A Trial of a Video Game Intervention to Recalibrate Physician Heuristics

A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Video Game Intervention to Recalibrate Physician Heuristics

The objective of this study is to compare the efficacy of a video game designed to recalibrate physician heuristics in trauma triage with a standard educational program.

Treatment at trauma centers improves outcomes for patients with moderate-to-severe injuries. Accordingly, professional organizations, state authorities, and the federal government have endorsed the systematic triage and transfer of these patients to trauma centers either directly from the field or after evaluation at a non-trauma center. Nonetheless, between 30 to 40% of patients with moderate-to-severe injuries still only receive treatment at non-trauma centers, so-called under-triage. Most of this under-triage occurs because of physician decisions (rather than first-responder decisions). Existing efforts to change physician decision making focus primarily on knowledge of clinical practice guidelines and attitudes towards the guidelines. These strategies ignores the growing consensus that decision making reflects both knowledge as well as intuitive judgments (heuristics). Heuristics, mental short cuts based on pattern recognition, drive the majority of decision making. The investigators have developed an adventure video game (Night Shift) to serve as a novel method of recalibrating physician heuristics in trauma triage and will compare its efficacy with a standard educational program.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Physicians who care for adult patients in the Emergency Department.
• Physicians who work at a non-trauma center.
• Physicians who work at a Level III/IV trauma center.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Physicians who work at a Level I/II trauma center.
• Physicians who do not practice in the US.