Game Boosts ER Doctors’ Choices for Older Patients
A recent study from the University of Pittsburgh demonstrates that a mobile game—Night Shift—can help emergency‑room doctors make faster and more accurate decisions for older patients who have been badly hurt.
- Developed by Dr. Deepika Mohan, a surgeon at Pittsburgh, in partnership with Schell Games.
- Trial participants: 800 ER physicians played the game during a short session and again each quarter.
- Results:
- Doctors who played the game checked patients for serious injury less often (49 % vs. 57 %) than those who didn’t.
- In the following month, outcomes for patients seen by game‑trained doctors improved by 13 %.
How the Game Works
Night Shift places players in a busy trauma unit. Within 90 seconds, they must:
- Choose treatments
- Solve puzzles
- Follow a storyline that mirrors real emergencies
The goal is to train the decision‑making process, aiming to replace or supplement traditional courses like Advanced Trauma Life Support—courses that, according to Mohan, lack proven real‑world impact.
The Inspiration
Mohan’s idea stemmed from witnessing a night of misjudged trauma cases at UPMC Presbyterian. Patients were flown in or transported without proper imaging, leading to missed or delayed injuries—costing both time and money.
She recognized that many medical errors arise from system designs that blame individuals rather than help them improve. By providing a tool that rewires decision patterns, Night Shift could be part of a broader strategy to reduce mistakes.
Future Directions
Mohan plans to test whether this approach works in other medical fields, hoping to demonstrate that targeted simulation can alter performance across healthcare settings.
