While listening to NPR yesterday on my way home from work, I was enthralled by the news of Amazon's $970 million cash acquisition of Twitch. The news had me thinking of Fitbits, Wii Fit and for some reason the Disney movie Lilo and Stitch....perhaps that was tangentially due to the name "Twitch".
Anyhow, gaming within the recreational entertainment industry has amassed a huge uptake and following over the past decade. The Entertainment Software Association reported in 2013 that well over half of Americans play video games and that 51% own at least one gaming console. Twitch, is an online video platform and community that allows gamers to come together in play, as well as to view and follow gamers in the system. Twitch is reported to already have 55 million unique users and consumes nearly 2% of peak internet traffic, which beats out HBO GO, Facebook and Hulu.
What does this have to do with this blog, healthcare, pharmacy or advocacy? Well, the news of the acquisition of Twitch had me thinking, if only there was company with the clout and financial stability of an Amazon for healthcare and "Twitch-like" platform for health and wellness. When I think about the huge burdens that we face in healthcare--access, affordability, the shortage of healthcare professionals, quality issues with transitions of care, and the burgeoning impact of obesity and a rapidly growing senior population--I cannot help but imagine the potential positive impact on society and our healthcare system if Twitch was a 55 million plus connected wellness platform filled with various health-related avatars.
I think most of us would agree that gaming has secured a small healthcare-related niche, such as with Wii Games being used to help children, families and seniors be more active; but, gaming in healthcare is still in its infancy. A number of research and development companies are exploring applications of virtual reality and higher levels of gaming and simulation to help with mental health, behavioral modification for addiction and various medical conditions, such as pain management. The future is promising for gaming in healthcare, but where will pharmacy fit into this very digital environment? Should pharmacy like medicine be partnering with tech companies? Can you envision individuals in the future creating their own pharmacist-avatars? Could gaming be used to assist with medication-taking behaviors to address non-adherence? As a profession shouldn't we be at the design table now?
I can definitely see healthcare merging with modern technology more and more in order to create a more convenient and less costly (overtime) approach to treating patients. I can easily see devices and even "controllers" being used to take vitals and upload patient data to their primary care office or specialist instead of having physical office visits each month for minor follow-ups. I could even see these devices having possible glucose strip slots for diabetic patient to upload blood glucose strips to get BG readings which would automatically be synced to their electronic medical record. Although there would have to be strict security measures and protection in place for the type of system, I can definitely see it as a true possibility in the future. Also by doctors having virtual access to "real time" patient data they can see if therapy adjustments need to be made at any point in time and could possibly prevent complications that would normally land a patient in the hospital due to infrequency of follow-up appointments, because a physician can only see so many patient in a day. Technology can thus make healthcare of the future more effective, yet more preventative and patient focused all at the same time.
ReplyDeleteI can see a promising way for the pharmacy profession to be incorporated into the gaming world: inputting the patient's individual medications into the system and having the system provide periodic counseling points and adherence reminders for the individual medication regimens. The caveat to this is that the system has to assume that the patient has a certain minimum level of health literacy to be able to accurately enter their chronic medications and the correct administration parameters. One way to eliminate that issue would be provided if the pharmacy is contracted with the tech company in that they are able to provide a certain code (or something along those lines) that is unique to that patient that they can add into the system and their medication regimens will automatically populate. Obviously, if this was all able to happen, the system would be smart enough to monitor adherence and report back to the pharmacy/physician's office and improve outcomes overall.
ReplyDeleteWith telepharmacy increasing in prevalence I believe that pharmacy implementing virtual avatars such as those used in video games would benefit the profession. Many patients do not feel comfortable interacting with machines or other advanced technology in healthcare, but when the same technology reflects characteristics and attributes of a human they are less weary. Avatars of pharamacist can be used to counsel patients and assist with education such as proper ways to use inhalers or inject insulin. As the technology savvy generation begins to age, innovations such as these will be fully embraced and advanced even more.
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