Duwtjes in de goede richting?

‘Nudging’ is the subtle stimulation of desirable behaviour based on insights from behavioural psychology. ‘Nudges’ can be used to change patient behaviour; they can, however, also be used on medical professionals. We applied a literature study to map this form of behavioural influence among medical professionals. Different categories can be defined, such as ‘reminders’ in electronic prescription systems and making differences in prescription behaviours between doctors visible. Some of these interventions are not labelled ‘nudges’, which is problematic because there is ongoing debate about whether certain forms of behavioural influence are ethically responsible. Nudging has the potential to change behaviour, but must be applied with attention to contextual factors such as the medical issue in question, the goal of influencing and the type of professional. I advise transparency about the use of nudges and checking whether there is support among medical professionals before using them.

Conflict of interest and financial support: potential conflicts of interest have been reported for this article. ICMJE forms provided by the authors are available online along with the full text of this article.