Showing posts with label Personal Profile Information. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Personal Profile Information. Show all posts

Thursday, January 1, 2009

Bio

howard r. veit

Howard R. Veit is currently a self-employed health care management consultant. On December 31, 2000, he retired as a Principal in the Towers Perrin's Health Industry Consulting Practice. He was the Practice leader from 1995 to 2000. From 1998 until his retirement, he served as a director of the Board of Towers Perrin.

Mr. Veit has worked in health care program development in both the public and private sectors. He assisted with the creation of The Harvard Community Health Plan, one of the first and most successful HMOs under the sponsorship of a medical school. During the Carter administration, he was the first director of the federal Office of Health Maintenance Organizations (OHMO) and was instrumental in articulating federal policy regarding HMO development and federal efforts to promote HMOs to Congress, business and labor. Under his leadership, OHMO played a pivotal role in giving birth to the modern era of managed care in the United States. Immediately before joining Towers Perrin, Mr. Veit was president of John Hancock Health Plans, the health care management subsidiary of the John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Company.

From 1988 to 2001, Mr. Veit served as a health care consultant with Towers Perrin, an international management consulting firm. Towers Perrin works with multiple stakeholders in the health care marketplace: government, buyers, payers, providers and suppliers. Mr. Veit has extensive experience providing health care consulting services to many of these stakeholders. During the late 1980s and early 1990's, he helped major national employers transition from traditional indemnity insurance to managed care as an integral part of their employee health benefits programs. From 1991 to 2000, Mr. Veit's role was to oversee the delivery of the firm's health industry services in clinical resource management, financial risk management, organizational change management, operations improvement, people performance and rewards, and strategy development and implementation.

Mr. Veit worked with a broad range of clients, including national employers, insurance companies, Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans, HMOs, hospitals and other health provider organizations. He has extensive experience in the operation of managed health care organizations, the design of managed health products, managed care pricing, employee health benefits, health cost management programs and health strategy.

Mr. Veit graduated from the University of Rochester and Duke University. He was trained in health care management at Duke University Medical Center, where he received his Masters degree. He has spoken and written extensively on topics related to health care management. From 1985 to 1998, he held a faculty position at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business in its Health Systems Management program.

My Profile

December 2, 2020 - My name is Howard Veit. I am retired at age 78. My wife and I divide our time between our homes in Atlanta, GA and Longboat Key, Florida.

My wife, Kelli, and I have been happily married for 34 years. 

I am a retired management consultant in the health care industry. Click here to see my bio.

Why do I have a blog?


The more people talk about health with each other, the better. Taking charge of your health is up to you. I believe in taking personal responsibility for everything that has ever happened or will ever happen to you - and this applies to health. This is the best, most proactive, effective way to live life. Now, more than ever, you cannot simply hand over your health to others. The health system cannot keep us healthy. We have to take matters into our own hands. Hopefully, my blog will provide useful information to others.

How do I stay fit?

I follow a routine that includes a workout 5 to 6 days a week for anywhere from 45 minutes to 2-4 hours. I alternate between bike rides, walks, and resistance training with free weights and body weight (pushups). I try to balance cardiovascular exercise with strength training, although I lean towards cardiovascular exercise on my recumbent bikes.  When I am at our home in Florida, I mostly ride because the weather is so beautiful and I enjoy being outdoors soaking up the sunshine.


What is my health philosophy?

My health philosophy is simple. I generally follow a high nutrition whole foods plant-based diet based on the advice of physicians and other professionals who have done research, writing and teaching about nutrition. These practitioners are a rare breed who believe that a healthy lifestyle based on sound nutrition is the key to good health. Those that I have studied most include Joel Fuhrman, M.D., John McDougall, M.D., Dean Ornish, M.D., Michael Klaper, M.D., Michal Greger, M.D., Matthew Lederman, M.D., and Jeff Novick, MS. RD. LD. LN. I believe that eating style is the most important ingredient in a healthy lifestyle. But, healthy sleep, stress management, healthy relationships and moderate exercise are also very important. I don't believe in dieting. We all should commit to a healthy eating style and stick to it for a lifetime.

In a nutshell:
- fresh, organic (when possible), unprocessed food
- no junk! I eat no foods from animals.
- I add no salt to food and keep my salt intake from natural foods below 1,000 mg/day. Too much salt is underestimated as a health hazard.
- I eat moderate amounts healthy fats from nuts, seeds, and avocados and lots of vegetables, and fruit. I eat bread, pasta and whole grains a few times per week. I try to make fresh vegetables (especially green vegetables) and fruits the center of my diet.
- daily activity - whether it’s a bike ride, a walk, the gym or a short run, it all counts
- plenty of quality sleep (8-9 hours per night)
- taking responsibility for yourself and your life
- openness to new things and ideas

What do I think of modern medicine?

I am outraged by the mass-marketing of drugs, surgery, and lifestyles that do nothing more than harm people’s lives. We can do much better than depend on drugs and medical procedures to keep us healthy. Modern medicine can be miraculous, but we overuse the health system, take too many drugs and depend on physicians to keep us healthy. They cannot. Only we can assure our health by leading a healthy lifestyle.

What is my favorite food?

My favorite food is a large bowl of vegetable soup (without salt). I also love large salads with lots of ingredients, fruit and vegetables. Most every morning I have a green smoothie made up of various fruit, usually organic baby spinach and other leafy greens, Garden of Life sports protein, Garden of Life Green Juice,  and dates.  Sometimes I have an oatmeal smoothie for breakfast the green smoothie for lunch.

What are my top 5 values?

1) Respect 2) Balance 3) Excellence 4) Integrity 5) Curiosity: having a critical openness to new ideas