Medication non-compliance is one of the greatest problems associated with maintaining the health of the elderly. Studies state that up to 23% nursing home and 10% of hospital admissions of the elderly are due to poor medication compliance1. Current attempts to electronically augmented compliance have not been well accepted due to the following problems: 1) high cost $30-$75; 2) complicated programming and use, (too many options and displays); 3) Units have been bulky; 4) Units require pill reloading at home; 5) electronics units do not come in familiar package programmed and issued by the pharmacist. VME Technologies proposes herein to innovative yet inexpensive system to promote a high degree of medication compliance through electronic audio/visual cues. The proposed system solves the aforementioned problems by being 1) low priced ($9.99 suggested retail); 2) simple to use (no user operable controls except removing the cap); 3) no bigger than a standard pill container; 4) uses the existing pill vial (requires no reloading); 5) and is programmed by the pharmacist and issued with the medication.
