If you have problems remembering to take your meds — or whether you've taken them already — some high-tech products on the horizon may be able to help you.
Companies are using wireless technology, the same mechanism by which you use a cell phone or the Internet, to develop devices that monitor whether you took your pills as the doctor ordered, beaming information back to you, your doctor, or a designated family member. In some cases, this requires swallowing a microchip about as thin as a few human hairs.
The concept may sound invasive, but it has the potential to save as much as $290 billion annually in increased medical costs. That amount is lost every year because of people not taking medications as prescribed, according to the New England Healthcare Institute. Drug adherence is only 50 percent among people with chronic illnesses in developed countries, and in developing nations it is probably lower, according to the World Health Organization.
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