1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
Title of the story is "Doctor-starved: America's heartland in crisis." The byline on the story is Parija.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
The story was published on March 28, 2010 on CNNMoney.com. The story also appeared on CNN.com on March 28, 2010.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
While much has been written and reported about the growing shortage of primary care doctors in the United States, this story highlights one important aspect of the problem that isn't well-known and hasn't received much attention: shortage of country doctors. Many of the nation's designated Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) are actually located in rural America. This story presents some eye-opening statistics. While 20% of the U.S. populations lives in rural areas, only 9% of the physician population practice in these area. The story profiles a country doctor – the only primary care internist for a community of 1,500 people – who shut his practice in a HPSA area after the recession further bruised his ability to stay competitive with the larger area hospitals. The story highlights the fact the U.S. has about 66 million people living in HPSA areas and close to 7,500 primary care physicians needed to bridge the physician shortfall in these doctor-starved areas.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Health Professional Shortage Areas data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for an understanding of any new measures in Health Policy that address the physician shortage in the country.
Click here for a quick understanding of the demographics of Northumberland.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Dr. Downs Little, a primary care internist, was profiled for the story. Little was the only independent doctor serving a community of 1,500 in Lottsburg Va. Little shut his practice in late 2009. Dr. Howard Rabinowitz, professor of family and community medicine at Thomas Jefferson University's Medical College. Do. Rabinowitz has studied the state of rural medicine for 30 years. Dr. Lori Heim, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).
6. Results (if any).
The story received hundreds if responses from consumers as well as the medical community. Many of those responses are archived on CNNMoney.com, below the story. The story was also picked up by leading health care news websites such as Kaiser Health News.
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.
When writing about a health care trend, finding a real life example to illustrate the issues really helps to bring the story alive and make it more relatable to a broader audience.