Wired for Safety, Student Unveils Enhanced Pill Dispenser

Numerous problems confronted by Rich’s friends have influenced the design of pillTracker. Family friends have had difficulties with connecting devices to Wi-Fi and blue tooth, reading medication labels and even being able to open bottles with arthritic hands. Rich worked to keep pillTracker as simple as possible. It plugs into an outlet and powers up on its own and will never have to connect to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

If the dry run with Rich’s family and friends goes well, he will try to market pillTracker to an accountable care organization. Eventually, he would like to work at a Veterans Administration hospital, where he thinks his approach to problem solving, one built around the user experience, could be welcomed.

“There’s a shift away from fee for service to an accountable care model with incentives aligned to keep patients out of the hospital, not in them. That opens the door for my product,” said Rich, who spent 10 years flying, including protecting military SEALS and Rangers as they assaulted terrorist compounds. Still he sees pillTracker as “the most important mission of my life.”

Rich was one of five masters and doctoral students who spoke at the recent Association of Yale Alumni Assembly. The five student presentations were part of a daylong program that marked the Yale School of Public Health's centennial. The students shared their innovative ideas and experience with hundreds of Yale alumni in Harkness Auditorium.

“Alex is one among many extraordinary students that we have in our program. He is, however, relatively unique in that he had minimal health care background before coming to YSPH,” said Professor Howard Forman, director of the Health Care Management Program at YSPH. “In Alex’s case, he made a strong argument for why he needed this program and how he was going to use his education and experiences to improve health care services and health. Pilltracker is just one way in which he is fulfilling this promise!”

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