We’re less rational, less logical, and less deliberate than we like to believe. We have biases and regularly use heuristics, or mental shortcuts, to make our decisions. Most of the time we aren’t even aware it’s happening.
Every actor in healthcare has these tendencies. Health systems have biases that influence doctors. Doctors have biases that influence patients. And of course, patients have biases too.
These compounding biases create challenges when presenting information, defining care pathways, or trying to help patients find their optimal path.
On this episode, we talk with Talya Miron-Shatz, Ph.D., who is a leader in research at the intersection of medicine and behavioral economics, and the professor and founding director of the Center for Medical Decision-Making at Ono Academic College in Israel.
Talya is the author of the new book Your Life Depends on It: What you can do to make better choices about your health*. In it, Talya shines a light on the barriers we all face when making health and medical choices and provides actionable solutions for patients, doctors, and policymakers. We’ll explore these solutions to help you make better and more informed decisions for yourself and your family. And for you builders out there, we’ll also share guidance on how to better present information, whether it be to doctors or administrators or to the patients themselves.
Talya Miron-Shatz, PhD.
Talya Miron-Shatz, PhD., is a leader at the intersection of medicine and behavioral economics, with 18 years of experience – as a Princeton University researcher, Wharton lecturer, and now visiting researcher at Cambridge University. She has been consulting the healthcare industry on prescriber behavior, patient engagement, and digital health for more than a decade.
Miron-Shatz is the author of the new book YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT: What You Can Do to Make Better Choices About Your Health* (Basic Books | 9/28/21), which shines a light on the barriers we all face when making health and medical choices and provides actionable solutions for patients, doctors, and policy-makers to help identify and overcome them. A must-read in this day and age.
Some words of praise:
“People who expect to stay healthy forever need not read this wonderful book. The rest of us should. With a fine combination of humor, compassion and vast knowledge, Talya Miron-Shatz offers clear and useful guidance for the hardest decisions of life.” Daniel Kahneman, Nobel Prize winner.
“The past year has shown that confusion exists prominently in our medical conversations. We need a new guide to navigating these complex decisions, and psychology professor Miron-Shatz is here to provide one.”—Next Big Idea Club (Adam Grant, Malcolm Gladwell, Daniel Pink, and Susan Cain).
The book is available on Amazon* and wherever books are sold.
Check out Talya’s free webinars on behavioral economics, nudges, health inequities, and more. Follow her on Linkedin and Twitter: @TalyaMironShatz
Learn more on her website.
Related Episodes
- Episode 66: Finding the Right Words – Stacey Richter – Relentless Health Value Podcast – we base much of our conversation on Thinking, Fast and Slow* by Daniel Kahneman which explains System 1 and System 2 thinking that Talya mentioned on this episode.
- Episode 139: Behavioral Economics Expert Explains How to Drive Massive Change with Minor Tweaks w/ Karen Horgan
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Music by StudioEtar
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