1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
Hospitals, Inc. – Rising Costs, Growing Clout Reporters: Jordan Rau, Jenny Gold, Chris Weaver and Arlene Weintraub Editors: John Fairhall and Laurie McGinley
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
June 29, July 13, Sept. 9, Oct. 13, Oct. 18, Oct. 28, Nov. 19, Nov. 22
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Kaiser Health News' occasional series of stories explores important trends transforming the hospital industry. For example, we've examined the struggles of community hospitals to remain independent, the acquisition of nonprofit hospitals by for-profit companies, the effect of the new health law on physician-owned hospitals and the failed attempts by regulators to make hospital prices transparent. And, most importantly, at a time of national concern over rising health care spending, hospitals are consolidating, often in concert with physician practices, and becoming marketplace powerhouses that dictate higher prices to insurers and employers. This phenomenon, a growing contributor to the upward spiral of health care spending, is especially evident in northern California. KHN extensively analyzed California hospital prices and interviewed dozens of experts and hospital executives to illustrate the impact of Sutter Health, the priciest chain. By year's end, KHN was far ahead of the media pack in reporting on changes in the biggest-spending component of the health system: America's hospitals.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
The California hospital prices data was based on an analysis of data the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) collects from hospitals and makes available on the Internet. We analyzed the state of revenue from private insurers, taking into account the number of inpatient stays and outpatient visits, to produce the first comprehensive look at how different regions and hospital systems in California collect vastly different prices for an average hospital stay or visit than do others. We also obtained actual prices one insurer, Aetna, paid to hospitals for specific common procedures. These prices are made available to Aetna consumers on the web. This allowed us to compare specific prices between hospitals. We relied on hospital quality data that is made public in California and published by the California Hospital Assessment and Reporting Taskforce (CHART), which was created by the state_s hospitals, doctors groups and insurers.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
We spoke to hospital executives, insurance officials, state officials, academics, insurance brokers, employers, patients and patient advocates.
6. Results (if any).
Our work was incorporated into a (Charlie Ornstein) presentation for journalists about how to use OSHPD data to write about hospitals. And the blog "Reporting on Health" discussed several of the stories, to help health journalists cover the subject.
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
No.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
If you're analyzing data, we heartily recommend putting the data on an Excel spreadsheet first. Take advantage of all public data bases. Most importantly, if there's a big story out there and most journalists are focusing on one area (for example, partisan politics on Capitol Hill or insurance prices), look in another direction and you may find something much more interesting.