‘Dis Spencer’ there to remind you
Spencer beeps from his perch on the table reminding Kelowna’s Frank Marcanio it’s time to take his medication.
Spencer, who resembles a tall white toaster, doesn’t just beep, but with a tap to its touch screen, dispenses the pills Marcanio needs to take in a little packet.
If Marcanio misses one of his five-times-a-day interactions with Spencer, the savvy dispenser, which is linked to the internet and has its own app, sends a message to the pharmacy, loved ones and caregivers.
“If people are reminded to take their medications and take the proper dosage on schedule, they have better health outcomes and can quite often avoid having to go into a care home,” said Glenmore Pharmasave pharmacist Craig Tostenson.
“There are a lot of people in homes simply because they need the nurse to come by four times a day to give them their pills.”
Tostenson is the first pharmacist to issue Spencer to patients.
He knows fellow pharmacist Shane Bishop, who is the CEO of Kelowna’s Catalyst Healthcare, the brainchild behind Spencer.
So, when it came time, earlier this year, for Catalyst to start reallife trials of Spencer, Bishop approached Tostenson.
Tostenson now has a dozen patients testing Spencer with success. Marcanio is Tostenson’s father-in-law and the first patient to use Spencer.
“Spencer is a relatable person’s name and it’s also a nice short form of dispenser,” Tostenson said.
For years, Catalyst has been developing software for care homes to keep track of medications.
But recently, Catalyst developed Spencer, to expand its offerings and give people a better in-home option for managing their meds.
Many people continue to juggle their pill schedule with one of those M-T-W-T-F-S-S containers that patients manually sort their medication into and then rely on their memory, cellphone timer or old-fashioned alarm clock to remind them when to take the tablets.
With Spencer, a pharmacist can load one to four weeks worth of medications and feel confident the patient is taking their pills properly with the alarm, press-screen dispensing and app backup.
Spencer does have to be plugged into an electrical outlet, but also has a back-up battery that lasts 18 hours.
Spencer is also outfitted with a meds-on-the-go feature so patients can dispense pills early to take with them if they are going out.
And then, the patient can let Spencer know they took the pills upon their return by pressing the touch screen.
For now, Glenmore Pharmasave isn’t charging the regular $60-amonth Spencer rental fee to those participating in the pilot.
It also expects to offer additional patients three-month free trails so the pharmacy and Catalyst can further test Spencer.
The rental fee isn’t covered by basic Medicare or Pharmacare insurance, but it could be covered under extended benefits plans.
Since the first pilot got going in Kelowna, trials have expanded to two other pharmacies in Victoria and Toronto.