About AHCJ: General News

2013 Reporting Fellowships on Health Care Performance awarded Date: 12/03/12

AHCJ Reporting Fellowshiops on Health Care Performance

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Association of Health Care Journalists has awarded five journalists AHCJ Reporting Fellowships on Health Care Performance. The program, in its third year, is meant to help journalists understand and report on the performance of local health care markets and the U.S. health system as a whole.

The fellowship program, supported by The Commonwealth Fund, is intended to give experienced print, broadcast and online reporters an opportunity to concentrate on the performance of health care systems – or significant parts of those systems – locally, regionally or nationally. The fellows are able to examine policies, practices and outcomes, as well as the roles of various stakeholders.

The 2013 fellows will be:

  • Alan Bavley, a medical reporter with The Kansas City Star. Bavley will focus on the trend of large hospitals and health care groups absorbing independent medical practices and likely implications.

  • Jeanne Erdmann, an independent journalist near St. Louis, Mo. She plans to investigate the health outcomes of people who are either too rural or too poor to access the spectrum of care offered through genetic counseling.

  • Noam Levey, a national health care reporter with the Los Angeles Times/Tribune Washington Bureau. He will focus on how local-level policy choices impact community health system outcomes.

  • Rhiannon Meyers, a reporter with the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. She plans to examine the scourge of diabetes in her region, cultural and policy influences, consequences and what will be required to change the course of the disease.

  • Lindy Washburn, a senior writer with The Record/North Jersey Media Group. She will study what hospital ownership changes mean in terms of access, performance, costs and accountability, as well as how state policy changes will play into the mix.

The fellows will continue in their current jobs during the coming year, but also receive customized training, mentoring and financial support for field reporting and conference and workshop attendance. With the support of the program, and their own news outlets, they are expected to complete significant and unique reporting projects by the end of 2013.

The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing public understanding of health care issues. With more than 1,300 members across the United States and around the globe, its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. The association and its Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism provide training, resources and a professional home for journalists. Offices are based at the Missouri School of Journalism.

The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation that aims to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable. The Fund carries out this mandate by supporting independent research on health care issues and making grants to improve health care practice and policy. The Fund is based in New York City.