Medicines are getting better but only half the people with chronic healthcare problems take their medications as directed. The rest often miss a day or two or take the wrong pills, causing an estimated 10% of all hospital stays and up to 24% of all nursing home admissions. To help people keep on their meds, engineers at InforMedix, Rockville, Md., (informedix.com) developed the Med-eMonitor, an intelligent pillbox. Once programmed, which can be done over the Internet, the videocassette-sized monitor sounds a chime and flashes a red light when it's time for a patient to take their medicine. The monitor also tracks whether the patient takes the pills, eliminating the need for hand-written diaries. The monitor can handle up to 25 different medications per patient, with the five most critical held in the monitor. The other 20 can be stored separately in a “virtual compartment,” which will also handle non-oral medications. When hooked to a phone, the device will also alert family, friends, or healthcare professionals if the patient is not taking medications properly.