cigna-tv-doctorsThe greater a person’s level of health engagement, the better their health outcome will be. Evidence is growing on the return-on-investment for peoples’ health activation and how healthy they are. That ROI is both in survival (mortality) and quality of life (morbidity), as well as hard-dollar savings — personally bending-the-healthcare-cost-curve.

But people are more likely to engage in “health” than “healthcare.” We’d rather ingest food-as-medicine than a prescription drug, use walking in a lovely park for exercise, and laugh while we’re learning about how to manage our health insurance benefits. Thus, Campbell’s Soup Company and Hormel are expanding healthy offerings, CIGNA promotes self-care and knowing one’s numbers using iconic TV doctors, and Lyft and Uber are driving patients to doctors’ appointments.

That’s the opportunity for new entrants migrating from consumer goods, electronics, financial services, travel, and other line items toward health and healthcare. I talk about various efforts by food companies, insurance, and finance today in The Huffington Post: Self-Care Is the Real Healthcare Reform.

Health Populi’s Hot Points:  On 15 November 2016, I’ll be sharing a panel with Jamie Heywood of Patients Like Me and Dr. Leana Wen, Commissioner of the Baltimore City Health Department, on Strange Bedfellows or Soul Mates? The new dating game in health, at PwC’s 180 Health Forum in Chicago. Jamie, Leana and I will be brainstorming the emerging collaborative health economy and how the legacy health system (hospitals, health plans, pharma and medical device companies, among the traditional players) will be joined by newer entrants — an expanding definition of the pharmacy, food manufacturers and grocers, banks and investment companies, consumer electronics and Big Box retailers, et al.