“Getting higi with it” - How Health Retail Is Getting Up Close and Personalized

Higi (rhymes with “jiggy”) believes that being healthy should be fun, simple and rewarding. As we all debate health data sharing, they are quietly transforming pharmacies and health retail experiences by helping people play an active role in their personal health. Higi helps you to track health and lifestyle data from higi health stations and integrates with fitness trackers like Garmin and Fitbit, and MapMyFitness. 

At Sam’s Club, higi offers free self-service health screenings to customers at over 600 locations with pharmacies. People can self-check their blood pressure, pulse, weight and body mass index using integrated health devices, activity trackers and apps. The information is stored on a secure online platform peoples vitals are gamified, and converted to a single “HigiScore,” which represents a user’s overall wellness. 

At Wegmans people can share their data with the pharmacy team through an integration with the McKesson Clinical Programs Solution (CPS) platform. The Biometric data collected enables pharmacists to connecting the dots and react in real time to each consumer’s health concerns.

While higi is doing exciting things one of the more interesting trends is the “FaceTime” doctor diagnosis also called telemedicine. Walgreens has partnered with NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital to develop private rooms with telemedicine kiosks inside stores. Patients are provided with instant diagnosis services as well as treatment for non-life threatening illnesses and injuries through virtual access to board-certified Weill Cornell Medicine emergency medicine physicians via a video-conference connection.

Sitting Is The New Smoking (Hint It's Killing You)

If you have ever met me in person I have a hard time sitting down for too long. I'm generally a relaxed person, except when it comes to movement. I'm always walking around the office at a fast pace and I tend to walk everywhere for hours at a time. Whether I'm traveling or exploring Brooklyn on foot, I'm always on the move. I have a hard time sitting through a long movie like "Boyhood", or taking a plane when I can't get up and walk up and down the aisle a few times or stand in the back galley chatting with the crew. I think you get the point, I have the natural inclination to not sit too much and I think that it's healthy, but I'm always looking for ways to improve.

If you have been following the evidence and research about sitting and the latest trends for standing desks, you might also think twice about sitting all day and mix up the types of chairs you sit on and how often you sit. Instead of trying to grab a seat on the bus or subway, stand, instead of having a long meeting sitting have a standing meeting. Set your computer's printer on the other side of the office, switch your favorite chair once in a while or sit on the floor.... so many possibilities...