed to the patient as a further reminder. During this call, Vitality will remind them to take their medication and ask questions about why they are not taking their medication so healthcare providers can get a better understanding of why patients do not comply with medication regimes.
A spokeswoman for Vitality said the company is working with a variety of different retail outlets for the GlowCaps. The company hopes to make the caps a standard feature on every prescription bottle.
Separately, AT&T said it is working with BMW on in-car safety and entertainment services which will build on BMW’s existing connected services. AT&T is also providing the wireless connectivity for Pandigital’s Android-based Novel eReader, which will sell for $279.99 when it hits Barnes & Noble later this month.