New “smart pill” could change treatment for locals with diabetes, hypertension
New medical technology may change the effectiveness of medication for patients in the Coachella Valley.
Desert Oasis Healthcare will begin offering “Proteus Discover,” a form of digital medicine, to patients with diabetes or hypertension in just two weeks.
The technology includes a sensor the size of a grain of sand embedded into the pills a patient would normally take, and a small patch worn on the torso. (The patch should be changed about once a week and is waterproof, so you can swim or shower without worrying.) When ingested, the sensor communicates additional useful data to you and your doctor through an app.
“We’re bringing digital medicines to the world. Digital medicines are medications that provide feedback…that talk to your cell phone,” said Dr. Scooter Plowman, medical director for Proteus Digital Health.
The app documents the time and type of medication taken throughout the day. It also records data such as a patient’s steps, activity, rest and heart rate measurements — painting a more complete picture of overall patient health for you and whoever you have authorized to review your data. You can share your information with your physician, your family, caregivers, etc.
“Providing that feedback on when and how medications are taken as well as the other inputs that come from that wearable patch…which would include heart rate, rest, activity, steps…that put together gives us a much better picture of what we want to do next,” said Lindsey Valenzuela, a Pharmacist and Administrator of Population Health and Prescription Management at Desert Oasis Healthcare.
Dr. Plowman says that a surprising 50% of patients don’t take their medications on time. Experts estimate that patients not taking their medication as prescribed, can cost up to $100 billion a year — mainly because patients might get sicker and need additional treatment.
For patients wary of ingesting a piece of technology on the daily, Dr. Plowman assures that each little sensor is made out of minerals that occur naturally in the human diet anyway: “It’s just dietary minerals…copper which you might find in cashews, magnesium like you have in halibut, and silicon like we have in bananas.” The sensors pass through the body just like fiber in food.
Desert Oasis will start offering the pill in two weeks at no additional charge in order to help patients struggling with hypertension and diabetes. One diabetic patient, Richard Maness, is already set to begin using the program and the app in two weeks: “What I’m hoping for is that there be better communication, more complete communication between my caregivers and myself,” said Maness.
While Desert Oasis Healthcare is currently offering this technology to patients struggling with hypertension and diabetes, they say they are open to expanding the program to help people with other medical conditions in the future.
Once you speak with a Desert Oasis HealthCare provider, you can even have your prescription of pills with embedded Proteus technology shipped to your home. The Proteus sensor is FDA approved and HIPAA compliant to ensure that health information is kept safe and secure.
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