The "Creep-tacular Factor" Here Seems Off-The-Charts. . . .

But maybe I am just not highly-attuned to this market(?). . . .

Forgetting the cost, for a moment (likely well-north of $100 per bottle-cap), why would anyone want a pill-bottle to make cell calls (Credit, and a Hat-Tip: Gaia Health News) to you, or your relatives?

. . . .A Cambridge, Mass.-based startup called Vitality Inc. was set to announce the [cell-phone in a] pill-bottle system Thursday, saying it helps solve one of the biggest problems in medicine: that people don’t consistently take the drugs they’re prescribed. . . .

[T]he calls. . . will come from new pill bottle caps that connect to AT&T Inc.’s wireless network. . . .

I suppose the wealthiest one one-hundredth of one percent of us might spend for this, but I cannot imagine why any insurer, Medicare or Medicaid would be willing to reimburse even a portion of the price -- given that far less expensive "First Alert" systems already exist in the geriatrics market.

To quote Tom Hanks (as the young Josh Baskin) in "Big" -- Um. . .

I. Don't. Get. It.


UPDATED -- This story simply cries out for more goofy graphical content. So, I've obliged. To fill the resulting text hole, here, I've quoted some of Vitality's web-kit on the idea -- not that I endorse it:

. . . .Vitality’s GlowCap uses a combination of daily reminders and behavioral motivators to improve adherence to daily medication. When people forget to take their medication, health care costs increase by billions of dollars each year. Vitality’s GlowCaps fit widely used prescription bottles. GlowCaps improve adherence using light and sound to remind people when it is time to take their medication. In addition, each time a person opens their GlowCap, it wirelessly relays the data to Vitality’s secure network. If the GlowCap is not opened within two hours of the specified time, the customer receives a reminder call. Each week the individual and optionally, their caregiver, receive a report summarizing their adherence. Vitality’s products and services are designed especially for people challenged with managing chronic diseases like hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, and depression where maintaining high adherence to a regimen of daily medications is critical for long-term health. . . .

Vitality solves the billion-dollar adherence problem for pharmaceutical companies, retail pharmacies, and healthcare providers. Leveraging the best research on behavioral economics, Vitality’s wireless GlowCaps motivate people to take their medications as prescribed using social feedback, reminders, caregiver support, and automated pharmacy refills. . . .