Electronic Pill Dispenser Prevents Medication Errors

Julie Kalista
Online Editor

A physician and former pharmacist, Shusterman developed a way to prevent errors with his Medi-Sure Medication Dispensing System. It is an automated device programmed by a pharmacist and used in patients' homes.

The device is about the size of a DVD player and holds two weeks worth of medicine in cassettes put together by pharmacists. It alerts patients when it is time to take a medication with a verbal recording that does not shut off until they press the "Get Dose" button. Medi-Sure also alerts patients to specific instructions for the medication such as take with food. Once the cassette is returned, the device logs the time meds were taken. This log can be accessed by health care providers and family members with permission to view it.

Shusterman hopes this additional support will let patients live at home rather than in nursing homes. The entire service, including hardware and software, reports, and fees to fill cassettes costs about $4 per day - less per month than most in-home nursing visits.

Shusterman has also been working with the Rutgers-Camden Technology Campus (RCTC Inc.) to test the device. Medi-Sure Dispensing Systems are being used in a range of settings including independent living facitlites, continuing care residences, group and private homes for people with mental disabilities, etc.