MEDICATE: The control, identification and delivery of prescribed medication

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 00.0434

Key words (English)

Medication; dispenser; non-compliance; prescription; telecare; telemonitoring; e-health; electronic prescription; medication prescriber; pharmacist; service center; service center; patient;
Information Processing; Information Systems; Medicine; Heal

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: IST-2000-27618

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 1.2.1 Systems and services for the citizen

Short description (English)

See abstract

Partners and International Organizations (English)

Coordinator: University of Ulster (UK)

Abstract (English)

The problems associated with non-compliance to a prescribed medication regime can have serious implications for the health of the patient and incur unnecessary healthcare costs. It is the aim of the proposed project to investigate the needs of such patients, analyse current methods used to address this problem and develop an innovative care model and associated peripherals to assist with compliance to a medication regimen. The infrastructure of the care model will be centred on an Internet-based control server, providing remote monitoring and control of the patient's regimen. Hardware will be developed for home use, to store the medication, dispense it appropriately and provide a reminder to the patient in cases of non-compliance. A clinical evaluation is proposed to ascertain the potential success in reducing non-compliance by 5-7%.

Objectives:
The goals of the MEDICATE project are to: contribute to the economic development and scientific and technological prospects of the European Community, by providing citizens with a methodology to assist with their drug regimen; develop an innovative system to help people comply with prescribed medication, inside and outside their home, thereby increasing mobility and reducing non-compliance by 5-7%; implement the appropriate technological platform with all the required hardware and software tools to support the aforementioned service; establish a new protocol for the stakeholders involved in the supply-to-intake medication chain to follow; ensure that all products/services have a high level of user acceptance, secured through requirement analyses and acceptance testing; ensure market acceptance of all products through development in accordance with the EC directive on medical devices and services; fully exploit the products produced by the project and increase industry revenues.

Work description:
This project entails the development of a medical device and associated care model aimed at the delivery and dispensing of drugs. The device is connected to a dedicated control centre, to which doctors, pharmacists and other registered professionals have access, via a communications network, and thus allows the development of a comprehensive care model.

Implementation of the project involves 5 stages and the main tasks to be undertaken are: a human factor analysis to appreciate the needs of the user and all other stakeholders; review the current methodologies employed to assist with non-compliance and the process of Telecare; develop the MEDICATE care model and its associated peripherals; gain levels of user acceptance from analysis of prototypes and the final model; integrate the proposed care model into existing home care scenarios within the target groups; undertake a series of clinical evaluations to produce a scientific analysis of the proposal.

Dissemination will be initiated at the start and will be used as a means of identifying further potential user groups. Feedback in terms of user requirements and acceptance, through ongoing demonstrations at various prototype levels, will be used as a means of identifying further potential users. Through promotion of the project at these levels, and increasing the awareness in the EU community, the target groups and expected impact can be identified prior to the final product launch.

Exploitation of the project will also be initiated at the onset. This will involve on-going market analyses to ensure the product is in line with market trends. Business plans will be generated and reviewed every six months by the industrial partners, in order to gain a full appreciation of the likely outcomes of the project in business terms and its marketability.

Milestones:
- Initial and refined prototypes for acceptance testing (17&22mths);
- Final prototype and clinical tests (32mths);
- Onset of commercialisation (35mths) The results of MEDICATE will be a fully clinically tested care model to address the issues of non-compliance. The home unit and care model will be ready for exploitation by the industrial partners.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 00.0434