Is Tonic Health gamification the cure for what ails me?

Back in August I wrote a piece entitled, “What is the Greatest Mobile Health Challenge?” In this post I asked what the greatest challenge that gamification could solve. My answer:

Providing interoperable records that take the burden of collecting and distributing health data away from the patient.

Those managing chronic disease are often meeting with various clinicians depending on specialty and treatment protocol. It often falls upon the patient to manage their health data. Those with chronic disease can be bounced around like pin balls collecting data from one provider to the next so that they can get the best care possible. This becomes patient as a manual ETL, and it is unacceptable given the technologies that are available today.

Good UX Means Good Business

In a world where technology is rapidly advancing and user expectations are rising, it’s no longer enough to have an average user experience; to delight your users and surpass your competition you must strive for the exceptional.

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Providers should be enabling patients by providing an engaging environment where they can interact with their data seamlessly and in a format they can understand. The objective should be to build a system that makes data collection seamless and secure. With their data in the palm of their hand, mobile technology can be used to help patients manage their chronic illness in partnership with their providers. All of this would happen through a joint partnership between physician and patient toward the ultimate goal of wellness.

Gamified Data Collection

Once health data is properly integrated and provided to the patient in mobile format, that information can then be integrated into disease management apps that engage the patient in managing their care. By balancing every day care with the engagement provided through mobile applications, patients are truly enabled in their care.

With my eye on the prize of gamified medical records, I regularly comb the news for information on healthcare gamification. Early this week I came across an article on Springwise about a solution called Tonic Health. Tonic Health is used to make patient data collection engaging and reliable through a gamified iPad-based platform. By using Tonic Health, providers can rid their offices of clipboards and make the data collection process more enjoyable for patients. Another plus to this system is that its graphic interface makes it easier on the elderly or those that struggle with literacy.

So, is this the cure for what ails me? Not quite, but I think we just got one step closer.