Geography is health: Geo-mapping expert Bill Davenhall said that in a TEDMED talk. An interesting neighborhood development in Austin has built in open spaces in a new-urbanism model to foster community health and social interaction. NPR has the story: “Urban Utopia”

Worm in that Austin geo-health apple? The new-urbanism that Austin was aiming at in the above story had a flip-side that revealed underlying racial tensions. Recognizing that, and talking about it, has been eye-opening. Social determinants are a big part of public health. Part 2 of the NPR series on the Mueller neighborhood in Austin: “Utopia Tackles Racial Tensions Under the Surface”

UnitedHealth’s $43 billion bet: “Fee for service” is often blamed for the high cost of US healthcare. Health insurer UnitedHealth has taken a big step away from fee for service, and toward value-based payment to medical providers. From the Wall Street Journal: “UnitedHealth’s $43 Billion Exit from Fee for Service Medicine”

We need to talk: A study in JAMA Oncology concludes that doctors’ views that patients ask for more testing and other care than they need is true in only 1% of cases in cancer care. This piece by Sarah Kliff in Vox breaks down the study’s findings. Seems like doctors and patients have yet more reasons to talk clearly and plainly with each other. “Doctors think lots of patients ask for medicine they don’t need. This study says that’s not true.”

Anthem data hack: A piece in FierceHealthIT says that the FBI is on the case in tracking down the folks behind the Anthem hack, which compromised the personal data of 80 million Anthem customers. There are some hints that it might have been a Chinese hacker group, but no solid leads yet. “Details emerge in Anthem hack”

Friday’s laugh track: From Gomerblog, a visual discourse. “Medical Specialties as Game of Thrones Characters“