If you’re on the ground tweeting about the event, add the #healthymagination tag.

Stay tuned for live blogging and tweeting in a bit!

10:11 AM Pacific/1:11 PM Eastern

The event is underway. Mike Barber has taken the stage. “With healthymagination, we want to further define what it means to live a healthy lifestyle.” He’s showing the crowd the new Vscan, a handheld device for on-site ultrasound.

10:16 AM Pacific/1:16 PM Eastern

Mike has introduced the panel of Olympians: Michelle Kwan, Scott Hamilton, Angela Ruggiero and — the crowd favorite — Canadian Martin Brodeur.

Dr. Jack Taunton, Chief Medical Officer of the 2010 Games, is now speaking. More than 1,500 Healthy Heroes have volunteered to make the Olympics possible.

10:21 AM Pacific/1:21 PM Eastern

Michelle is taking questions. She’s having a great time in Vancouver! She’s asked how she maintains a healthy lifestyle. “When I was in the Olympics, it was my job to be in shape. Now I have to make it a priority to get healthy, work out, get enough sleep…” Her dad’s advice? “Just remember to take care of yourself.”

10:25 AM Pacific/1:25 PM Eastern

Martin Brodeur is up next. “When you go out every day to perform, you have to take care of yourself. A healthy lifestyle is not just exercise, it’s an attitude.”  (Well said!)

10:28 AM Pacific/1:28 PM Eastern

And here’s Angela Ruggiero. “If you feel good as an athlete, it translate to everything else in life. Find your motivation…what’s your passion? Mine is hockey.” It’s all about figuring out what your goals are and maintaining balance.

10:31 AM Pacific/1:31 PM Eastern

Now it’s Scott Hamilton’s turn. “There are so many men who feel like they are bullet proof. Women are better at being vigilant with their health.” Interesting.

Now he’s talking about how cancer helped him learn to be vigilant. Because he paid attention to his body and asked his doctors’ questions, he was treated early on. He mentions his kids — a two-year-old and a six-year-old. He wants to be around for them. (Love this guy!)

10:38 AM Pacific/1:38 PM Eastern

Back to Dr. Taunton. He’s talking about state-of-the-art MRI technology, a CT scan, ultrasound, so many improvements in technology. They’re able to look at micro tears in tendons and treat them right away. The recovery time for athletes is so much faster because of this.

10:41 AM Pacific/1:41 PM Eastern

Now we’re getting some questions from the Healthy Heroes in the crowd. Michelle and Scott are questioned on skating injuries. Scott says most of these are self-inflicted. Michelle says no one is body-checking her (ha). Martin is asked how he knew the Swiss hockey player was going to glove slide (the crowd cheers!). He tells them it was a lucky guess.

10:46 AM Pacific/1:46 PM Eastern

Now the Healthy Heroes are off for a group skate. When wrapping up,  Mike Barber is asked how non-Olympic athletes (or everyday people) can take a proactive role in being healthy. He points to healthymagination.com and talks about small steps we can all take…it’s all about initiative.

11:25 AM Pacific/2:25 PM Eastern

Phew! In closing, Mike Barber said today was “a fantastic kick-off event! The gold medal athletes are great role models to all, not just for their many accomplishments, but also for making the commitment to lead a healthy lifestyle.” Agreed.

Michelle Kwan is the most highly decorated figure skater in US history, and builds health into her lifestyle regardless of whether she’s on the ice. “I think people have to turn inwards and take care of themselves better,” she said. She and Dr. Roizen discussed the importance of making time to exercise by beginning with small steps and that healthymagination can make it easier for anyone to live a healthier life.

Better Health Study Results

As part of today’s event GE announced the results of its Better Health Study. Conducted with Cleveland Clinic and Ochsner Health System, the study offers compelling insights into the way people think about health and health care, and how doctors and patients alike view the doctor-patient relationship.

Many of the results would probably surprise most people. Some highlights include:

• Most Americans give themselves ”A” or “B” grades, while doctors give Americans low grades on personal health
• Many Americans say they would rather live in pain than visit their doctor – and prioritize household chores over healthy living
• Most Americans see health of others on wrong track – but not their own
• Many Americans have an easier time answering non-health-related questions than facts about their own health
• The study reveals opportunities for improvement in patient-doctor communications
  

A lot of our work at healthymagination is driven by findings like these. Our mobile app Morsel was designed to make healthier decisions a part of more people’s everyday lives. Our partnership with WebMD in creating the Better Health Conversation was conceived to improve the doctor-patient relationship. When being healthier is less daunting, we think it just might catch on.

Visualizing Better Health

The study findings are accompanied by another in our Visualizing Data series, in which we try to make health data more accessible and meaningful. The latest is by data designer Ben Fry, and helps crystallize the massive impact that some of these findings hint at.

At healthymagination, we hope to motivate people by visualizing complex healthcare data so that people can find personal relevance in it.

See the full data visualization on GE.com.

Press Coverage

The event led to some nice coverage, too. This HealthDay article reviewed the findings of our study, noting that “a majority of Americans believe their health is just fine – it’s everyone else who has the problem.” That’s a common mindset and one that we’re hoping to change.

Beth Comstock, Chief Marketing Officer for GE, weighed in with her thoughts on “treating the patient-doctor disconnect” in a Huffington Post article. Referring to the study, Beth said, “We were surprised to find that Americans are engaged in some pretty magical thinking about their health.” She was, in effect, referring to how Americans rate their health, and how that portrayal differs from what doctors have to say.

To add onto a busy day, we’ve been seeing all sorts of #healthymagination tweets, so the conversation is moving in the right direction.

More information about GE’s Better Health Study:
* Read the press release
* Read the Better Health Study fact sheet
* Top 10 Healthy Living Tips from Cleveland Clinic + Ochsner Health System

Kwan, who is a health ambassador for GE Healthymagination, will join Dr. Roizen and others to discuss better health and unveil the results of a large-scale survey. We’ll be on hand for live blogging and tweeting, so check back here at noon!

12:04 PM

We’re just getting started. Michelle Kwan and Dr. Roizen are making the rounds…

12:27 PM

Dr. Roizen is beginning to announce the results of the Better Health Survey.

12:29 PM

“People are trying to do healthy things but are failing because they don’t have enough information.”

- Dr. Roizen

12:30 PM

Dr. Roizen and Michelle Kwan talking about our Better Health Conversation with WebMD and changing the paradigm of health care.

12:35 PM

“How do we change the paradigm so that people understand that their mother’s disease or their father’s disease doesn’t have to be their disease?”

- Dr. Roizen

12:38 PM

Dr. Roizen explaining how simpler, healthier choices can make a big difference.

12:42 PM

Dr. Roizen talking about how he discovered the healthymagination data visualization this morning.

12:57 PM

Today’s event with Michelle Kwan and Dr. Roizen is coming to a close for one-on-one interviews. Check back here soon for more details on the Better Health Survey.

Fast Company also cites our innovations like Vscan and EMR (electronic medical records) as being among the reasons why we ranked at the top of the list.

Look for the full Fast Company issue on news stands next week.

The New York Times ran a great piece today about our relaunch and focus on “putting a human face” on health care.

And over at the Huffington Post, Mark M. Little, Ph.D. and Senior Vice President and Director of GE Global Research contributed a great post about health care innovation.

Mark Little on The Huffington Post

We’re glad to have started people talking about creating better health, and we’re really looking forward to continuing the conversation.