MediTrack

"MediTrack: Never Miss a Dose, One Tap at a Time"

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MediTrack: Smarter Medication, Safer Lives

What Inspired Us

Prescription costs are skyrocketing, and for many patients with chronic illnesses, affording medication has become a struggle. The rising costs often lead to missed or delayed doses, which can have serious effects on patient outcomes. The alarming statistic that 75% of Americans struggle to take their medication as directed—and the fact that approximately 135,000 deaths per year in the United States are linked to medication nonadherence—served as a powerful motivator for us to find a solution.

We envisioned a system that not only tracks medication intake but also provides real-time insights into patient adherence. Our goal was to reduce the number of medication-related complications and hospital admissions, and that's why we built MediTrack—an automated RFID-based patient tracking and reporting system. We wanted to create a seamless, reliable way to help patients stay on top of their medication schedules while reducing the burden on healthcare providers. The app also uses a custom-coded regression model to predict whether or not our patient X will take their medication on time. Based on its training, we can predict whether our patients are at high-risk, medium, or low-risk. This makes it easier for healthcare providers or caretakers to respond to urgent needs immediately.

What We Learned

Throughout our journey, we learned the importance of clear data structuring and agile development practices. Here are some of our key takeaways:

  • Data Management is Crucial: We realized that having a well-defined data structure is essential for any system that relies on complex integrations, like linking RFID data with patient medication schedules. Or our full stack software application!! (that could be used by both patients and pharma companies)
  • User Experience Matters: Building an intuitive, user-friendly interface significantly impacts how patients and healthcare providers interact with our system. Focusing on three core features for simplicity made our platform more accessible.
  • Collaboration is Key: Teamwork played a crucial role in overcoming challenges. Leveraging each member's unique skills helped us deliver a comprehensive solution.

How We Built It

We built MediTrack using a combination of cutting-edge technologies to ensure reliability, scalability, and seamless integration with existing systems:

  • RFID Technology: We utilized RFID tags for patient identification, enabling real-time tracking of medication intake.
  • Backend Development: Our backend was powered by MongoDB for secure and efficient data storage. This allowed us to handle patient records, medication schedules, and timestamps accurately.
  • Notification System: We integrated push notifications using Twilio and email alerts via SMTP, providing real-time alerts to patients and caregivers whenever medication schedules were missed or delayed.
  • AI-Powered Analytics: Our custom-coded regression classifier model, trained on previous patient data, predicts the risk levels (high, medium, low) of patients based on their adherence patterns.
  • Seamless Integration: We ensured that MediTrack works based on research with existing Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems to automate data logging and report generation.

Challenges We Faced

Building a solution like MediTrack came with its fair share of challenges, including:

  • Data Management for RFID Cards: Organizing and integrating pill data with RFID cards was complex. We had to ensure that each tag accurately corresponded to the correct medication and dosage information.
  • Setting Up the Push Notification Service: Establishing a reliable push notification system that worked seamlessly across various devices was a significant hurdle.
  • Frontend Design and Integration: Aligning the frontend user experience with our robust backend logic required extensive testing and refinement to ensure smooth data flow and user interactions.
  • Achieving Scalability: Making sure the solution was scalable to accommodate different healthcare environments, from small clinics to large hospitals, was a key focus.

Accomplishments We're Proud Of

Despite the challenges, we’re proud of several key achievements:

  • Successful Integration of RFID Technology: We successfully implemented RFID technology to track medication adherence, providing real-time data to healthcare providers.
  • Operational Push Notification System: Our notification service is fully functional, sending real-time alerts to patients and caregivers about missed or incorrect doses.
  • User-Centric Design: We built an easy-to-use interface that simplifies medication management, leading to positive feedback from initial user testing.
  • Expanding RFID Capabilities: Beyond medication tracking, we explored innovative ways to use RFID for inventory control, patient safety, and hospital efficiency.

What's Next for MediTrack

We're not stopping with medication tracking. Our vision is to expand MediTrack's RFID system to enhance other areas of healthcare, including:

  • Inventory Control: Real-time monitoring of medication stock levels to ensure availability and manage expired medications.
  • Patient Safety: Implementing RFID wristbands for newborns to prevent accidental swaps and secure patient locations in emergencies.
  • Enhanced Infection Control: Using RFID to strengthen protocols and improve response times during infection outbreaks.

With MediTrack, we aim to transform healthcare through smarter technology, improving patient outcomes, reducing healthcare costs, and making hospitals more efficient.

MediTrack: Smarter Medication, Safer Lives.

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