Increasingly, digital games are becoming an important tool in helping patients get better. And that's only likely to become more the case as time goes on, according to Carleen Hawn, editor of Healthspottr.com, who's written an article outlining digital gaming and health trends for this week's Health Affairs.

Studies by PriceWaterhouseCoopers estimate that the worldwide market for game hardware and software produced $42 billion in revenue in 2007, and should hit $68 billion by 2012.

Right now, digital health games generate only $6.6 billion or so of that revenue, but with the success of products like the Wii Fit Balance Board, that number could grow rapidly, embracing options such as virtual reality, computer simulations and online play.

Since 2008, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has already pledged $8.25 million to fund development of digital health games, and as interest grows in this category, expect to see venture capitalists begin to fund new digital health ventures, Hawn predicts.

What's more, Hawn has begun to observe health plans dabbling in digital health gaming as well. For example, she notes that Humana has been testing a game called Horsepower Challenge among 100 sixth-graders, which encourages them to walk and records their steps with a pedometer. After four weeks, Humana found a 13 percent increase in steps the kids took.

To learn more about Hawn's research:
- read this Healthcare IT News piece

Related Article:
Does your hospital offer "wiihab?"