Are strangers wandering around your health care facility with their noses buried in their smartphones? And if so, what should you do about it? They’re playing Pokémon GO, a location-based augmented reality mobile game that was released for iOS and Android devices on July 6, 2016. Its popularity exceeded all expectations (my kids are probably playing it right now).

The game’s objective requires players to search in real-world locations for icons that appear on a GPS-like virtual map. The icons may represent PokéStops where players may find and capture Pokémon (“pocket monster” characters) that appear on the player’s phone superimposed over images of the real-world location when in augmented reality (AR) mode, and “Gyms” where they can virtually battle other players. Niantic, Inc., a Google spinoff, developed the game and based its PokéStops and Gyms on user-contributed locations (“portals”) from its previous augmented reality game, Ingress. These sites include businesses, parks, public buildings, museums, churches, private homes, and yes, even hospitals.

When players encounter Pokémon, they can take screen shots using their phone’s camera, which in AR mode will also capture whatever is in the background at the time. Naturally, this is giving hospitals and other healthcare facilities some concerns about safety, privacy, and maintaining a peaceful healing environment.  Indeed, in extreme cases of “invasion by Pokémon GO players,” the law of tort or criminal trespass could possibly be invoked by a health care facility in many jurisdictions. Simply stated, the action of trespass can be maintained against anyone who interferes with the right of ownership or possession of land, whether the invasion is by a person or by something that a person has set in motion. However, such an action would undoubtedly create a media sensation and must be carefully considered before undertaking it

The game has already made headlines for contributing to incidents where deeply-absorbed players have been injured by following their phones into the path of danger. The Advisory Board reports that the game has directed players near a hospital’s helipad Amid ‘Pokémon Go’ craze, hospitals say game players could jeopardize patient safety. Healthcare Business and Technology reports “The sheer amount of unauthorized visitors has raised safety concerns about everything from security issues to increased germ exposure that heightens patients’ risk of infections.” Pokemon Go causes problems for hospitals: How to respond.

Ban it? Embrace it?

Accordingly, some hospitals have asked players to avoid their campuses or banned the game outright. Others have forbidden their staffs from playing the game while on site, according to Healthcare IT News. The game appeals to a surprisingly wide age group since many adults have fond memories of playing the original Nintendo game in the mid-1990’s.

For HIPAA purposes, the use of smartphone cameras in the game can be problematic. At a recent meeting of the Healthcare Council of Western Pennsylvania, compliance officers reported that they had discovered PokéStops in their facility near patient care areas where records were potentially visible. Hospitals certainly do not want to encourage or permit individuals to wander their halls who are not there to obtain care or visit patients they know.

Many hospitals have policies on use of cameras or camera phones on campus, and those policies should be reviewed and recirculated to staff as well as communicated to patients and visitors in light of the popularity of the game.

Some children’s hospitals, however, are big fans of the game and its ability to motivate hospitalized kids to be more physically active and socially interactive. USA Today reports:

In the past, young patients at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich., shuffled down the hallways without speaking to each other, but now it’s not uncommon to see them stop and talk near a Pokémon Go hotspot.

Advocate Children’s hospital in Oak Lawn/Park Ridge, IL tweeted a photo of a young patient playing the game with the caption “Luke’s mom says @Pokemon Go has been a lifesaver to get him out of his hospital room and moving around!” We hope they had Luke’s mom’s permission for the tweet. Toronto’s Sunnybrook Hospital tweeted : “We love that #PokemonGO encourages exercise! Remember: stay alert & safe. Can’t catch ’em all from a hospital bed.” Of course HIPAA is not an issue in Canada, but there is Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA). And a meme is circulating featuring an anime-style nurse which reads “

Hey Pokémon Go players. Have extra lures? Then drive to your nearest Children’s Hospital and drop the lure there. There are plenty of kids who would love to go out and collect Pokémon, but they are stuck in bed, so this will help them.”

(Lures are markers players can collect and distribute within the game that help attract Pokémon).

Wipe yourself off the map?

Hospitals are not the only unwilling hosts of PokéStops and Gyms. The Holocaust Museum and Arlington National Cemetery are among locations that are included in the game’s map. As a result of objections, Niantic has set up a link to a form on its web site through which you can request removal of a PokéStop or Gym. It is not clear how long it will take for the company to remove an unwelcome site.

It’s common these days for technology to outpace policy, but it’s a good idea to understand this sudden craze and decide how to approach it in your organization.