Photo Friday: #Newspapers sold here

There's something "old-timey" about spending time in Watch Hill in the summer. 

The famous Flying Horse Carousel at the end of Bay Street is a favorite of children and adults. It is the oldest carousel of its type in the U.S. and may very well be the oldest carousel in operation in the country.

It was ironic, then, to see this sandwich board sign in front of the carousel. It is very likely the iconic Flying Horse Carousel, which opened in 1876, may very well outlive newspapers! 

News is going digital. Summer fun never will! 

Shot at Flying Horse Carousel in Watch Hill, Westerly, R.I., July 30, 2013

Do like I say, not like I do

2012 Cannes Award: Bronze Title: Smoking Kid Client: Thai Health Promotion Foundation Office: Ogilvy & Mather Bangkok Category: Outdoor Called by many "the best anti-smoking ad ever," this campaign filmed children walking up to adult smokers, asking them for a light.

"Can I get a light?"

That's what a young boy asks in this video PSA, titled "Smoking Kid," from the Thai Health Promotion Foundation and produced by Ogilvy & Mather. The video went viral and won a number of coveted advertising awards.

But the magic here is not the video itself — it's the guerrilla tactic of having a child ask for a light, be rebuffed by smoking adults and then present those adults with a card that reads:

You worry about me? But why not about yourself?

This campaign shows that adults do, indeed, understand the dangers of smoking — they can recite them to the child asking for a light. 

As Mike Allen of Jennings Co. stated in a recent blog post:

Most adults know that smoking is very harmful, but when you present it this way, it hits you right between the eyes. Watch it and see what I mean.

Yes, watch it. 

There is also growing evidence that graphic ads have led some to quit smoking, perhaps as many as 100,000 Americans already this year, according to a story in The New York Times. The piece quotes Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, which launched the campaign.

“I think the fact that you may die is not highly motivating to people. The fact that the remainder of your life may be very unpleasant is, and that’s what the data show. Not only do smokers die about 10 years younger than most people, but they feel about 10 years older than their age.”

So death doesn't motivate, but feeling old does. Well, whatever works!

The CDC campaign is called "Tips from Former Smokers."

Sources: Jennings Co. & The New York Times

When money gets in the way of better care

One Holy Grail in health care (yes, there are many) is improved communication between patients and caregivers.

Better communication results in improved understanding, elevated compliance and, ultimately, higher satisfaction.

It just doesn't seem to result in getting paid.

A new study from Weill Cornell Medical Center, published in Health Affairs and reported in MobiHealthNews, shows that physicians and patients both feel portals and other digital or online communication methods are positive. The downside for doctors and hospitals is there is no way to bill for it in our current fee-for-service world.

The study said one hospital tried charging a $60 "online communication fee" to patients, but abandoned it when a competitor offered it for free.

In a focus group of Rhode Island patients I led last year, digital communication was a hot topic. One patient already communicated electronically with his doctor and care team at a Boston-based specialty hospital. The patient reported it was a key driver of his satisfaction with his care — and made him both compliant with his care plan and loyal to his doctors and hospital.

The result: Better communication equals better care. He was an engaged patient.

We know how to crack the communication problem — we need more of it and it needs to be simple to use.

Now we need reform that supports better communication by shifting reimbursement schemes for health systems and doctors to ones that encourages and rewards dialogue, collaboration and patient engagement.

Source: MobiHealthNews

Breaking Bad could have been 1 episode (health care is to blame)

Source: christopherkeelty.com

Breaking Bad has gone viral. So has a cartoon it inspired. All because of health care.

Christopher Keelty, a writer who drew a single cartoon (this one!), posited that the premise of Breaking Bad was made possible by a "uniquely American" situation.

One thing that really interests me about the show is how it juxtaposes two of America’s most catastrophic policy failures: The for-profit health care industry and the failed War on Drugs, which has created a black market that makes the manufacture and sale of illegal drugs incredibly profitable.

I got to thinking how uniquely American the show is, and that led to this comic strip.

Keelty struck a nerve. His cartoon was tweeted and posted by thousands, including Michael Moore. He became a lightning rod for a discussion of these issues.

In a video explaining the phenomenon, Keelty said:

A cartoon is really just a visual joke. It is not meant to be a damning case against American health care. But a surprising number of people have wanted to engage me with the same old tired arguments about health care that we have been hearing for, jeez, I don't know, 10, 20 years at this point.

Sometimes it takes a new perspective to help us see where our policies are failing us. Keelty's cartoon provided that. Hopefully the ensuing discussion will be about creating solutions, not placing blame.

I became a little bit famous this week with a Breaking Bad cartoon that went viral. It's a very strange feeling, and I'm very grateful. I also learned a few things I thought I'd share.

When everything looks like a QR code

When I read the front page of the Ideas section in yesterday's Boston Globe, I took out my iPhone and scanned the QR code in the illustration.

Wait, it wasn't a QR code?

Well, it should have been! This is a superb news graphic that could have been improved if it was an actual fully functioning QR code.