Guest article for the web magazine “Techtag” by Gerd Meyer-Philippi, co-founder and managing partner of the healthtech start-up Tantum Sana
Doctors, prescriptions, medicines, medicine intake plan, prepare medicines, take medicines – and then often undesirable, sometimes dramatic interactions between individual preparations. As a patient, it can quickly become confusing. In addition, nobody really has an overview of which medications have to be taken at what time and in what combination. A major social and health problem that is becoming more and more relevant. Not least because the various doctors treating the patients concerned know nothing about each other and have no overview of which medications they have been prescribed and are taking by other doctors – because every doctor only specializes in his field.
But even the pharmacist – the actual expert with pharmacological and pharmaceutical training – usually does not have an overview. Often there isn’t a Pharmacist, where all threads and prescriptions come together in one place – and therefore the pharmacies do not know what is being taken. A dangerous situation with often dramatic health consequences.
Development of a digital medication management system
Against this background, the healthtech start-up Tantum Sana was founded in 2021, which had already developed a digital medication management and dispensing system for use at home in previous years. The technical solution consists of a cloud, an intelligent medication dispenser, several apps and a front end for the pharmacy. The origin of the idea came from the private environment of the Tantum Sana team, after problems arose with relatives who had to take a lot of medication every day.
This raised the question of what solution there could be to the problems described above. It quickly became clear that the support of digital technology would be expedient. This is how maja sana was developed, the digital medication management and dispensing system. The entire medication management runs through a certified on-site pharmacy, which receives all of the patient’s prescriptions. She also takes over the creation of an overall medication plan in which all medications are coordinated and checked for interactions. In case of doubt, the pharmacy will also coordinate with the attending physicians.
The medication is then automatically prepared for 7 or 14 days. Any number of intake times per day can be taken into account. At the same time, the overall medication plan is transferred directly to the cloud and from there to the medication dispenser at the patient’s or elderly person’s home. The medicines, which are prepared in small bags, can be picked up at the pharmacy, the pharmacy’s transport service will deliver them to your home, or the post office will deliver them. The medication dispenser is designed for seniors and can be operated easily and intuitively with one-touch operation. At any time of the day when it is taken, it reports acoustically and visually. If the person overlooks this, a relative, the nursing service or the emergency service will be informed promptly via app or SMS.
This overall process, which is consistent in itself, saves time and nursing staff. However, this is also necessary, because the numbers are alarming: soon, a good 500,000 trained nursing staff will be missing. Caring relatives are thus noticeably relieved in terms of time and mental stress. According to current studies, more than 70 percent of them feel overwhelmed with preparing the medication. In addition, around one million annual hospital admissions due to unnecessary medication problems or missed income are drastically reduced. In this context, the health insurance companies should not be disregarded, which currently incur costs of more than 10 billion euros as a result of the problem.
More time for interpersonal and caring
The targeted use of digital technology and medical technology in healthcare can counteract all of this. In addition to the advantages described above, there is also more time for interpersonal relationships. This is very important, especially for older people who want to live independently at home for longer – and maybe have to. Soon there will be 6 million seniors living at home with a degree of care. Useful digital solutions make a lot of things easier for these people in their everyday lives.
The digital medication dispenser can therefore do more in the long run. It will be further developed into the central health hub. At its heart is the integrated tablet, which always offers all the latest communication options. For example, medical wearables can transmit vital data via Bluetooth to the hub, which notifies people if there are negative changes. The hub actively supports the patient in his efforts to stay as healthy as possible. If the patient sees a doctor, their medical data is automatically saved on their app and they can show it to the treating doctor. Another benefit is data and IT security. No doctor or hospital needs direct access to the cloud.
On the one hand, the healthcare industry is undoubtedly a great field for a start-up, but on the other hand it also poses a high risk. Because it is not enough to offer a sensible digital solution. Long-term success in the German healthcare system requires in-depth knowledge, a lot of experience – and above all a lot of optimism.