Method and Apparatus for Monitoring Medication Adherence

1 . A method for monitoring medication adherence, comprising the steps of:

determining a present adherence state of a patient;

receiving video analysis information reporting on a medication administration session;

determining a next adherence state of a patient based upon the present adherence state of the patient and the video analysis information

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of initiating one or more actions based upon determination of the next adherence state.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of initiating one or more actions based upon a trend from the present adherence state and the next adherence state.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the video analysis information includes an automated determination from a video record whether a user has taken a medication.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the video analysis information comprises a computer vision analysis of a medication administration session.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the video analysis information comprises a trend of a predetermined variable over time.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the video analysis information comprises a determination that a particular variable differs by greater than a predetermined threshold amount from one or more prior variable values.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a confidence level associated with the video analysis information is employed to determine the next patient adherence state.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the confidence level comprises a confidence trend level over time.

10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of displaying the patient adherence state information on a dashboard display.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the dashboard display shown a plurality of trends over time determined from the video analysis information.

12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of trends are used to determine the next patient adherence state.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein further processing of the video analysis information at a time remote from the time of medication administration is employed at least in part to determine a next adherence state of a patient.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more common patient states between a plurality of patients are employed to group those patients.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the grouped patients may be addressed under a common scheme.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein the common scheme may be employed to address particular high risk patients.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein one or more next adherence states are determined through a computer learning analysis of the received video analysis information.

18 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising the use of audio information in conjunction with the video information.

19 . A system for implementing the method of claims 1 - 16 .