Tag Archives: roadtocleveland

#AHCJ16 session to tackle how consumers might benefit if they shop for care based on price

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Joseph Burns

About Joseph Burns

Joseph Burns (@jburns18), a Massachusetts-based independent journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on health insurance. He welcomes questions and suggestions on insurance resources and tip sheets at joseph@healthjournalism.org.

Source: Health Care Pricing ProjectResearch from the Health Care Pricing Project shows that among 15 hospitals in Philadelphia, the price of a lower-limb MRI varied so much that a consumer going to the highest-priced hospital would pay six times more than that same consumer would pay at the lowest-priced hospital.

Source: Health Care Pricing ProjectResearch from the Health Care Pricing Project shows that among 15 hospitals in Philadelphia, the price of a lower-limb MRI varied so much that a consumer going to the highest-priced hospital would pay six times more than that same consumer would pay at the lowest-priced hospital.

It’s no secret that health care prices nationwide vary widely from one market to the next, and even within individual markets. A panel on hospital mergers during AHCJ’s Health Journalism 2016 conference in Cleveland will examine the many factors driving these variations in hospital prices. We’ll also discuss how consumers can shop more effectively for the lowest-priced care.

The session, “Merger mania of health providers and the rise of dominant and potential monopolies,” will be 4:40-6 p.m. on Saturday, April 9. Continue reading →

#AHCJ16 roundtable to discuss the landscape of urban health challenges

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Susan Heavey

About Susan Heavey

Susan Heavey, (@susanheavey) a Washington, D.C.-based journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on social determinants of health and curates related material at healthjournalism.org. She welcomes questions and suggestions on resources and tip sheets at determinants@healthjournalism.org.

Cleveland March # 49 via photopin (license)#AHCJ16 in Cleveland includes a key discussion with the top health leaders from Cleveland, Baltimore and St. Louis on cities’ health challenges, one of several sessions looking at health disparities.

Cleveland March # 49 via photopin (license)#AHCJ16 in Cleveland includes a key discussion with the top health leaders from Cleveland, Baltimore and St. Louis on cities’ health challenges, one of several sessions looking at health disparities.

There’s no shortage of good panels at this week’s Health Journalism 2016 in Cleveland, especially for reporters interested in social factors that impact health. I’m particularly excited about an opening day roundtable discussion with top health officials from Baltimore, St. Louis and Cleveland that will focus on urban health challenges.

Before you join us at “Covering the health angles of cities facing crisis,” which runs from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, April 7, here’s a quick look at recent coverage of some of the major health issues in each city: Continue reading →

Tips on medical research reporting 101 kicks off #AHCJ16 in Cleveland

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Tara Haelle

About Tara Haelle

Tara Haelle (@TaraHaelle) is AHCJ's medical studies core topic leader, guiding journalists through the jargon-filled shorthand of science and research and enabling them to translate the evidence into accurate information.

road-to-cleveland-2Almost since the inception of health journalism, reporting on medical research has been one of the mainstays of the job. That does not, however, mean it’s easy or work to be taken lightly. With dozens of potentially interesting and relevant papers coming out each week, full of statistics and findings that may or may not be “statistically significant” or “clinically significant,” covering medical studies can be daunting to a newcomer.

Enter one of the longest running workshops at the AHCJ annual conference: the Thursday morning session “Reporting on Medical Studies.” Continue reading →

Panel will assess continued growing pains of health reform in the states #AHCJ16

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Joanne Kenen

About Joanne Kenen

Joanne Kenen, (@JoanneKenen) the health editor at Politico, has been AHCJ’s topic leader on health reform and curated related material at healthjournalism.org. Follow her on Facebook.

road-to-cleveland-2For several years now, I’ve moderated an AHCJ conference panel on health reform in the states and will do it again this year at Health Journalism 2016 in Cleveland. We’ll get pretty granular this year, looking at two specific states – Massachusetts and Washington state – and provide a national overview of how states are looking ahead to next year to solve some of their persistent challenges.

Those challenges include a relatively low rate of young and healthy people signing up, persistent public misconception about what the law does and does not do, and of course, affordability, affordability, affordability. Continue reading →

Aging well: Innovative approaches for boomers and beyond #AHCJ16

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Liz Seegert

About Liz Seegert

Liz Seegert (@lseegert), is AHCJ’s topic editor on aging. Her work has appeared in NextAvenue.com, Journal of Active Aging, Cancer Today, Kaiser Health News, the Connecticut Health I-Team and other outlets. She is a senior fellow at the Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement at George Washington University and co-produces the HealthCetera podcast.

aging-hikersWe baby boomers were lucky to grow up when we did. We came of age during an era of progress. The Beatles … and Woodstock. Civil rights … and women’s rights. We saw men land on the moon and journalism unmask a president’s illegal actions.

Boomers also experienced a time of tremendous advances in science and medicine. We benefited from new vaccines to ward off measles and polio. Learned about the dangers of cholesterol, trans fats and smoking. Vowed to eat right and exercise. Continue reading →

Conference session will explore the hidden costs of hospital consolidation #AHCJ16

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Joseph Burns

About Joseph Burns

Joseph Burns (@jburns18), a Massachusetts-based independent journalist, is AHCJ’s topic leader on health insurance. He welcomes questions and suggestions on insurance resources and tip sheets at joseph@healthjournalism.org.

Zack Cooper

Zack Cooper

Research from the Health Care Pricing Project shows that when hospitals have a monopoly in a market, prices are 15.3 percent higher than prices in hospitals where there are four or more hospitals, even after controlling for costs in those markets.

No doubt there’ll be lots of talk about hospital consolidations at AHCJ’s upcoming Health Journalism 16 conference in Cleveland. At one session in particular, Zack Cooper, Ph.D., an assistant professor of health policy and of economics at Yale University, will talk about the research he and his colleagues published last year on how hospital consolidations affect what hospitals charge consumers and insurers. Continue reading →