Over the three decades that he practiced medicine, Dr. Harry Wingate saw patients arrive at the emergency room with a huge variety of do-it-yourself solutions to managing their medications.
They arrived with a shoebox or a plastic bag filled with a jumble of pill bottles. Some had grocery bags loaded with a wide collection of medication, all unsorted and mixed up.
On the few occasions that some of these homespun fixes worked they solved only half the problem, Wingate says. Not only were their medications disorganized, but those patients seldom had any of their significant medical history or information with them.
Asking for trouble
These haphazard systems of organization and storage could lead to a number of potential mishaps that could be dangerous, he realized, particularly when dealing with five or more medications.
Among the problems that were waiting to happen were outdated prescriptions and duplicate pill bottles. Without an organized system, doses could easily be missed or an adverse reaction could occur that could land the patient in the emergency room—or worse.
Wingate realized, too, that not only did people fail to keep up with managing their medications, but there also were few effective methods of organization available that could help patients in their struggle to manage the multiple medications that they were prescribed.
Few answers
He could find no products on the market that provided an effective overall answer to the problem. A system was needed not only to organize many patients’ complicated medicine regimens but also to provide a central storage of their critical information, he decided.
So Wingate set out to do something about it. He would develop a system to solve the problem of disorganized medications—and more.
In doing so, he would restore control over medications to the patient—and potentially save lives.
Organized system
Wingate’s aim was to create a management system that was all-inclusive. It would have to organize not only prescriptions, but also everything else that was involved in taking medicines. The tools he would provide would not only keep medications systematized but also make medical information on the patient readily available.
Wingate created a prototype of his product and three years later established his company, Viva Life Inc. based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
He calls it Med Manager.
Already, Wingate says, his product is highly popular with patients across the country.
What it includes
Here is what Med Manager includes:
• Ten to 25 strong strips of elastic that hold pill bottles. Large bottles as well as smaller bottles can be accommodated in one organized, neat space;
• A daily organizer for pills.
• A pad for memos.
• A daily log for health information.
This section of the organizer includes a calendar to keep track of the patient’s doctor’s appointments, a reminder of when to take medications, and a pad to record blood sugar counts, blood pressure, and weight.
• An organizer for files in which patients can keep medical documents in order.
By including these files in the organizer, a patient can have them alongside their medications so that the files will be available whenever they are needed. Five tabbed colored file managers are included to keep the files in order so that they are easily accessible.
Also included in the file organizer are slots for information on emergency contacts, details on the patient’s doctor, and insurance cards. These will be available for medical personnel even should patients be unable to provide the information themselves.
• To keep the pills safe from children, the kit has a double zipper as well as a small luggage lock.
Wingate adds that his organizer serves as an all-in-one answer for keeping all your essential medication and medical files whether at home, traveling, or visiting a doctor.
