nekoTap

NekoTap is a mobile app that helps patients understand how to take their medications. Most patients don't have time to read the pharmacy pamphlet that explains the medication. They also won't be able to remember everything the pharmacist and doctor told them. This is a big problem because improperly taking your medications and medical devices can lead to side effects, poor disease control, and inconsistent adherence to therapy. NekoTap provides an easy-to-use, accessible, and personalized way to teach yourself (and others) how to take complicated medication regimens and devices. An NFC tag is attached to the underside of a prescription bottle cap, and a pharmacist uses nekoTap to read the NFC ID, record a short counselling message, and attach additional patient materials. Patients can later “tap the cap” with their nekoTap app to review this information at home (in the language of their choosing). The simplicity of nekoTap also opens a lot of opportunities for valuable enhancements. Pharmacies can promote patient care services through the app, and reporting tools can be added to help patients provide feedback on possible side effects. To give parents peace-of-mind, babysitters can install the app and learn how to help their children take their asthma inhalers correctly. Patients won't keep their medication pamphlets around, but they will certainly keep their prescription bottles with them. Don’t force the patient to memorize everything—just “Tap the Cap” with nekoTap!

nekoTap was built in 24 hours at nwHacks 2019, Western Canada's largest hackathon. John Lee: UBC CompSci (developer); Sherry Yuan: UBC CompSci (developer); Russell Blickhan: UBC CompSci (developer); Sophie Berger: UBC CompSci (developer); Charlotte Chen: UBC CompSci (designer)