1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"When House Calls Become Sales Calls," by Angie C. Marek.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
December 2010 issue (reached newsstands mid-November 2010).
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
Are doctors the new telemarketers? Marek makes the case that the reader's next doctor appointment is more likely than ever to be prompted by an insistent evening phone call or a nagging e-mail. She describes the twin imperatives that drive doctors to market their services more aggressively: on the one hand, a revenue shortage driven by the recession; on the other, pressure from regulators and insurers to encourage more thorough preventive medicine and follow-up visits. In the article, Marek offers finely sketched and illuminating anecdotes that show how consumers respond, for better or worse, to ad campaigns and robocalls; how frequent medical visits can create both benefits and complications for patients; and how some doctors tread uncomfortably along the line between marketing and medical practice. Marek offers a nuanced story without clear good guys or bad guys, one that illustrates the hard-to-anticipate ripples that spread from even small changes in the health-care system.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
For this story Marek pulled several studies from PubMed.com exploring robocalls or other automated patient contacts and how effective they'd been in encouraging patients to receive more preventive care. (One study, by Kaiser Permanente, is mentioned in the piece.) She also extensively reviewed the online marketing presences of some popular practices, including La Jolla Cosmetic Cosmetic Surgery Center, looking at the way that patients and their doctors were interacting online. She used an NCQA database search to find out how many doctors were currently in the process of getting their Patient Centered Medical Home designation, and had Thomson Reuters compile a spreadsheet of their data that allowed her to detail trends in how often people went to the doctor or used the hospital. All of this material helped to add convincing statistical weight to the story's underlying thesis–that doctors had multiple reasons to be more proactive in reaching out to their patients.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Marek spent several days shadowing Dr. Marks and Dr. Oliver, the two physicians featured in the piece. She also interviewed dozens of patients who'd had robocall experiences or had become, say, Facebook friends with their doctors. She spoke with executives at firms like Phytel, which are growing rapidly thanks to the automation of patient records and the drive among doctors to improve quality and screening adherence. Many medical practice consultants also weighed in on changes they had noticed in the way doctors and patients were interacting. Marek even located a consultant working in the Los Angeles area whose express focus was on increasing online "social networking buzz" for cosmetic surgeons.
6. Results (if any).
The story generated more than a dozen letters to the editor, and was picked up by numerous radio and local-television outlets as well as the news-review publication "The Week."
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy?
N/a.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
Marek writes: "This story started out as a piece that was strictly about the way that doctors were reacting to their business softening during the recession. Because I had a lot of time to explore different angles, I ultimately arrived at the unique approach we took in this piece, highlighting the dilemmas facing the pestering physician. My biggest piece of advice would just be for reporters to not be afraid to occasionally deploy a lighter, more humorous tone in stories that highlight real changes in the healthcare system. This story got a strong response from our readers–including many doctors, and I think will be memorable to them because of its more humorous approach.