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So I just stepped out for a slice of pizza (vegetarian) at Vinnie’s around the corner from my apartment. They’re a bit famous due to their pizza and also for their trash can.
I ordered a slice and sat down inside to eat it. There are seats on both sides of the shop. It just so happened that there were 6 skinny people with one slice each on one side and 6 overweight people on the other with two slices each. It was odd that the restaurant was split up like that, but not that odd when it comes to portion size and weight. It just made me think…what is it about skinny people’s brains that tell them to limit the quantity of food they eat? What happened in their lives that instilled in them this behavior? Is it something they were born with? Or did they have to rewire their understanding and relationship with food? How much did their friend ordering one slice have to do with their decision to order one slice? Nature, nurture, and in-the-moment social cues…
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Prescribing a medication with an iPad.
When doctors use computers, their productivity decreases by 18%. Here’s a perfect example why. Watch this video and then imagine how long it takes for a doctor to whip out their prescription pad, scribble a name, a drug, a signature, and hand it to the patient. And for the record, I love these guys who built the app…I know them personally and they do great work. They’re pushing the boundaries on how doctors use computers.
Electronic Medical Records won’t save healthcare when the competition is productivity and paper.
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My take over at The Future Well about What if health solutions are unmeasurable?:
Almost every Sunday night, I walk to this one restaurant in my neighborhood for some comfort food (we’re creatures of habit aren’t we?). I pass a church on my way where an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting is held almost every night. As I walk through the crowd of smokers, I look at them and they look at me. They don’t know that I know they’re recovering addicts. And they put a smile on my face. They’ve taken the initiative to change their lives, restructure their lifestyle, and improve their health. They’ve realized that overcoming bad lifestyle takes friends, family, and professionals…
photo by Bill Henson.
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Just stumbled across this photo of my brother (look at him now…so proud!), my mom, and me (left) circa 1980. Aww…
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(via hazal, jonathan-deamer)
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Dieting Trumps Sex, Career, and TV. Really?
Feeling fat. Nearly a third of Americans confess to being self-conscious about their bodies.
Feeling Sexy. A majority of Americans (66 percent) who say they need to lose weight to feel sexier than they currently do, think it will take an average of 23 pounds of weight loss for this to happen.
Diet Trumps Sex. More than half (52 percent) of American women would take a summer without sex over gaining 10 pounds; a quarter of American men (25 percent) said they would make the same sacrifice
Diet trumps Career. More Americans would prefer to shed 10 to 20 pounds this summer (25 percent) than get promoted at work (20 percent).
Diet trumps TV. Almost three out of four Americans (73 percent) are willing to give up television, their cell phones or their computers for a flat tummy this beach season.
via fooducate (one of my favorite blogs).
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$76k for an emergency appendectomy (via Boing Boing)
Reblogging for Jay. Pharma can’t cost that much, can it?
Healthcare services can cost whatever they want when you’re an individual paying cash. The issue here is that if we had an easily searchable way for us to know what Medicare or private insurance companies have negotiated this stay for, I’m sure this uninsured individual would be happy to negotiate say 10% over the cost of what Medicare would pay. However, this is probably closer to $15,000, not $76,574.85.
If the government would open up this data, individuals would be far better healthcare consumers. Unfortunately, Medicare, in cahoots with the private insurance companies, has I’m sure been asked to keep consumers in the dark. But that’s just wild speculation…
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Only termites, naked mole rats and certain insects like ants and bees construct social networks as complex as those of human beings. In that elite little club, humans are the only ones who shop…Current research suggests that, unlike consumption of material goods, spending on leisure and services typically strengthens social bonds, which in turn helps amplify happiness. (Academics are already in broad agreement that there is a strong correlation between the quality of people’s relationships and their happiness; hence, anything that promotes stronger social bonds has a good chance of making us feel all warm and fuzzy.)Consumers Find Ways to Spend Less and Find Happiness
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An update on my work environment:
Since I bought my “standing desk” about one month ago, I now don’t even realize I’m standing all day while I work. I designed my environment around me to encourage a certain kind of behavior I’ve deemed healthy.
And now I don’t even know I’m being healthy. I’m just working.
That’s how behavior change happens. Design your life to fit the behavior you want to encourage.
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All this mosque talk just makes me wonder.
Can’t NYC just be our own country? The 5 boroughs are the 7th largest economy in the world…let’s give it a go!
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(via ilovecharts)
Although this is interesting, it frustrates me that “additional average life expectancy” is featured so prominently. I think it’s a metric that’s outgrown its usefullness. When life expectancy was growing like mad over the past 100 years, it was useful. Now its growth isn’t so dramatic. The real questions are:
- Do we really want to live as 90 year olds for as long as we can?
- Should we really keep people alive so that we don’t even know who’s dying anymore?
We should be focused more on “additional happiness expected after age 65.” Unfortunately, that’s too waffly for the doctor and statistician types.
I’m a pediatrician and preventive medicine specialist with a masters in public health. Fast Company calls me The Doctor of the Future and one of The Top 10 Most Creative People in Health Care.
I have a design and consulting firm called The Future Well. We design products and services that have a positive impact on health and happiness. Read more about me here.
