As if we didn’t have enough to worry about with drivers distracted by texting—other drivers, of course, never ever you or me—now comes Pokémon Go to engross both drivers and walkers, including millions of children.

The wildly popular game, which combines smartphone camera and GPS functions to place critters in real-world places—tagline: “Gotta catch ’em all!”—has been associated with injuries, accidents and incidents all over the world.

Congregating players have created public nuisances. Youngsters have been lured into danger. Two guys fell off a cliff. Deaths have been reported.

Things have gotten to the point where the American Academy of Orthopaedic surgeons has seen fit to issue a safety warning.

But hey. Let’s not focus only on the negative.

Thanks to Pokémon Go, kids are moving around outdoors rather than vegging out on the couch.

Teens and young adults are claiming relief from anxiety and depression.

And all players are getting happily acquainted with augmented reality (AR), which has major potential for improving healthcare.

If imaginary creatures can be placed on a sidewalk near you, surely medical data can be overlaid where doctors care for patients.

There could also be possibilities for medical research and residency training, possibly combining AR with the fully virtual kind.

Further, as some have been speculating, Pokémon Go-style AR could help people find their way around hospitals, translate medical terminology into layman's language in real time and push healthcare along the road to pricing transparency. (Imagine prices for health services and drug prescriptions popping up via AR such that both physician and patient can see and discuss them.)

Heck, the gains in efficiency, knowledge and even safety might be—sorry, can’t resist—game-changing.

Which is to ask:

Could those young people gumming up the foot traffic, eyes glued to smartphones, become tomorrow’s high-tech, high-touch medical professionals?

Could. The healthcare bug has gotta catch some of ’em.