Resilient Ambassadors of Change

Attention, please!

Check out this video, which asks you to count how many times a ball is passed between players. Can you keep up?

Apparently, that exercise fools about 50% of people. And now, check out this updated version (for those who already know the punchline to the first video):

Laugh, Sing, and Eat Like a Pig

How did I miss this?! That'll teach me to take a vacation while a future best seller hits the marketplace!

When I first heard that Dave deBronkart (aka e-Patient Dave) was writing a book, several thoughts went through my mind. The first one being, "I wonder if he'll be kind enough to autograph mine for me?" Less selfish musings quickly followed. It's a story that needs telling. He'll definitely make it to Oprah. When it's a best seller--it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. I'm sure hundreds, if not thousands of people have an e-Patient Dave story to tell.

Looking at dating websites is all in a day’s work.

logo pulled from Junebug's website

We've talked about search engines customizing your results according to what you seem to usually like at work (and here on the blog), so when I heard a very brief mention of a "new" dating website called Junebug this morning on NPR, I thought I should mention it.

Whatever you do… don’t get sick in July.

Take two and call me in the morning! Wait, maybe take three? Or is it one... What's your diagnosis again?

I just finished reading the transcript of an interview on NPR with David Phillips, a sociologist at UCSD. He did a study on medication errors that spike in July... most likely because of new residents who aren't used to sleep deprivation and just plain aren't ready to practice on their own yet.

What one can do when one discovers one is related to Lizzie Borden

this is your non-psychopathic brain not on drugs

Recently at work we’ve been exploring the potential for using information from brain imaging technologies to assess individual performance. For example, could we learn about how well a person multi-tasks by giving them some simple puzzles and scanning their brain? Anyway, this has been on my mind for the past few weeks, and then I heard this story on NPR this morning that really made me think.

Filter bubbles–What price personalization?

You know those recommendations you get from your favorite websites? A few come to mind--books from Borders, music from Pandora, just about anything from eBay? Sometimes they're spot on, sometimes not. I couldn't have been more surprised when I opened an email a few months ago, and the very first recommended item from Amazon.com was a walker. I didn't know whether to laugh or take offense. I'm no spring chicken, but seriously, a walker!! The thought did cross my mind...nah, there's no way Amazon could possibly know that bilateral knee replacements are common in my family.

Can usability heuristics be used to evaluate patient experience?

I don't remember when I first learned about the concept of "usability", but I haven't been able to let go of it ever since. Usability is basically the ease with which something can be used to serve the intended purpose. For example, a usable website is one that gets you the information you want in an efficient, simple manner. A door knob is usable if it turns easily and opens the door. Systems and processes can also be examined with a usability lens - did the customer have to wait long at the register? Did the automated phone system eventually lead you to a person to address your question?

Evidence from Patients Like Me

What is evidence? I ask myself this question fairly often since I work in innovation. In trying to generate disruptive and transformative ideas, it is important to understand what has been "established", and why. The next question is: should it change? If so, how?

Will Foursquare incentivize life?

I joined Foursquare today. I am officially a newbie!

Why did it take me so long? Aside from a hectic schedule and generally being overwhelmed by information, I quite frankly didn't want folks to know my whereabouts at that level of detail. The gaming aspect alone was not enough to draw me - I could care less about earning points by checking in to cool placees, and becoming a mayor. For me, the tipping point was internally motivated; I thought, "Where might this go in the future?" and suddenly my brain imploded. I did a bit of research.

Your chance to help shape healthcare innovation

I just happened to catch the local news on NBC tonight, and Harvard Business School professor and author Clayton Christensen (Innovator's Prescription) was being interviewed about his latest endeavor--a National University on Healthcare Innovation. In the interview, he compared the national healthcare discussions to the Tower of Babel saying that policy makers need, among other things, a common language to get everyone on the same page and to explore solutions for more accessible and affordable healthcare. He plans to do this by getting key decision makers collaborating in summits across the country. The first summit is targeted for Philadelphia and may take place as early as June 2010. Very few details are available, but it's early yet.