RUN! Zombies are chasing you!

Your mission is to help the planet avoid a zombie apocalypse.

That's the motivation in Zombies, Run! 2, an app for iPhone and Android that challenges you to reach your goals through "Zombie Chase" interval training. 

In Zombies, Run! 2, you are inserted in a gripping storyline where you must achieve your fitness goals to move the story forward. Here you'll trade the usual encouraging and inspirational messages (like "you can do it" and "you really rocked today") for zombie-related messages ("they're right on your tail; don't look back!" and "they spotted you — run!").

This app is another example of "gamification" — using game theory and tactics to incent people and improve engagement. A proliferation of apps and devices now help connect you to your health — from tracking activity and sleep to counting calories and nutritional breakdown of food.

If you fear zombies — and it will make you run faster, further and more often — this is the fitness app for you.

Zombies, Run! 2 is out now on iOS and Android, with new missions, a new look, and new base-builder gameplay! Visit http://www.zombiesrungame.com to buy it now!

Achieving better health through gamification (a personal journey)

Almost three years ago, I decided to take control of my health: Lose weight, eat right, be healthy.

Success! I'm down 70 pounds, off all medications and eat vegetables I previously couldn't pronounce.

I did it the old-fashioned way (with some present-day help!) — I now eat less, exercise more, watch my diet and get more sleep.

Was it easy? No way. Worth it? Oh, yeah!

Americans spend more than $60 billion each year on dieting and 50 percent of Americans say they are actively trying something to lose or maintain their weight. The average person makes four attempts a year to lose weight — with 95 percent failing and gaining the weight back within five years.

With so many people failing, what was my secret?

Gamification and technology.

A number of iPhone apps helped me achieve my health goals.

Studies have shown that it takes 21 days to create a new habit or break a bad habit. But most people have a hard time sticking with something for three weeks.

That's where technology comes in, powered by the concept of "gamification" — using game theory and tactics to incent people and improve engagement. A proliferation of apps and devices now helps connect you to your health — from tracking your activity and sleep to counting calories and the nutritional breakdown of what you eat.

My secret was Lose It!, an iPhone app that allows me to track calories and exercise. Lose It! made a “game” out of my health — my challenge was to always have a "green" day (good!) and never have a "red" day (bad!). And I was rewarded regularly with achievement badges (think Boy Scout merit badges) congratulating me on my incremental achievements (I have earned 43 with four to go!).

Nike+ GPS watch

And it got better. Lose It! doesn't work alone — it's part of a bigger and burgeoning health data ecosystem. The app ties in with my Nike+ running app and my Nike+ GPS watch that I wear while running to automatically add those miles and "positve calories" to my log. It also ties in with my Jawbone UP, which tracks my all-day movement and my sleep.

Together, these apps and devices give me a sharper picture of my overall health and suggest ways to maintain or improve. And there are social functions I can share with my family and friends so they can continue to encourage me.

Gamification has long been successful outside of health care to incent users to make purchasing decisions — buy more, get discounts, gain an elite status level or join a premium club.

Jawbone UP

Now health care is harnessing gamification for patient engagement. Apps like Lose It! and devices like the Jawbone UP, Nike+ FuelBand and FitBit do it at the individual level — you are largely "playing" against yourself and your own goals.

But gamification's real power may be at the community level — bringing together groups of people, through the power of technology, social media and support groups, to make tangible health changes. A great example is NBC's "Biggest Loser" show, which has encouraged many communities to "lose weight together" (see what they are doing in Fall River, Mass.!).

As we move squarely toward preventive care, gamification at the community level can support greater engagement and encouragement. You are no longer in this alone — the group is counting on your contribution to achieve a collective goal.

Gamification challenges, encourages and supports its users. They become winners — and so does their community and your health system.

And, returning to my own story, here's a bonus secret: A 15-plus minute walk after dinner — every night and in addition to your regular exercise regimen — will do splendid things for your metabolism!

 This post originally appeared on EngagingPatients.org, a blog dedicated to advancing patient and family-centered care. I am a member of the Engaging Patients Advisory Board and write for the blog. 

It's like throwing a scalpel at a dartboard

Where's the best hospital to have surgery? Maybe not where you think.

A new study by Consumer Reports ("Safer-Surgery Survival Guide," July 2013) shows that some of the best known hospitals may not be your best bet for surgery. 

“Consumers have very little to go on when trying to select a hospital for surgery, not knowing which ones do a good job at keeping surgery patients safe and which ones don’t,” says Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumers Union’s Safe Patient Project. “They might as well just throw a scalpel at a dartboard.”

Our new Surgery Ratings are part of an ongoing effort to shed light on hospital quality and to push the health care industry toward more transparency. “Because patients and their families shouldn’t have to make such important decisions with so little information,” McGiffert says.

The CR study looks at the percentage of Medicare patients who underwent surgery and either died in hospital or had to stay longer than expected. The rankings look at 27 different surgical procedures.

Rankings are important — and many hospitals are tops in something — but rankings are not the only source you should be seeking when deciding where to have your operation. Rankings and quality report cards should be carefully weighed with other important criteria, including convenience, access and the skill, experience and bedside manner of the surgeon (or maybe a medical student in a teaching hospital) who is wielding that scalpel.

You need to be as close as possible to 100 percent comfortable with your decision before committing.

Source: WebMD

The Irish are on to something

An enterprising young fundraiser in Ireland has hatched a novel idea to help small non-profits who need a bit of a lift.

It's called Charity Hack 2013 — a 12-hour design charrette of sorts that brings together a team of professional fundraisers to create campaigns to help neophyte non-profits.

Kevin Delaney, the self-proclaimed Hacker-in-Chief whose day job is coordinating Ireland's version of the Relay for Life, concocted the idea with the hopes of giving struggling non-profits a way to tap into some talent they otherwise never could have afforded. 

Delaney and his team have picked five Irish organizations that will benefit from kick-ass fundraising campaigns and are hoping to gather 25 fundraising pros to provide their expertise (they're almost there!).

The results? Well, we'll find out. They get together on August 10 in Dublin to work their magic.

This is an incredible example of how "crowdsourcing" and "kickstarting" can make communities richer and more connected.

A health care reform wizard for businesses

The health care reform information deluge continues.

The White House today announced a new web-based "wizard" to help businesses of all size sort out information about the Affordable Care Act. Businesses answer a few questions — state, size, type of insurance offered or expected — and the wizard delivers information resources.

Read the White House's announcement.