The signal to noise...

Interested in “operant conditioning” (better known as behavior change)?  Then this is a must read for you, especially if you’re interested in behavior change for health.  This article from June 1, 2012 (Back to the Future, anyone?) in the Atlantic provides great background into the initial research around behavior modification by Harvard’s B.F. Skinner from 60 years ago pioneered by that is now being incorporated into various new products and technologies via mHealth and health 2.0. 

To your health,

-cch

Food & health survey: more Americans believe eating healthy is harder than doing taxes!  More interesting insights in this recently released report, including the statistics that more than half of Americans (55%) are trying to lose weight. 

To your health,

-cch

Great interview with Professor Christensen.  I love the fact that he remains so grounded spiritually and is able to integrate that into his work and in helping others.  For those that don’t believe in God, he has very cogent thoughts about why everyone should try and find fulfilling work and determine their mission in life:

“Maybe I would say that everyone would be judged at the end. People might not believe that there’s a God that will assess what we did, but certainly everybody who knows you will assess what you did. The fact that you are no longer here may just be a fleeting thought because you didn’t make an impact on them for the good. Or it may be that you affected them for ill; then they could actually be quite happy that you’re…you know.

Or it may be that you affected them in profound ways, so that they remember you long after you’re gone, because of the impact that you had on them. And I think that everybody cares about how they will be judged.”

-cch

Good perspective here. Need more techies in health and collaboration. -cch

natsturner:

In my brief time as an angel investor and future healthcare IT entrepreneur, I’ve noticed that there just aren’t that many true technology entrepreneurs in healthcare. It’s well known that healthcare is way behind in terms of technology innovation and adoption, so this is a problem. I know for…

Excellent article about the US healthcare system and analysis of our spend problem in the context of our friends around the world. We need to fix this problem ASAP, as the author rightly points out - it impacts our national security and fiscal viability.

-cch

Data, Design, Diabetes innovation challenge, Wednesday 05/16 @ the Blueprint Health offices in NYC!  And don’t forget for those healthtech or digital health innovators out there, Blueprint is accepting applications now for the 2nd accelerator class starting July 23rd.

Spread the word… diabetes is a huge problem impacting our country on so many levels, and we need people from multidisciplinary backgrounds involved in helping develop solutions!

-cch

startuphealth:

Data Design Diabetes is a next-generation challenge that casts a wide net to the innovator community to find a breakthrough in improving the quality, delivery, and cost of care, to help millions of Americans living with diabetes. Demo Day will provide an opportunity to learn more…

Ahh, the power of social media through technology to do good for society and public health in particular.  Though I’m still not a FB member.  :)

-cch

jayparkinsonmd:

Nearly 7,000 people in the United States die each year while waiting for an organ transplant. It is a number that Facebook hopes to lower with its vast network of 161 million members in this country.

The company announced a plan on Tuesday morning to encourage everyone on Facebook to start advertising their donor status on their pages, along with their birth dates and schools — a move that it hopes will create peer pressure to nudge more people to add their names to the rolls of registered organ donors.

Excellent coverage of the leading mhealth products on the market for the quantified self fanatics out there.  This is a thorough review primarily of the Jawbone UP, but comparisons to the Nike Fuelband and FitBit are also included. The review is comprehensive, covering both the device itself (physical form factor, features) and the UI/UX (with the device and app).

-cch

Given the exploding US diabetes epidemic, this recent study is bad news for publichealth and ultimately our economy.  In essence, this research shows that more children are developing Type 2 diabetes (previously adult on-set diabetes) at earlier ages, and standard treatments (drugs and lifestyle modifications) that work reasonably well for adults (well, for those that are actually compliant) aren’t as effective in children.  People with diabetes cost ~$13,200 per year or ~5x as much as healthy individuals. 

We need greater and more coordinated focus on this problem, else despite health reform and Obamacare, in 20-25 years there will still be a major healthcare crisis in the US that will bankrupt this country.

-cch

Here is a nice post that my buddy & fellow HealthTech enthusiast @Geoffclapp wrote about the healthtech incubator Rock Health in tems of what it strives to do as a program and what he has experienced as an engaged mentor. It’s a rebuttal to a very interesting and uninformed post by MedCityNews the other day disparaging what startup incubators as a whole, and HealthTech ones specifically such as Blueprint Health, Rock Health, and HealthBox are doing to promote innovation and entrepreneurship. Worth the read - but bottom line is that sharing means caring. If you’re really passionate about innovation, you are welcome to trade ideas and participate in pushing this community forward. Everything isn’t peaches and cream and certainly there are many things everyone can do better and there will be hiccups and failures. But don’t sit from the sidelines and be an arm chair quarterback and critic - get in the game and help improve healthcare in this country.

-cch