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Professional Cover Tracing: Enhancing Property Value
8 months ago
Friday, June 25, 2010
It's Healthrageous!
A Boston-based start up may have a powerful tool to help individuals overcome their unhealthy behavior. The company, Healthrageous, a is a spinout of Partners Center for Connected Health. The startup’s software is designed to automatically give people personalized advice to help them reach health goals such as losing weight, lowering blood pressure, or controlling their diabetes. However, unlike a lot of personal health record products which depend on a user to conscientiously update the information about their health status, Healthrageous says they will automate the gathering of essential biometric data. They will do this by linking wireless monitoring devices such as glucose meters directly to a users online personal health record. The company's software will then be able to provide feedback to the user,offering advise and motivation to help the user achieve desired health goals. The feedback can be delivered to an internet-connected computer, mobile phone, or even via snail mail. For a closer look at this company's new offering check out this article by Ryan McBride at XConomy Boston
Thursday, July 16, 2009
One Way to Lower Health Costs: Pay People to be Healthy
Good news: Health costs as little as $3 a day. At least, that's all it took in one recent study for several patients to forgo bad behaviors that put their health at risk.
Each year, more than 40% of premature deaths in the United States result from unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, over-eating or failing to take medications as prescribed. Physicians routinely struggle to get patients to give up their bad habits for the sake of their long-term health, yet 20% of Americans still smoke, and 71% are either overweight or obese.
"We know that people in the short term have a lot of trouble changing
their behavior in ways that is in their long-term best interest," says Kevin Volpp, Wharton professor of medicine and health care management, and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "People aren't very good at making these tradeoffs between immediate gratification and delayed and often intangible benefits, such as good health 10 years from now."
As director of Penn's Center for Health Incentives, part of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, Volpp is in perpetual pursuit of carrots that will lure patients away from lethal behaviors. In a series of ongoing studies, Volpp has found evidence that money can motivate some patients to stop smoking, lose weight or keep up with their daily medication. Read more on the results of these studies here
Each year, more than 40% of premature deaths in the United States result from unhealthy behaviors such as smoking, over-eating or failing to take medications as prescribed. Physicians routinely struggle to get patients to give up their bad habits for the sake of their long-term health, yet 20% of Americans still smoke, and 71% are either overweight or obese.
"We know that people in the short term have a lot of trouble changing
their behavior in ways that is in their long-term best interest," says Kevin Volpp, Wharton professor of medicine and health care management, and a professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "People aren't very good at making these tradeoffs between immediate gratification and delayed and often intangible benefits, such as good health 10 years from now."
As director of Penn's Center for Health Incentives, part of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, Volpp is in perpetual pursuit of carrots that will lure patients away from lethal behaviors. In a series of ongoing studies, Volpp has found evidence that money can motivate some patients to stop smoking, lose weight or keep up with their daily medication. Read more on the results of these studies here
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