Today the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid announced a “Scorecard” intended to increase public transparency about the performance of the agency’s programs.
The site uses data that was voluntarily submitted by states on “selected health and program indicators.” An introduction to the site says it offers information about these questions: Continue reading
We’ve covered in another blog post what to be cautious about in scrutinizing an observational study that uses data from a massive database or dataset. And we’ve introduced a new section in the Data section of the Medical Studies Core Topic that describes characteristics and considerations of several large datasets that researchers may frequently use for such studies.
But sometimes you want to get really granular on deconstructing a study. Continue reading
Photo: Eric via Flickr
A South Dakota newspaper on Tuesday won a seven-year legal battle to obtain information about retailers who participate in the food stamps program. The ruling is a victory for government transparency on an issue that has been a subject of AHCJ advocacy.
The Argus Leader of Sioux Falls reported that a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals on May 8 cleared the way for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to release information on how much money individual retailers make from participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the formal name for the food stamps program. Continue reading
Anna Ibarra
Health care data are increasingly being collected by nonprofits and private companies as part of their work and business – the good news for reporters is this data can be easily accessible and at no cost.
As long as it’s used responsibly, data collected by commercial entities can often help journalists write about an issue in a quicker and more timely manner, said Casey Ross, national correspondent at Stat News, during a panel at a Health Journalism 2018.
Ross was joined by Jim Rivas of Doximity, an online network of more than 1 million medical professionals in the U.S., and Josh Gray, vice president of athenaResearch and health care reporter Felice J. Freyer of The Boston Globe, who moderated the panel.
Photo: Pia Christensen/AHCJDonald Warne, M.D., M.P.H., pointed out that American Indians aren’t broken out in most health data sets, which identify blacks, whites and Hispanics.
More than 700 people attended Health Journalism 2018, the 20th anniversary celebration of the Association of Health Care Journalists.
Reporters, editors, producers, health policy experts, doctors and educators gathered in the scenic Phoenix desert to discuss emerging science, new trends in business, health information technology and more.
The conference kicked off with an engrossing and sometimes startling presentation about health in the Native American population. Continue reading