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It’s an unhealthy sign of the times — more people know how many vacation days they have left (47 percent) than how many calories they consumed yesterday (43 percent). And doctors aren’t surprised, as 77 percent of healthcare professionals say that one fourth or more of their patients omit facts or lie to them about their personal health. Those are just some of the results from the new GE Better Health Study conducted with Cleveland Clinic and Ochsner Health System. As the first in a series that will examine healthy living attitudes and behaviors, the study is part of GE’s healthymagination initiative, which seeks to provide better health for more people through technology and innovation. At the same time, because understanding massive amounts of health data can be daunting, GE is also working to make better sense of it by partnering with health economists and leading visualization designers. Below, in our seventh data visualization project, we’ve again turned to Ben Fry to help make some of the new survey data not only more accessible, but interactive.

The athletes in Vancouver haven’t started their races yet, but this year’s Winter Olympics –- which kicks off on Friday –- has already scored a medical first. Doctors and clinics at the 2010 games will be using the most comprehensive information technology solution for healthcare support in Olympic Games history. GE technologies will be connecting staff at remote polyclinics and mobile medical units — which are positioned close to the ski runs and other venues that are often far from hospitals — in order to provide the most updated information in emergency situations.

A new group of GE Healthcare’s high-tech products just reached a key milestone — being certified as ecomagination products within the company. To join GE’s ecomagination portfolio, the technologies must complete tough environmental and operational tests that measurably show performance benefits for customers when compared to baselines such as competitors’ best products; the installed base of products; and regulatory standards. A third-party then verifies the claims. In essence, the healthcare technologies not only do their day-jobs — helping save lives — they simultaneously aid healthcare companies and hospitals in reducing costs and waste while positively impacting the environment. With today’s announcement, GE’s ecomagination portfolio of more than 85 products now includes two new healthcare products and three product categories, including the Centricity Enterprise Electronic Medical Record (EMR) solution.

Revolutionizing bulky Magnetic Resonance Imaging systems, known as MRIs, by making them more mobile, lighter, and less costly is in the cross hairs in GE’s labs. The National Institutes of Health just awarded the team at GE Global Research, which is the company’s technology development arm, a grant for nearly $3.3 million to develop smaller magnets for the critical scanners. As Minfeng Xu, an electrical engineer in GE’s Electromagnets and Superconductivity Lab, writes in his blog today: “Imagine a lighter and smaller MRI system in an ambulance that can be dispatched for emergency care. Imagine a slim MRI system, like the one shown in the figure below, installed in your doctor’s office that can be used for a quick scan when you need it. We are working toward it.”

Of the $2.5 million that GE has targeted for earthquake relief in Haiti, $1 million will be used to help the next phase of the response effort — recovery. That stage is already underway with solar-powered water purification units now shipping to the devasted country, along with critically needed medical technologies (such as ultrasound, anesthesia and x-ray) and mobile video units to help search and rescue teams. In addition to the $2.5 million pledge, GE employees have donated $1.5 million to organizations supporting the relief efforts, half of which comes from matching grants from the GE Foundation.