The Healthy Nudge

August 2024

Welcome to The Healthy Nudge. Each month, we'll get you up to speed on the latest developments in policy-relevant health behavioral economics research at CHIBE. See our 5 top stories below.

1) 5 ways behavioral economics can promote safe driving

A CHIBE blog post featuring research by CHIBE Associate Director M. Kit Delgado, MD, MS; Director of Applied Behavioral Science at the Nudge Unit Jeff Ebert, PhD; CHIBE affiliates Aaron Leitner, BA; Roy Rosin, MBA; Dylan Small, PhD; Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD (Director); Scott Halpern, MD, PhD, MBE; and colleagues

The average person spends 4 to 5 minutes using their phone in an hour of driving, but it takes only a few seconds to cause a crash. Recent estimates show that around 3,300 people are killed by distracted driving annually. The field of behavioral economics can be helpful in curbing distracted driving and reducing injuries. Penn research teams have conducted 2 recent studies on this topic:

• Feedback and financial incentives for reducing cell phone use while driving
• A randomized trial of behavioral interventions yielding sustained reductions in distracted driving

Read CHIBE's blog post summarizing 5 ways behavioral economics can be leveraged to promote safer driving.

2) Inspired by the Olympics? It’s not too late to ignite your own fitness journey

An NPR story featuring CHIBE affiliates Katy Milkman, PhD, and Mitesh Patel, MD, MBA, MS

CHIBE affiliates Drs. Katy Milkman and Mitesh Patel offer advice on how to kickstart an exercise routine, including committing to a 4-week exercise plan to start forming a habit and enlisting friends, family, or colleagues to help keep you accountable. Read the story here.

3) NIA renews CHIBE’s funding for research to improve the lives of older adults

A CHIBE blog post featuring CHIBE Director Kevin Volpp, MD, PhD; and CHIBE Scientific Director Alison Buttenheim, PhD, MBA

CHIBE will once again join a cohort of top research centers in the Roybal Center program of the National Institute on Aging. The CHIBE team has received its fourth round of funding, this time providing $3.95 million over 5 years to translate and integrate basic behavioral and social research findings into interventions that improve the lives of older people. Read the story here.

4) Association between mandatory bundled payments and changes in socioeconomic disparities for joint replacement outcomes

A Health Services Research paper by Austin Kilaru, MD, MSHP; and Joshua Liao, MD, MSc, with CHIBE affiliates Erkuan Wang, MA; Yueming Zhao, MPH; Jingsan Zhu, MS, MBA; Torrey Shirk, BA, Deborah Cousins, MSPH, PMP; Amol Navathe MD, PhD; and colleagues

"We found that mandatory participation in bundled payments was associated with reduced disparities in joint replacement complications for individuals with low income, as identified by dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid. To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate improvements in disparities for a quality outcome under a value-based payment model." Read the paper here.

5) The Population Health Lab: Multiplying impact in preventive and chronic care

A Center for Health Care Transformation and Innovation blog post featuring CHIBE affiliate Shivan Mehta, MD, MBA, MSHP

Led by Dr. Shivan Mehta, associate chief innovation officer at Penn Medicine, and powered by a small research team, the Population Health Lab has touched nearly 200,000 patient lives – and counting – in the studies they’ve conducted. Their growing portfolio spans efforts to prevent or manage several types of cancer, hepatitis C, influenza, and hypertension. Learn about the Lab here.