Ideas, resources and tips for finding health stories on any beat

By Mark Katches

I asked some terrific journalists to help compile a list of ideas, resources and tips. This list was put together with help from Sam Roe and Ellen Gabler from the Chicago Tribune, Julie Gallego of the Orange County Register, Alison Young from USA Today, Raquel Rutledge of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Blythe Bernhard of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and William Heisel, formerly of the Los Angeles Times.

Find out who the regulators and inspector are and start asking for their reports. You can find great stories about bad child-care facilities, unsanitary restaurants and school cafeterias, deadly nursing homes, unsafe school buses. The list is endless. Ellen Gabler at the Chicago Tribune notes that it's important to look for follow-up reports. Once regulators cite a bad child-care center, are they following up to make sure problems are fixed? It's also a good idea to keep an eye on Government Accountability Office and inspector general reports.

Pay close attention to disciplinary records. Many of the professions regulated by the state are health-related – from nail salons to doctors, nurses and chiropractors. Routinely check complaints, disciplinary actions, license revocations. Again, make sure to hold the agency accountable. Are they properly following up? Many state or local agencies keep a list of their databases online. Otherwise, request a records retention schedule from the department which details what records they have. The FDA issues reports and warning letters that can be searched by regional offices. Alison Young notes that they can be an excellent resource to find if businesses or doctors in your areas have been reprimanded.

Monitor the health blogs. Young, who covers health and medical issues for USA Today, recommends Effect Measure. Heisel's Antidote blog also yields good ideas and highlights important trends. AHCJ's Covering Health blog includes a long list of health news blogs.

Stay in touch with union leaders and lawyers. Sam Roe suggests cultivating union leaders to track occupational health risks that increasingly go uncovered. He also recommends talking with attorneys for schools, businesses and other groups. Chances are they are involved in cases related to people's health.

Think outside the hospital box. St. Louis Post-Dispatch medical reporter Blythe Bernhard suggests that whenever major news breaks, try to brainstorm health stories that go beyond the hospitals and health clinics. For example, look at the national nursing shortage. How has that affected school nurses? Do any companies still employ on-site nurses, which used to be common in the 1980s and 1990s? These are stories that education and business reporters can jump on.

Send it off to the laboratory. I'm a big fan of using laboratory testing. Over the past few years, I've had reporters send candy, sushi, water and other items off to the lab. The results have provided authoritative findings for some terrific stories. It may take some coordinating and cooperation from school officials, but why not test the drinking water at the school water fountains for lead? Radon gas is the second leading cause of lung cancer in the United States – behind only smoking. And radon is a particularly troubling problem in parts of the Midwest. How about testing for radon in your local school? Testing can be expensive, but there are ways to manage the budget and still get interesting results. As a first step, check in with local university scientists or independent testing laboratories near you.

Mark Katches is the editorial director for California Watch. As the deputy managing editor for projects and investigations at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, he directed and edited the newspaper's pension project that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. In 2009, he edited a series of stories about dangerous chemicals that was named a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He also has worked at The Orange County Register and the Los Angeles Daily News. He served four years on the board of directors of Investigative Reporters and Editors Inc.