David Asch
In A Nutshell
David Asch explores how we might harness our innate human irrationality to create positive health behavior change.
About David
Behavioral economist David Asch advances individual and population health by improving how physicians and patients make decisions in health care and in everyday life, including the use of medical treatments and personal health behaviors. David is Executive Director of the Penn Medicine Center for Health Care Innovation, which aims to accelerate the transformation of health care for better patient outcomes, and he is a professor at both the Perelman School of Medicine and the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. David also practices internal medicine at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, where he created, and from 2001 to 2012 directed, the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion, a national center that works to support vulnerable populations and reduce health disparities. David is the author of more than 350 published papers and has won numerous awards for training and research.
Learn More
"3 Ways Health Care Leaders Can Encourage Experimentation." Harvard Business Review. 2019.
“Why Wellness Programs Don't Work So Well.” Knowledge@Wharton Podcast. 2018.
“Technology with Behavioral Insight Data can Improve Outcomes for Patients.” Healthcare IT News. 2018.
“Nudge Units to Improve the Delivery of Health Care.” New England Journal of Medicine. 2018.
“Engineering Social Incentives for Health.” New England Journal of Medicine. 2016.
“Innovation as Discipline, not Fad.” New England Journal of Medicine. 2015.
"Insourcing Health Care Innovation." New England Journal of Medicine. 2014.
A Recommended Resources/Reading List
Nudge Thaler, R. and Sunstein, C. Penguin Random House. 2009.
Predictably Irrational Ariely, D. Harper Collins. 2010.
Call to Action
"Once we understand how people are irrational, we are in a much better position to help them.”
