The Gamification of Healthcare: Emergence of the Digital Practitioner?

Gamification in healthcare is gaining momentum, with attempts to apply gaming principles to improve patient clinical outcomes. This trend establishes the need for a “digital practitioner” who channels these games, monitors progress, and selects the most appropriate ones for a given patient.

The application of behavioral economics principles in healthcare has been transformed through the use of technology and recently the advent of video gaming concepts, or gamification, to modify patient behaviors. The role of practitioners in the era of gamification has not been well established, but it is possible that the need has arisen for development of clinical practice guidelines and the “digital practitioner”: one who specializes in healthcare apps, accepts referrals from other practitioners, identifies the best programs to meet individual patient needs, and consults to assess whether game apps might improve clinical outcomes.

To read more about this emerging trend published in the American Journal of Managed Care, written by Eli Phillips, Jr., PharmD, JD, click here.