Ryan McNeill
For two years, a team of reporters at The Dallas Morning News has written stories of breakdowns in patient care at one of Texas’ most important medical institutions, Parkland Memorial Hospital.
In story after story, News reporters showed how systemic breakdowns in care left patients maimed or dead. Officials from Parkland and its academic partner, the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, were highly critical of the News’ coverage. Here, reporter Ryan McNeill reveals some of the reporting that went into the effort to investigate patient safety in Dallas hospitals.
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Eileen Beal
Over the next 20 years, the percentage of Americans age 65 and older will rise from around 13 percent of the population to approximately 20 percent. Along with this increase, there will be a jump in the number of people with Alzheimer’s or related dementias (ADRDs). Estimates vary, but it’s been suggested that as many as 13.2 million Americans could be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease by 2050 – almost a three-fold increase from 4.5 million in 2000. Eileen Beal covers this issue that touches every community and is important to every reporter covering aging and health.
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• Preliminary conference program now available 
Fellowships are available to journalists in several states, as well as those who cover rural areas, those who work in the ethnic media and even for journalists who don't cover health but understand the need to cover health angles on other beats. Fellowship applications must be received by Feb. 27.
Former President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter will kick off the conference with a discussion on issues in global health and mental health. Other speakers will include David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., former director of the CDC and 16th U.S. surgeon general, talking about the future of primary care, and former Olympic runner Jeff Galloway, who will lead a run downtown, followed by a discussion about health and fitness.
Health Journalism 2012 – the 14th annual conference of the Association of Health Care Journalists – is set for April 19-22 at the Sheraton Atlanta Hotel. Join more than 500 other journalists as they take part in skill-building workshops, sit in on panel discussions and visit area research sites. The conference, produced by the association’s Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, features world-class speakers, important news briefings and helpful sessions all aimed at aiding reporters, editors and news producers in better covering the latest health issues. Join us in Atlanta!
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AHCJ has asked Chief Justice John G. Roberts of the U.S. Supreme Court to permit live audio and video coverage of the oral arguments next March in the case challenging congressional authority to mandate health insurance coverage and other provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
In the Nov. 18 letter to Roberts, AHCJ contends that traditional provisions are inadequate for such a historic case with potentially sweeping impact on the health care system and millions of Americans. “The case before the Court has ramifications for these and many other aspects of health care in America, however it is decided,” says the letter.
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How often does your state medical board search doctors in the National Practitioner Data Bank? Surprisingly not often, according to data provided to AHCJ by the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, which runs the data bank.
AHCJ and other media groups have been pushing the government to restore unfettered access to the Public Use File of the data bank, citing important stories that journalists have written about lax oversight of doctors by state medical boards.
AHCJ requested data from HRSA so reporters could see how often their states check the backgrounds of medical doctors and osteopaths, as well as interns and residents. The numbers are available in two spreadsheets for reporters to download and use for stories.
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Los Angeles Times reporter Noam Levey appeared on camera for an episode of AHCJ's "Talking Health" webcast.
As our media world changes, journalists who have traditionally worked for print outlets are finding themselves with the opportunity to appear on television or the radio to help explain complex health issues to a different audience.
Bruce Japsen, a longtime Chicago Tribune reporter who now contributes to The New York Times, has some tips to help his fellow ink-stained journalists best convey their information and even embrace appearing on on other outlets.
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 Some publishers and media outlets don't provide liability coverage for freelance writers' articles, and freelancers may blog or publish their own material, leaving many troubled by their exposure to possible legal problems – and the resulting financial impact.
Separate media liability coverage is available for writers, with policies covering libel, trademark/copyright infringement, defamation, invasion of privacy, and errors and omissions. But most writers don't buy it because coverage can be expensive, ranging from $500 a year to more than $1,500.
Independent journalist Andy Miller has some tips to consider if you are looking into your insurance options.
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Evaluate, report on quality of hospitals in your area
AHCJ offers hospital mortality and readmission data, which will allow you to tell your audience whether a hospital's rates are in line with national averages, significantly better or significantly worse. A special AHCJ webinar provided an introduction to this data, including ideas on how to use the data in your own area.
The federal survey that reflects patients' perspectives of hospital care has been updated on the AHCJ website. The spreadsheets that AHCJ offers allow you to analyze the top-rated hospitals — or lowest-rated hospitals — in your area.
Need help analyzing data? AHCJ has tip sheets to help, including "Finding patterns and trends in health data: Pivot tables in spreadsheets" and "Intro to investigating health data using spreadsheets." Links to the data and the relevant tip sheets are all on the Data page.
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 • Covering Medical Research
• Covering the Health of Local Nursing Homes
• Navigating the CDC: A Journalist’s Guide to the CDC Web Site
• Covering Obesity: A Guide for Reporters
• Covering Hospitals: Using Tools on the Web
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Covering Health
Project follows the race to make bagged salad safer
The latest investigation by California HealthCare Foundation Center for Health Reporting's Deborah Schoch will make you think twice before ripping ...
Poet’s piece on bias against elderly people serves as reminder to reporters
Anyone writing about older people with any seriousness will eventually confront the phenomenon known as "ageism."
The great gerontologist Dr. Robert ...
Study: Good press releases contribute to good health journalism
Thanks to Gary Schwitzer for drawing attention to a study, published in BMJ, which analyzes the impact medical journal press releases have on actual ...
Programming errors led to overdoses with pain-medicine pumps
Building off a state health department report showing that, as The Morning Call's Tim Darragh wrote, "Nurses at St. Luke's Hospital three times in ...
Experts offer story ideas for covering health reform
More than 30 attendees heard local experts sketch the particular challenges and issues presented by the Affordable Care Act in California in the ...
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Stay in touch with AHCJ through social networking sites and tools
Find freelance health journalists in our directory
‘Downsized’ members can take advantage of transition-assistance program
AHCJ makes Nursing Home Compare data easier to analyze
Health Reform