In the rapidly evolving landscape of digital health, gamification has emerged as a powerful tool to enhance patient engagement and improve health outcomes. In the fifth episode of Sheppard Mullin's Health-e Law Podcast, Craig Lund, co-founder and CEO of Mightier, shed light on this innovative technology with Sheppard Mullin's Digital Health Team co-chairs, Sara Shanti and Phil Kim.
Gamification as a Bridge to Better Health
Gamification in healthcare transcends traditional treatment methods by incorporating elements of play and entertainment into therapeutic practices. Craig Lund, with his rich background in digital health, emphasized gamification's potential to make healthcare more engaging, particularly for younger demographics. By blending the allure of video games with therapeutic goals, gamification can address the challenges of patient motivation and engagement, both of which are crucial factors in the success of healthcare interventions. Indeed, the experiential nature and easy scalability of gamification show promise to help address the current pediatric mental health crisis.
Future Roles of Gamification
Gamification also has a role outside of pediatric care, such as in wellness. At its core, gamification helps to address the challenge of promoting patient interest and motivation, which in turn encourages patients to remain engaged with treatment to effectuate higher quality results. This process is facilitated by both short term and long term goals, which help to keep the treatment process both interesting and entertaining.
Navigating the Path to Accessibility and Reimbursement
Two pivotal aspects of integrating gamification into healthcare include ensuring accessibility and securing reimbursement pathways. Lund discussed the importance of reaching patients with minimal barriers, as well as the role of innovative reimbursement models in achieving this goal. By working with payers to establish gamification tools as forms of traditional behavioral health treatment rather than treatments requiring a prescription will be critical for gamification products to become both successful and accessible. In addition, Lund also highlighted that it is critical to collaborate with payers to coordinate member outreach.
The Bottom Line
While gamification presents tremendous promise, it also faces a number of challenges, including regulatory compliance issues. It will be more important than ever to carefully navigate these hurdles, particularly in the highly relegated healthcare industry.
To listed to this episode, click here.
Originally published April 23, 2024.
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