A Product For Instructing Prescribed Doses

It is a small manual operated punch machine for compounder in healthcare services. It helps compounder on instructing prescribed doses for medicines as embossing on side edges of respective medicines by punching. It creates long lasting embossed markings itself on medicine strips without adding any material or part, which helps in relaxing the pain of compounder to not to tell every patient about their doses every time, and patients on remembering the dosage directions orally.

Observations

Mostly, in the villages of India, Medicines are given loosely in hand and their instructions too given orally

Irregular packets for medicines

On some timing for doses of

medicines are written manually in Hindi language

Some basic signs like circle, triangles for denoting

the prescribed doses

Medicines are given loosely in hand and Instructions of doses are given orally.

Well it’s not limited with only rural health care, its been almost followed pattern among most of the urban health care too. Since long, its been seen a same way of instructing doses of prescribed medicines by compounder's to the patients in both rural and urban India.

Story of Bihura

CHC: Community Health Center

Bihura, Azamgarh Uttar Pradesh

To analyze the context of the Prabuddh Gram village: Bhiura, an on-ground study was conducted. Two students from NID stayed near the village for 3 Days to conduct an Observational Study of the Village, Community Health Center, and nearby market areas where chemists/ pharmacists were located. Personal Interviews and Group Discussions with Kids, Young Adults, and Elders were conducted to get deeper insights regarding their general awareness, health belief, approach towards illnesses and diseases, preventive measures, and general outlook towards the village environment. Medical workers and Doctors at CHC were also interviewed and observed in uncontrolled natural working conditions to get more insights into their behavior towards patients, fellow medical staff, other staff members, equipment, and infrastructure. CHC infrastructure was closely observed in terms of facilities provided to both patients and medical staff members, spatial arrangements, maintenance, the flow of services, and ambiance. One of the students also acted as a self-participatory patient to generate more insights into the Rural Healthcare system. Management of patients and processes during Covid-19 vaccination day was also observed to identify gaps in the service and get a better understanding of the patient’s journey.

Patients unable to remember dosage direction hence leading to improper consumption or no consumption of medicines.

Lack of proper materials and instructions.

Overcrowding and poor crowd management

devaluing the process

crowding at this pandemic situation is alarming

Cause

Effect

Severity

Deaths in India, due to adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are estimated to be around 4,00,000 annually in 7,20,000 ADRs

Due to all patients experience both psychological and physical pain with these errors. The most common reasons for errors include- failure to communicate drug orders, illegible handwriting, error involving dosing units etc. Most of the errors occurs due to human errors.

Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) Reporting in India

Opportunity

Redesigning of prescription made by doctor to the patients in rural areas, where most of the old and other are feel discomfort on getting their medicines, doses etc

On the part of tackling an issues of our real life, We need an ideal approach for eradicating the observed problems were taken from the pain points of compounder and patient in between their interactions.

Which can help in reviving and improving an old ways of instructing the prescriptions by compounders to patients, which are unethical and improper practices in our health care system.

Prescription journey of a Patient in Govt. Hospitals

Doctor

Doctors may feel, that compounder will explain the doses correctly or not. Because many times patients comes back to doctor for assuring the doses which were instructed by compounder.

Compounder

Huge burden on compounder to tell every patients about their doses every time orally.

Patient

Doctors doesn't feels his/her job to explain to the patients about prescribed doses. Patient also feels shy sometime on asking instruction from doctor and many times asking for instruction make chaos in queue.

medi- guide

Simply manual operated machine for compounders, where one need to only press/ punch for making embossed marks as per prescribed doses by doctors to patient

Medi- guide is a small manual operated punch cum embossing machine for compounder in healthcare services. It helps compounder on instructing prescribed doses for medicines as embossing on side edges of respective medicines by punching. It creates long lasting embossed markings itself on medicine strips without adding any material or part, which helps in relaxing the pain of compounder to not to tell every patient about their doses every time, and patients on remembering the dosage directions orally.

All measurements are in mm (Millimeters)

Inspiration

medi - guide’s design inspiration were taken by Morse Code for visual representation of doses instruction as dots and dashes. For the size and distance between two dots and dashes respectively motivated by Braille standardization, it is also making surface embossed, due to this at some extent, medi - guide will be ideal for blinds too.

medi - guide has 6 ways of visual instructions like OD, BD, TD, QD, M and N

OD ------------------- Daily

BD ------------------- Twice a day

TD -------------------- Three times a day

QD ------------------- Four times a day

M --------------------- In the morning

N --------------------- In the night

Interface

On medi - guide, all 6 signs for instructions are taken from doctors regular way of prescribing medications. Also, ahead of every instructions some dots and dashes are marked for knowing the actual impressions before applying.

Embossing will be generated via, pressing on the surface of medicine strip and below it base die helps in creating indentations in the form of dots and dashes.