The reach of the ScripTalk perscription labeling system became much larger this week as En-Vision America forged a deal with CVS to make the technology available for its mail-order prescription service. To learn more, Chancey Fleet spoke with David Raistrick, Vice President for En-Vision America, who talks about the partnership and other new features of the system. Blind Bargains audio coverage of CSUN 2014 is generously sponsored by the American Foundation for the Blind.
Transcript
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Hide transcriptTranscribed by Kayde Rieken
Direct from San Diego, it's BlindBargains.com coverage of CSUN 2014. The biggest names, provocative interviews, and wall-to-wall exhibit hall coverage. Brought to you by the American Foundation for the Blind.
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Now, here's Chancey Fleet.
Chancey Fleet: Hi. I'm here with David Raistrick of En-Vision America, here to talk about ScripTalk. So what is the big exciting news about ScripTalk this year?
David Raistrick: So the big thing is — with regard to accessible prescriptions — is just more options as far as availability. Every year, we — we kind of get a little more traction and more and more pharmacies adding to the mix of putting accessible prescriptions at a level of importance; and CVS is one of those right now. So CVS has announced the nationwide service for mail-order prescriptions, which is great. It doesn't put them in every single CVS in the nation, but we're definitely headed that way. Mail-order is important for a lot of people. Anybody using CVS and/or Caremark, you know, they can get their prescriptions via — via mail with a special electronic label. So that's what ScripTalk's all about, is putting that little special, electronic tag that — on prescriptions, which really stores all the medication information right there electronically on the bottle, okay? So what then happens is you get a reader from En-Vision America — from us — and we provide that — you get that for free. And when you're using the service and you simply turn the device on, press a button, and scan your medications, and you can literally get all those details — those medication details spoken.
CF: And having it available by mail order, I assume, just opens it up to people that might not have a CVS location near them that — that carried this previously.
DR: Exactly, yeah. So, you know, this — this kind of — this stair-stepping of, you know, just every — every announcement that we make with regard to more people doing it, it's — these pharmacies are finally waking up to accessibility as being an important aspect of their — of their services. And Kudos to CVS, and also WalMart obviously has been doing it for a little while. I'll do a quick little demo, Chancey.
CF: I — I actually have a question for you.
DR: Mm-hmm, sure.
CF: Do you think that WalMart doing it motivated CVS to do it?
DR: You bet. And then, so the next pharmacy that's going to come on board is going to be motivated by both of them. And so that's just the way of the world; that's how progress happens. That's how we get from — that's how, I guess, the acorn — acorn moves to the mighty oak, right?
CF: Yeah.
DR: So —
CF: All right, let's do the demo.
DR: I'll do a quick demo, and I'll turn this device on.
(The device begins to beep.)
DR: So this is the ScripTalk reader, and this is what patient has in the home.
(The ScripTalk gives a start-up message and chimes.)
DR: Okay. So I've got a little demonstration bottle here that has —
CF: Before you do that — if you don't mind — I want to take a quick look at the device —
DR: Okay.
CF: — and kind of verbally describe. It reminds me of a smoke detector —
DR: Mm-hmm.
CF: — in its shape and its size, and it has an array of raised, tactile bumps that outline where the bottle, I believe, is about to go.
DR: Yeah, that's — that's where the kind of landing pad or —
CF: Yeah.
DR: — place that you do the scanning part.
CF: And from left to right, we've got three buttons. One is a down-pointing triangle that — and in the middle is an oval with a dot, and then an up-pointing triangle.
DR: Yep.
CF: And then, in the front — am I right in thinking this is the volume?
DR: On/off and volume, right.
CF: Okay.
(The ScripTalk beeps.)
DR: Right.
CF: So —
DR: So the — the button in the center there that has the — the Braille dot, you press that once.
CF: Mm-hmm.
DR: So go ahead and press that one.
(The ScripTalk chimes, then beeps.)
DR: And then it's just a matter of taking the medication, sitting it on top —
(The ScripTalk begins to read the prescription information: patient name; the medication name and tablet size; the instructions; the prescription date; etc.)
DR: So from start to finish, it's going to read that. So go ahead and press the dot.
(The ScripTalk stops speaking and chimes.)
DR: Okay. So now, I can use those arrow buttons — you know, on the left and the right —
CF: To go through layers?
DR: — to move through the — it's like a ladder of information, so —
CF: Good.
DR: I can get to the piece of information I want, take my meds — get in and get out, right?
CF: Get out of there.
DR: So it's not going to take you a lot of time to use.
CF: Absolutely. And if you've got a lot of medications, then suddenly that becomes infinitely more important because you've got a lot of information to go through. You need to go through to the part that you need.
DR: Right. No doubt. And so — so also part of the label, which is really, really important even though it's — it's just a new feature that we have now. We have an IVR system, which pharmacies can now — when they do a ScripTalk label, what you'll get is also an 800 number that you can call and a code for that medication. And so what you get with ScripTalk is the label information, but, you know, there's all that other information that pharmacies give you.
CF: Mm-hmm.
DR: They call it the patient information —
CF: The packet? Yep.
DR: Right, patient information package. And that packet of information has details on, you know, generically, what — what does that medication do for you? What are the counter indications? What to do if you miss a dose; how to store the medication. All those seemingly minor details, but very, very important details on how to manage your medications. The kind of stuff that you'll probably listen to one time —
CF: Mm-hmm.
DR: — just to get a — a flavor for what you're dealing with.
CF: Right. Let me ask you this.
DR: Mm-hmm.
CF: Why is it necessary to put that information up on an 800 number? What is the limitation that prevents it from being on this device?
DR: It's just a matter of the amount of data that's associated with each one.
CF: Mm-hmm.
DR: So, you know, each medication — you know, you'll have upwards of, you know, three, four, five pages of information.
CF: So how much data can this device handle?
DR: The — it's a 10-K. The label itself is a 10-K label. So no matter what, some of the data — that extra data — just does not fit on that — on that label. So instead, we've — we've decided to put it on an IVR. It is kind of extra information, the kind of stuff that you'll only do once or twice, so just hopping on the phone, punch in — dialing in that little — that code that it gives you, is just a — a nice feature, nice — nice — if you're feeling a little bit funny from a med, or if you want to check something out that you thought the doctor said, you can grab that — that information, too. So —
CF: Do you think you'll always be using 10-K labels?
DR: Well, we're kind of moving as close as we can to — to more data. Everything's going to the cloud, really is. And that's — that's important, and that's where, actually, that — all that data sits. And so yeah, I mean, we — we're actually experimenting with 32-K labels, too, and so we're moving that direction of, you know, either cloud computing or just larger data storage capability.
CF: Could you go ahead and give your URL and contact information?
DR: Yeah. So yeah, it's En-Vision America, www.envisionamerica — that's EnVisionAmerica, all one word — .com. And — and you can always contact us at 800-890-1180. If you're interested in — in starting with CVS or WalMart or any pharmacy, even if — if you have your own pharmacy that, dog gone it, you just want to use, just give us a call — again, that 800 number — and ask to talk to somebody about getting set up with ScripTalk. We'll take you and walk you through all the steps on doing that, and once you get started with a pharmacy, then we send you out that free reader. So —
CF: Wonderful. David, thank you.
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J.J. Meddaugh is an experienced technology writer and computer enthusiast. He is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a major in telecommunications management and a minor in business. When not writing for Blind Bargains, he enjoys travel, playing the keyboard, and meeting new people.
