5 Healthyish Things, including snackaholism and value-based care

I can’t think of devices with more access to data—or buy-in from consumers to grant access data—than those designed by Apple. So it makes tons of sense for them to broaden their healthcare applications and I’m into it. 

Their recent launch of sleep apnea detection through the Apple Watch (just FDA approved, by the way) and a hearing aid feature in AirPods Pro (also FDA approved) may not be sexy, but they sure are useful. And while this article cleverly pokes fun by saying Apple is acting like the middle-age brand that it is 🙄, I think it’s less about an aging audience and more about powerfully expanding its health applications and entering healthcare in a uniquely consumer-first way.

I know many talented people who work at Apple Health (shouts to the great Kuber Bhalla) and they are notoriously secretive about what’s coming next. But with sleep apnea identification, hearing aid support, fall detection, and heart monitoring all on the current list, I think Apple is on the right track with health monitoring and preventative health solutions. Ready for the 2031 Apple Pacemaker 3 Pro?!

If Oura is going to monitor everything, adding blood glucose to the list is a no brainer. Tons of people use CGMS (Continuous Glucose Monitors)—including 13% of Oura users, according to this TechCrunch article. Oura acquiring metabolic health startup Veri (started by friend Anttoni Aniebonam) is a smart power move IMO. 

Now that the FDA has begun to approve over-the-counter CGMs, more people can have access to data for healthier choices about diet and lifestyle—possibly through a familiar product like Oura as they expand their product offerings. I’ve always felt it inevitable that pharma would happily sell CGMs direct-to-consumer if people were willing to pay out-of-pocket. And here we are.

All these new ways to measure health—and the increasingly popular movement to take agency over your health by collecting useful, informative data—makes me reflect on the future a bit, too:

By the way, I post things like this on LinkedIn all the time. If you don’t already, follow me plus engage with other smart, thoughtful people like Jay Parkinson MD, Dugal Bain-Kim (CEO & Co-Founder, Lifeforce), Natalie Davis MD (CMO of PreventScripts), and more. 

We’re living in a world where every meal is often preceded, proceeded, or replaced by snacks. Just as we lose attention to our smartphones, we lose the health benefits of balanced meals to our snackaholism.

In fact, I think snacking taking over our eating habits might be an underrated part of why our relationship to weight has changed. We’re eating profoundly differently from how we used to, and now we need things like food journaling and GLP-1s to curb the cravings and the mindless eating that are so inherent in snacking.

Of course, healthy snacks do exist (don’t forget this Reddit thread for ideas), but proper meals are generally more intentional, well-rounded, satisfying, and ultimately healthier than even an apple, a protein bar, or a serving of hummus.

I’ve learned a lot about value-based care through my work with Commons Clinic (thanks Nick Aubin & Benjamin Schwartz, MD!) and Oshi Health. For the most part, I think it’s fantastic and the future. Essentially, value-based care is a model in healthcare where everyone can win:

• Insurance companies pay a flat rate,

• Patients know exactly how much they’re spending up front, and 

• Providers are incentivized to give the best care possible (and make money for positive outcomes. 

Sword Health—an app that delivers digital physical therapy for musculoskeletal issues like back pain—made waves this week in announcing their new Outcome Pricing, basically saying they’ll only get paid if their app works. Their solution (and that of competitor Hinge Health) makes a difference. So to charge people only when a treatment works is pretty awesome and I hope it catches on. 🤞

Who would have thought the guy who wrote “I Took a Pill in Ibiza” would be talking about mental health and happiness? 😆 This thread is an adorable reminder that the most hard-core partiers among us can get healthy, too.