Taking medicine at the prescribed time can prove to be tricky — even for doctors. Hero, a machine that sits on your countertop and tells you when to take what pill, is here to change that. Founder Kal Vepuri was determined to help out his family after his mother (who is a doctor) underwent a severe cardiac procedure and had issues taking the right number of pills at the exact right time. “No pill box, pill dispenser, app, mail-order provider, nursing care service or combination thereof improved my mother’s adherence over time,” Vepuri says. With a background in tech and an angel investor in companies like Warby Parker, Allbirds, Sweetgreen, ClassPass, Oscar, Quip, Mirror and more, Vepuri worked with product designers and developers for four years to come up with an attractive solution. Hero is that solution.
The in-home medication manager looks just like a high-end coffee maker. It’s simple to use. A notification pops up on the single screen that it’s time for your medicine, and you click the center button to dispense. Out pops the proper dosage in the small cup below — all logged in an app via your caregivers — and then Hero alerts your contacts (likely caregivers) that you’ve taken medicine. For those with aging or sick parents, this could be a game changer. You no longer have to be the bad guy who forces your parent to take medicine, nor do you have to nag them to take it; Hero handles all of that.
Beyond potentially helping to improve stressful family dynamics, Hero works with your pharmacy to order over-the-counter meds and supplements, so you never worry about running out. It’ll even sync up your prescriptions to try to save you money. The device is $399 with a pre-paid subscription plan for one year. You can also opt for $33 a month for one year.
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