HealthCare.Gov: The New Guide to Marketplace Health Insurance

This week the federal government launched a new consumer-focused website and 24 hour call center to provide information on the coming Healthcare Insurance Marketplace, which will help people buy private insurance or locate free or low cost government options under the Affordable Care Act (or, Obamacare). Right now HealthCare.Gov has fairly general information, but is …

Nationwide Hospital Charges

On the heels of yesterday's post on U-M's analysis of its visualization activities, today's post also touches on the impacts of visualization, although on a much broader scale. The New York Times recently released an interactive data visualization map that tells you how much hospitals charge per procedure. You can search by location (state & zip code) …

To Stretch, or Not to Stretch? That is the Question.

From some previous posts, you may have gathered that our library hosts a number of joggers. Personally I am still at a fairly novice level, but I do enjoy keeping up with exercise research to make sure that I am doing everything I can to prevent injury while bolstering health and (hopefully) longevity. Last week …

Where Should One Run?

Since I am from California, you might assume that I'd be inherently prejudiced against winter. That's really not the case (though I may have admittedly been spoiled by Michigan's relatively mild winters over the last couple of years)! I love the sparkle of fresh snow and the sound it makes crunching under my boots, and …

Your Appetite, Your Workout

If you've been to the gym (any gym, really) recently, I'm sure you've noticed the influx of patrons hopping up on the cardio machines in earnest efforts at New Years resolutions. I've written before about two of the main factors for maintained weight loss: diet and exercise. And the theme arises again, in no doubt …

Seasonal Flu Vaccines – A Thing of the Past?

We've harped on before about getting your flu shot this fall already - and why not? I'll throw in one more shameless plug: UMHS employees can attend walk-in clinics through the end of November, a full list is here The public can also attend walk-in clinics at a variety of UMHS sites around Ann Arbor, …

Happiness > Health (Motivationally Speaking, That Is)

According to a new article (based on a few studies) from my favorite health blog, people are more inclined to stick to exercise regimens if they are perceived to contribute to direct, immediate benefits - such as increased happiness - rather than a long-term future goal, such as better health. Taking a marketing-like approach to exercise may be the key. …

Twitter & Health

It stands to reason that when I read the phenomenal Tweeting for Student Health Care from my favorite health blog (and 2nd favorite newspaper) I immediately thought of our Emerging Technologies Librarian, who has been curating an incredible weekly post  that focuses on the flurries of health-relevant hashtags in the Twitterverse. Sure - Twitter/tweets are a great way …

Diet vs. Exercise: Which Really Keeps Weight Off?

Another fascinating New York Times article from Gretchen Reynolds on what really keeps us trim - our diets, or our activities. Two new research publications (one of which is open access through PLoS One!) seem to argue against conventional notions that active folks are leaner (no doubt currently spurred by Olympic fervor) and that exercise boosts metabolism. …

Mapping our Germs

The Human Microbiome Project aims to map, and then analyze, a vast amount of data about the "100 trillion good bacteria" living on/in your body right now. Results in recent papers published in Nature and three separate Public Library of Science (PLoS) imprints - which form the beginning of a new PLoS Collection - may very well …