Automatic Pill Dispenser — Alarm Sound and Flashing Light, Elderly

This machine works like a charm. So far it has always been on time. It really has helped my wife to keep regularly with hers meds. The nice thing is that you don't have to have the alarm go off which is quit loud, just the adjustment by the machine to the next meds is good enough. When the machine clicks you it's time to take your meds. We love the machine.

Alarm is nice and loud for hearing impaired, and can keep going for 2 hrs to allow for flexibility. Easy setup. Very nice for those forgetting meds. Locked system prevents tampering.

Great idea. Works well. However, the sound of the wheel turning is very loud and off-putting, even disturbing for the person whose meds are in there. Please add a cardboard guide for pills given only twice a day. Buzzer is a good tone level. This is NOT for those with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, that may be in a flare. My sister could see the other pills through the tiny crack on the other side of the timed meds, and kept trying to move the wheel and get them, because she thought she should. And, of course where there is a will, there is a way. But...when she was her normal self, it worked very well. Then, it kept her from taking a second dose of her meds and kept her on a schedule. She became too distressed with her OCD from the minimal stress she had from living alone and is now in an assisted living facility. But, I absolutely recommend the Med Ready dispenser. I just wish I had found it sooner in her life. I am so dismayed that institutions, nursing homes, senior centers and assisted living facilities do not know of some of the innovations for seniors and those with dementia or mental disorders. This is one. The RAZ Memory Phone is another. Both of these products made a big difference in my sister's life and her frustration level. Hugs all around to those who love and care for those, who need such products.

We purchased the MedReady 1700 Medication Dispenser for our 90‑year‑old mother when she began having difficulty remembering when to take her medications, which medications to take, and sometimes whether she had already taken them. This device has helped our family tremendously. The flashing light and clear alerts make it obvious when it’s time for her meds, and the dispenser removes all confusion by only allowing access to the correct dose at the right time. That alone has brought us incredible peace of mind. It’s easy for her to use, even with age‑related memory challenges, and it has helped restore her independence while keeping her safe. Most importantly, it reduced the stress on both her and the rest of the family. We no longer worry about missed doses or double dosing. If you’re caring for an elderly parent or loved one who struggles with medication management, this dispenser is absolutely worth it. We’re so grateful to have found it

Liked that tray has slots large enough to get your finger in & scoop out the pills. Liked that it could provide pills once/day. Liked that it had an actual key that prevented taking lid off without (key lock not tamper able—but read on as tray slot problems render locking advantage rather useless). Problems that made it unusable for us: 1)battery pack difficult to plug in w flimsy hard to reach tiny connection that is sure to not hold up (very rinky dink connection like a cheap throw away toy or worse & disconnecting means yanking wire out that will surely ruin it after too many yanks); 2)Poor design and instructions on setting clock, dispensing time & alarms. We inadvertently got this goofed up at start but then finally got dispense set w only one alarm set per was what we wanted—the whole process did not seem to work as should though and sometimes the alarm did not go off and at other times went off at wrong time. Then magically it started going off at correct time. The design seems very poor like a cheap poorly made toy; 3)No clear lid without paying extra so one has to unlock to check the pills; 4)One needs to be able to visually monitor the pills ongoing because the opening is a bit larger that the tray slot allowing pills from adjacent slot to be accessed with the slightest effort/pushing tray a tiny bit with finger and turning the whole thing upside down— yes out pop an extra day of pills (and at one point the tray advanced an extra day on its own). These problems RENDERED THIS MED DISPENSER USELESS for anyone who cannot safely oversee their own dispensing. Too bad they could not have designed and manufactured a better quality product that would function like it should as there is a high need. We would gladly have paid a pulse more hundred for a well-made secure and dependable dispensing medset. Unfortunately this one is very poorly made with too many significant problems and a complete waste of money. We returned ours. Oh and I forgot—they did not number the slots nor provide any ring to put on with slot numbers! Who makes a medset with 28 days but gives you no way to number them unless you get out the sharpie??? Geez.

I have an older relative who is in the early stages of Alzheimers disease, and he is so forgetful, he could never remember to take his pills. This machine works great for him. He has used it for two or three years, and with the help of this Medready machine, he now takes his pills about 90% of the time. He takes pills twice daily, which means I can load up this Medready with 14 days of pills. Initially, he was resistant to using it, because he claimed he never forgot to take his pills (so how come a 30-day supply of pills would last 8 weeks?) But once he started using this machine, he began to like it. The Medready comes with some instructions for how to get someone accustomed to using it. They suggest that when you first start using this, you telephone your relative at the exact time of day the machine is set to dispense the pills. That was good advice, and worked for us. After using the machine for a couple of weeks, he said what a great machine it is. Okay, so fast forward two or three years. I recently visited this older relative one morning, and I saw that the Medready machine was missing from his apartment. Apparently he had gotten confused, and tossed it into the dumpster. This happened twice over a period of several weeks. So after buying a replacement Medready machine, I drilled holes in the base of the machine, and I bolted it to my relative's dining room table. Now he can't remove it, and for the past month he has once again been taking his pills just fine. Let me comment on some of the other reviews I have seen here. Some people have pointed out that this machine is a Godsend because it has enabled their older relative to continue living independently. That is certainly the case with me, too. I wish we'd had these things 20 years ago, when my mother was still alive, and was suffering from dementia. Secondly, the caregiver (or whoever fills the machine) must take the time to thoroughly READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. From some of the comments, it seems clear that some people never set up their machine properly when they first got it. Yes, I agree that the instructions are not the best. Medready should probably take another look and see if the instructions can be improved. But I am no Einstein, and I was able to figure them out. When you first get this thing, plan to take a couple of hours to read everything, look at the pictures provided, and set it up, and play around with it. You can set the alarms up to four times per day, at whatever times you decide. My model comes with an audible alarm and a flashing alarm light. But I actually have the audible alarm turned off, because just the sound of the machine activating is fairly loud by itself, and I knew my older relative would be irritated by any alarm. Every patient is different, and you will have to decide what will work best for your situation, but I like having the option to activate or de-activate the alarms. (The machine makes sort of a loud clicking sound when it activates, even with the audible alarm turned off. I do wish the flashing light was more obvious though.)

I bought this for my 87 year old Aunt to replace a different machine. Her home health care company lost the employee that knew how to fill the old one and they talked us into buying this one because they had many that knew how to use it. Their first 4 attempts to set it up properly failed and spanned 3 weeks during which I had to become the pill dispenser. I obtained an RMA for it after the second failure. I took it home and got it to work properly AFTER reading the instructions, was able to understand why they failed, and wound up teaching their experts how to use it. I cancelled the RMA. While the machine has worked well since I gave it only 3 stars for the following reasons: 1. My Aunt is a bit hard of hearing and the alarm is not as loud as her old machine so we have to use an alarm clock for the day's first pill dispense. In all fairness I should mention that both machines were stationed on a table just outside her open bedroom door. 2. This can be set to dispense pills 1-4 times a day. While setting it up it is a bit to easy to accidentally turn off one or more of the needed dispensing times. It is also easy to mix up AM and PM so double check everything before locking the lid. 3. Her old one dropped pills in a small reusable cup after pushing a large button that also shut the alarm off. Her slightly larger than average arthritic plagued hands could handle those small cups well. With this she has to dig pills out of a small curved space with some corners. If a small pill lands in the rear corner her hands can't get it and she has to use a pen to move the pill. 4. If she slept thru or missed a pill time her old machine allowed you to drop a couple missed cups in order. This one uses a rotating carousel and a missed does can only be obtained by removing the lid which in our case can lead to other problems because she lives alone. We had hers set for 4 times a day. The 8am to 9 am was a problem. All to often she would sleep thru the 8am to 9am time. We wound up changing to 3 times a day by combining the 8am & 9am doses and letting her pluck the one 8am pill out and leaving the others on the table for later. That way she had till 1pm, the third dosing, to get her morning pills out of the machine. Fortunately her old machine only did 3 times a day so she was used to this system. It was funny that the main reason we liked having to change machines was a 4 per day ability then we went back to 3 a day. 5. With the old machine the alarm was turned off before getting the pills and was a one step process getting it ready for the next time. With this the alarm goes off when you open the door but you have to close the door before the alarm will work again. This two step process has caused some missed doses at the right time because the poor dear does not always remember to close the door after digging the pills out. Now the two nurses that claimed to be experts on this before we bought it that I had to train to use it have left the company and the ones that replaced them are making the same rookie mistakes setting it up. Then her old nurse returned and for all the reasons cited above they all decided to start using the old machine again! You have no idea how much time I spent giving pills manually during the first few weeks, then learning how to use the machine, then training the so called experts that talked us into buying this one only to see problems and personnel changes take us back to where we started. I just want to hit somebody on the nose with a rolled up newspaper but I don't know who to swat at!

This has worked well for my MIL to ensure her morning medication is taken at the correct time and in the correct dose. She has become very forgetful and had become unreliable about her medication, sometimes omitting a dose, sometimes taking an extra. At assisted living the cost for the facility to supervise her medication (she only takes one pill a day), would be close to $1000/month. So this medication dispenser, which I previously thought was pricey, is a bargain. It is easy to set up and easy to use safely and accurately. It is a great solution for us.

This thing is awesome. My sister loves it so she doesn’t have to remember if or when she took her medication. The alarm is adjustable so you can choose how long that (very loud beep) continues. If she misses one dose, the machine moves to the next position and she cannot overdose. Very easy to use. I wish it came with cards to mark the slots for two times a day, not just three and four doses per day. It’s not a deal breaker by any means, I just labeled it with a market myself. Going to get an extra one so I can swap the trays out and not have to load them in front of her. Well done Med-ready!!!

This is a great little machine. Way better constructed than the last of its type I purchased. Very easy to load. Option for it to be quiet if a screaming alarm is not required. Well worth it