Interviews, quotes and videos



NPR

How to Gamify Your Exercise to Make It More Enjoyable

Dec 2022

For an episode of Life Kit, NPR's Vincent Acovino explores ways you can gamify your exercise to make it more enjoyable, and help you reach your goals.

NPR

How to Make Your Workout as Fun as a Video Game, according to Behavioral Scientists

Sep 2022

Can gamification energize your excise routine? Use these tips from leading behavioral scientists.

Freakonomics MD

Should We Pay People to Be Healthier?

Jan 2022

Each year, millions of people get sick or die from diseases caused by their own unhealthy behavior. Getting people to change their bad habits – to quit smoking, eat better, or exercise – can be extremely hard. But what if we paid them?

Full Frontal with Samantha Bee

What Can Be Done to Nudge Vaccine Distribution Forward?

Mar 2021

Despite more and more people becoming eligible for vaccination, it seems like vaccine distribution is operating way below “warp speed.” Sam talked to an independent pharmacist and the Director of the Penn Medicine Nudge Unit to see how the government could step up their game.

Harvard Business Review

Using Digital Tools for More Personalized Health Care

Jan 2021

How can we use behavioral phenotyping to deliver more personalized care?

Freakonomics

How to Save $32 Million in One Hour

Nov 2019

For nearly a decade, governments have been using behavioral nudges to solve problems — and the strategy is catching on in healthcare, firefighting, and policing. But is that thinking too small?

Managed Care

No winks. But Penn ‘nudges, nudges’ clinicians, patients to better decisions.

Jul 2019

The University of Pennsylvania has established the first “nudge unit” in a health care system to bring the lessons of behavioral economics to the practice of American health care. The goal is to steer clinicians and patients toward choices that will improve health—and save money.

Harvard Business Review

How Gamification Can Change Health Behaviors

May 2019

Can gamification and behavioral economics be used to produce healthier behaviors in high-risk patients? Experts see a significant opportunity.

JAMA Network

Why Do Cancer Screening Rates Decline as the Day Progresses?

May 2019

The time of day you see your doctor shouldn't matter, but it does.

BBC Radio

Cancer Screening Referrals and Time of Doctor Visit

Oct 2018

Why twice as many patients are routinely referred for cancer screening at the start of the day than at the end.

NPR

Fresh Food By Prescription. This Health Care Firm Is Trimming Costs — And Waistlines

May 2017

The advice to eat a healthy diet is not new. Back around 400 B.C., Hippocrates, the Greek doctor, had this missive: Let food be thy medicine.

NPR

Breaking Old Habits, Creating New Ones at Home and at Work

Jan 2016

How to use financial incentives to motivate people to exercise.

NPR

Place A Bet On Your Weight-Loss Goal, And You May Win Twice

Jan 2016

Money is a big motivator. So, what happens when financial incentives are tied to weight-loss goals?

NPR

How to Motivate the Wearable Tech Users of the Future

Jan 2015

Fitness trackers may do a decent job tracking fitness, but can they make lasting change in human behavior?

JAMA

Resident Duty Hour Reforms and Patient Outcomes

Dec 2014

Association of the 2011 ACGME duty hour reforms with mortality and readmissions.