Building rapport at the beginning of a dialog improves outcomes
Cordial Political Dialog in the Office

Cordial Political Dialog in the Office

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If you want to get a team riled up, drop a political comment into a group conversation and hold on.  Politics are more of a third rail at work than when we gather at the Thanksgiving dinner table.  I can say with confidence that political conversations frequently do not end well.  Oh sure, the casual banter starts off with reasonable engagement, but it quickly devolves into rhetoric as the verbal combatants stop listening and prepare to hurl volleys of poorly…

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"Pills" (CC BY 2.0) by Klaus Post
A response on the Trump Administration’s idea of lowering drug prices

A response on the Trump Administration’s idea of lowering drug prices

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From TheHill.com: Trump officials make new moves to lower drug prices https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/427932-trump-administration-make-new-moves-towards-drug-pricing-transparency I have no reasonable argument against the elimination of the prescription drug discounts and rebates that are contractually required by the pharmacy benefits managers (PBM) and have those funds redirected into patient discounts at the pharmacy counter. The patient out-of-pocket costs would effectively go to zero for the vast majority of common prescription drugs. Additionally, the wholesale acquisition price (WAC) would go down for the PBM and Health…

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Audible Sync Time with an Apple Watch

Audible Sync Time with an Apple Watch

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The Apple Watch enables me to be reachable in an emergency while granting some needed time away from the incessant disruptions that resonate from my phone.  I have turned off most of the watch notifications and found the form factor does not lend itself to be a meaningful distraction.  I am looking forward to Spotify’s offline sync for the Apple Watch when it is released.  But for now, I have been taking podcasts with me on my walks.  Now, I…

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Fitness Trackers – Healthy Helpers or Enablers of Unhealthy Behaviors

Fitness Trackers – Healthy Helpers or Enablers of Unhealthy Behaviors

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I have a concern that fitness trackers are not delivering on the promise of a healthier life through awareness and gamification but instead have become a new status symbol and justification for our unhealthy behaviors. For example, a study demonstrated that making progress on a health-related goal made people more inclined to engage in dietary indulgences (Fishbach and Dhar 2005).  It is the idea that by walking 10,000 steps, we have earned that extra “little” treat. We go down this…

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