It's not uncommon for medical publishers to try and muscle in on fads that seem to have nothing to do with anything, but Pokemon Go has inspired a ton of possibly specious health care tie-ins -- including one for ICD-10 codes.
Health IT News' ICD-10 Watch, which 10 months after the new codeset's launch must have been starving for a fresh angle, engages Caroline Smart of AthenaHealth to deliver "the top 10 ICD-10 codes relevant to Pokemon injuries." For example: G56.00 Carpla Tunnel Syndrome, Unspecified Upper Limb. Coders are such scamps!
They also cite E86.0 Dehydration and suggested relieving it with a Squirtle, which sounds like some sort of infection risk.
Some stories go for the Pokemon Go Is Good For You approach. "There's one group of children whose lives could change dramatically as a result [of Pokemon Go]: children with autism," announces The Memo before telling us about Lenore Koppelman, whose story of son Ralphie’s Pokemon Go breakthrough lit up Facebook. "As a school psychologist, I would encourage parents to seize the opportunity for their children to capitalize on this gaming experience while at the park or when running errands," says Dr. Peter Faustino at Autism Speaks.
On the other hand, several hospitals are telling people to please stop looking for Jynx, Rattata, Weepinbell and the like on their grounds, as they have been doing, because the people inside are trying to get well.
Medical News Today is torn. On the one hand, "If millions of Americans are walking farther than they normally would on a daily basis, that has the potential to produce a significant benefit to public health." On the other, "people are not paying attention to where they are going. Injuries are rife and, as the game grows ever more popular, this is likely to worsen."
In fact, "The ‘Pokémon Go’ Injuries Are Already Piling Up," reports Cleveland's The Ringer, showing screengrabs of Pokestops taken by players while driving their cars. No word as to whether they hit something besides a high score, but there was a Texas player who was so distracted he got bitten by a poison snake, and another in Forest Grove, Ore., who got stabbed but refused to stop playing long enough to receive medical attention.
You get the idea. This will die down soon enough, and then we can expect a slew of health care stories and press releases about some other topic of general interest ... actually, you know what? Let's stick with Pokemon Go.