Calendar
Health Journalism 2015: Program
Overview | Wednesday/Thursday/Friday | Saturday/Sunday
Click to read descriptions of events having red arrows.
Wednesday, April 22 |
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3-7 p.m. |
Conference registration desk opens |
Bayshore Foyer |
Thursday, April 23 |
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7 a.m. - 5 p.m. |
Conference registration desk opens |
Mezzanine |
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8 a.m.- |
Field trips |
Mezzanine |
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9-11 a.m. |
HIPAA: The ins, the outs, and how to navigate Since Congress passed the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act in 1996, HIPAA has tortured just about everyone working in the health care field, not to mention journalists seeking to include the perspective of patients, clinicians and other key players in their reporting on the U.S. health care system. The law, itself, isn’t so revolutionary. The privacy of people’s medical information has long been a tenet of medical ethics as well as a cultural value. BUT HIPAA’s complexity has spawned misinterpretation and misapplication that continues. This workshop will arm you with HIPAA basics and practical tips for navigating the law to obtain the interviews and information you need for your stories.
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Bayshore |
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A workshop about the narrative craft This intense and lively workshop will highlight some of the best techniques to bring sparkle and creativity to your health and science stories in ways that make important information more accessible, relevant and engaging. We’ll focus on four power tools: theme and meaning, character development, scenes and visuals, and cinematic structure. If time permits, we’ll do round-robin brainstorming to identify solutions to your most common writing challenges.
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Cypress |
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How to accurately report on medical research findings Learn how to uncover the flaws in published medical research – essential knowledge for journalists charged with evaluating the quality of evidence and the potential tradeoffs between benefits and harms. Review better ways to frame findings and get tips on how to get answers even on tight deadlines. Learn about tools to write and produce stories that make your readers and viewers more informed.
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Magnolia |
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12:15- |
Using LinkedIn for journalists Learn how to leverage LinkedIn to find story ideas, new sources and even break stories. Additionally, learn how to promote your identity and work on LinkedIn.
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Bayshore |
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Covering hospital quality Hospital quality data are everywhere. With little agreement about what makes a good hospital – and confusion created by the various rating programs – it can be difficult to understand hospital quality scores. This session will provide a tour of the landscape, including new data introduced and ones about to be introduced. We’ll explain why ratings vary, their strengths and weaknesses, and how you might use them, with story ideas to keep the topic fresh for you – and your audience. If you cover a local hospital, this is a session you won’t want to miss.
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Cypress |
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A genetics primer for journalists Go beyond the basics of A, T, C, and G, and learn how to write more clearly and accurately about complex topics such as gene therapy, epigenetics and precision medicine. Speakers will clarify common misconceptions reported in the media, discuss the promise and limitations of genetics in health care and highlight research trends in medical genetics.
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Magnolia |
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2-3 p.m.
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New tech tools for journalists Enhance your mojo – mobile journalism skills, that is. Our expert panel will share their favorite technology tools for reporting, writing, photography and video to help up your game. We’ll also hear about new ways to engage your audience, and learn about the Bay Area News Group’s Mobile Journalism Lab – a van outfitted with a bevy of technology that doubles as a roving classroom and newsroom.
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Bayshore |
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Covering hospital finances Ever wonder how your closest hospital is doing financially? These institutions spend 30 percent of health care dollars. They are often among a city’s largest employers, and may even have larger budgets than the cities they reside in. Yet their finances are often a black hole for reporters. This session aims to demystify hospital finances, showing journalists how to find sources and use five key documents to analyze a facility’s fiscal prospects.
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Cypress |
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Using data transparency resources to drive reporting Rapid growth in the public availability of health care data has created novel opportunities to inject data-driven reporting into your work. This session will focus on free online data repositories and interactive tools that attendees can use to identify newsworthy patterns in costs and quality. Attendees will leave the session with several easily localizable story ideas.
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Magnolia |
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3:15-4:20 p.m.
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County-by-county alcohol use in your state Breaking news: Get an exclusive first look at alcohol data for every county in the United States. Download the data and use an innovative mapping tool to explore trends in alcohol use, heavy drinking and binge drinking over two decades. The findings are from a new paper by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, published in the American Journal of Public Health.
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Bayshore |
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ACA: Will it survive? And how to cover it now Five years after enactment, uncertainty still stalks the Affordable Care Act. In June, the Supreme Court is expected to rule on whether subsidies can be given out in 37 states. What might happen if the subsidies are ruled invalid? But that’s not the only hurdle; cost and affordability remain concerns. Did enough people sign up to help moderate costs? Can states afford to run their own exchanges? This panel will explore these issues and provide tips and story ideas for covering the ACA from a national, state and local perspective.
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Cypress |
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A guide for journalists: The science of diet Media audiences can have an insatiable appetite for more and deeper information about diet. As you're researching for your own audience, you may find yourself bogged down by a mishmash of myths, quackery and Internet or late-night TV sales pitches. Occasionally, you'll be fortunate enough to bump against real, science-tested techniques to tackle diet, nutrition, obesity and weight loss. Which resources and techniques can you trust? Our expert speakers are immersed in the world of academic research and will help you find clarity and fact-based material to inform your coverage. Come away from this session with a better grasp of questions to ask and how to fact check the answers for your next stories about diet and nutrition.
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Magnolia |
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4:30-5 p.m. |
Newcomer welcome |
Cypress |
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5:15- |
The conference kickoff speaker will be Stanford University physician and bestselling author Abraham Verghese, M.D., M.A.C.P. In his writing and his work, he emphasizes the importance of bedside medicine and physical examination in an era of advanced medical technology. He contends the patient in the bed often has less attention than the patient data in the computer. |
Santa Clara |
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6:45 p.m. |
Welcome to Silicon Valley Reception Join us for food, drinks and conversation to kick off Health Journalism 2015. Mingle with new members and catch up with old friends. Meet-up spots will be designated for conference fellows. |
Terra Courtyard |
Friday, April 24 |
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7 a.m. - 5 p.m. |
Conference registration desk opens |
Mezzanine |
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7-8:30 a.m. |
Breakfast |
Ballroom C/D/E/F |
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7 a.m.- |
Exhibit Hall |
Ballroom C/D/E/F |
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8-8:50 a.m. |
Robert McDonald, U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs, will hold a news conference on Friday morning. The former CEO of Proctor & Gamble was named to head the VA last year after news reports of long wait lists at veterans’ medical facilities and revelations of records tampering. He is an Army veteran and West Point graduate. Briefing materials |
Ballroom B |
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9-10:20 a.m. |
Ebola and Ebolanoia: Covering outbreaks responsibly The Ebola outbreak in West Africa sent a few cases westward to the United States — and inspired a frenzy of reporting that paid little attention to the facts of the disease or the risks of catching it. This panel will explore what the U.S. media got right and wrong, what reporters missed and misunderstood, and how we can do better next time.
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Ballroom A |
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The dental desert: Investigating barriers to oral health access Are you covering a dental desert? Tens of millions of Americans reside in the approximately 4,900 federally identified dental health professional shortage areas (HPSAs) across the country. These communities are designated as such by the Health Resources and Services Administration because they have more than 5,000 patients per dentist. According to federal officials, it would take approximately 7,300 additional dentists to eliminate the dental HPSA designations. We will discuss the impact of this problem and approaches that are being explored to address it.
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Ballroom B |
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Impact of dramatic climate changes on health Climate change is not just a topic for environmental reporters. It's a health story. Dangerous heat waves are becoming more frequent and longer. Air quality worsens in hot weather and pollen counts climb, exacerbating allergies, asthma and lung disease. The drought in California and Arizona may explain an increase in valley fever and insect-borne infectious diseases may flourish in a warming world. Learn about these and other health effects and how communities should prepare.
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Cypress |
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Exploring the latest research on aging No longer viewed with skepticism in the scientific community, the possibility of slowing or reversing the aging process makes good headlines. Approaches like genomic modification, stem-cell manipulation and furnishing young blood to aging tissues may stave off the loss of intellectual prowess and physical health in later years. Is this a pharma-friendly prospect, leaving us with millions of elderly people who are marginally better off than their predecessors but very much alive? What happens if we improve cognitive function, but fail to address motor neuron failure? Learn what’s real and what’s not — and how to avoid selling snake oil to your readers.
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Stevens Creek |
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Games for health: Innovation or fad? Hundreds of millions of people play online games worldwide and an increasing number of them are turning to games to promote healthier lifestyles and better cognitive abilities, as well as to manage illnesses such as cancer and diabetes. But do health games work? Research has shown that playing certain games can make a difference in improving mood and helping patients stick to their prescribed medical treatments. Panelists discuss the latest research on digital health games, applications, who is playing these games, what’s needed to make an effective game and how the health care industry is responding to the trend.
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Winchester |
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The clinical, ethical and research sides of genetics Rapid advances in technology have made it possible to analyze a person’s genetic code quickly and cheaply. The information can pinpoint health risks and help guide care for patients. But, for reporters who cover these stories, questions surface: How clear is the evidence for some of the risks, and what is a patient to do if there’s no ready remedy for the ones the tests find?
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Magnolia |
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10:40 a.m.- |
‘Not a death sentence’ is not enough: Covering the new HIV era From babies “cured” of HIV – and then not, potent treatments that render the HIV-positive noninfectious to pills that prevent infection, in the past decade, the science of HIV care and prevention has taken dramatic leaps forward. But people’s ability to access those innovations remains fragmented and cost remains a barrier. This panel will look at covering both advances and barriers, including uneven implementation of the Affordable Care Act keeping the science from benefiting the people who need it most.
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Ballroom A |
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Latino health: Life with the ACA – and without immigration reform Hispanics are the largest ethnic minority in the United States. Latino immigrants arrive in this country younger and healthier than the American population as a whole, but as they stay they suffer from chronic illnesses at increasing rates. Latinos are signing up for health insurance in strong numbers, but who will care for them – and how can that care be tailored to their community needs? Learn about the intersection of Latino health, immigration reform and how to tell the story.
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Ballroom B |
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Freelance: Success in the trades and writing for a professional audience There are hundreds of trade publications in health and medicine that provide steady work for freelancers and staff journalists. This panel will explore the universe of the trades, touching on topics the various business models, how writing for a professional audience differs from writing for the lay public, how to get up to speed in a new specialty quickly and how to pitch editors.
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Cypress |
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Public or private: What's ahead in insurance exchanges? Much has been written about millions of Americans taking to government-run exchanges under the Affordable Care Act to buy health insurance but there may be even more people selecting and purchasing coverage via private exchanges run by employers and insurers alike. This panel looks at how these exchanges operate and how they move consumers to more affordable and potentially higher quality choices. Panelists will also discuss the rapidly changing public and private approach to health coverage, provider choices and whether this will lead to the Holy Grail of transparency in prices.
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Magnolia |
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High-risk obstetrics: Challenges of very preterm births Nearly 2 percent of American newborns are considered very preterm, arriving at less than 32 weeks’ gestation. Many thrive. But at the margin of viability – from 22 to 26 weeks – parents and health providers face especially difficult medical and moral dilemmas. Who decides which babies will respond well to vigorous interventions and which will only suffer needlessly? In this session, a neonatologist, a high-risk obstetrician and a journalist who chronicled the story of her own micropreemie explore the issues.
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Stevens Creek |
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Efforts to battle fraud in electronic health records U.S. taxpayers have spent billions of dollars to encourage hospitals and physicians to build safe, private and efficient electronic health records systems. EHRs are the linchpin of the Affordable Care Act and should enable patients and their providers to access records and avoid duplicate tests and costly treatments. But growing numbers of data breaches, hacking by criminal networks and fraud are problems. How has this happened and what is the federal government doing to protect the privacy of EHRs? How safe are the EHRs at your local hospital and what can be done to safeguard them?
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Winchester |
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Noon- |
Lunch on your own |
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1:40-3 p.m. |
Connecting with your audience about end-of-life care In a rapidly aging America, the hard questions of end-of-life care face families, caregivers, professionals, patients – and newsrooms – everywhere. Learn how to address the challenges in covering this sensitive topic from a best-selling author, a longtime advocate and critic of hospice care, and an expert practitioner of palliative care and research. Bring the hard questions for our panelists to help you find some answers.
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Ballroom A |
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The big picture: Measuring the health of cities and states, countries and continents What truly impacts the health of a country? How have disease threats changed? Where in the United States is overall health getting worse or better than in peer nations? Why? This panel will demonstrate and discuss exciting new tools for identifying and reporting on health challenges and success stories. Data visualizations show how regions are performing in comparison to their peers and allow reporters new ways to view and understand health levels and trends by county, state, country or continent.
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Ballroom B |
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Veterans’ health: National scrutiny, local stories For years, veterans complained about the lack of timely access to medical care through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Those complaints were corroborated by VA doctors and other insiders. Problems were systemic in a medical network that served 9 million patients and made 85 million annual appointments. The inspector general verified whistleblower allegations in Phoenix and at more than 90 other VA medical centers. The VA secretary and other top bosses were forced out and Congress approved bipartisan legislation with $16.3 billion to expedite care and increase accountability. The legislation provided money to hire doctors and nurses with the goal of providing more timely care as well as outsource some care to community doctors and hospitals. Experts on the VA crisis weigh in on the agency’s response and suggest possible stories for local reporters to cover.
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Cypress |
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Overcoming the human factor in hospital infections We know washing hands can help stop the spread of germs. But a study this year followed 4,000 caregivers and found that, by the end of their shifts, their rate of hand-washing had dropped 8 percent. They were tired. But that 8 percent, extrapolated across the country, could account for thousands of lives and billions of dollars. So how can that human factor be overcome? Find out how doctors at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford control infections and get staff to adopt new practices. Journalists will talk about the stories they've produced and where the information is.
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Magnolia |
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New tech and new strategies for clinical trials Technology changes the way we look at health care every day. It’s easy to see how a new surgical tool or the transfer of electronic information affects a patient’s health. But how are the new treatments and gadgets affecting the critical front-end science being discovered in clinical trials? Panelists will help translate how everything from FitBits to genomic tests are transforming how these trials are conducted.
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Stevens Creek |
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1:40- |
Freelance PitchFest Editors from magazines, newspapers and websites are coming to meet with AHCJ’s freelance members. Sit down and discuss your story ideas one-on-one with editors from selected publications. There was an opportunity to sign up for appointments online before the conference and some appointments were reserved for on-site sign ups at 3 p.m. on Wednesday until 4 p.m. on Thursday.
Prepare with this webcast: Tips for pitching to top publications
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Lafayette |
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3-4 p.m. |
Dessert Break |
Ballroom C/D/E/F |
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4:20- |
Microbiome research: What to cover - and what to avoid Your body is home to more than 10 times as many bacteria as human cells, and the colonies of microorgansims that live on our bodies – the human microbiome – is a red-hot topic in health. These experts will help you find great stories and skip the hype about a microbial ecosystem essential to our health.
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Ballroom A |
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Localizing Medicare and Medicaid: Data, experts and shoe leather The government has released a treasure trove of data that presents story ideas and challenges for journalists. Panelists will discuss how to navigate Medicare data, understand its limitations and how to turn it into lively stories. We'll also dive into state Medicaid data to show where interesting stories can be found.
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Cypress |
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Transparency: Reporting on quality as well as health costs Few patients can choose physicians, hospitals or other providers based on what they charge, and even fewer consumers can choose providers based on quality. Get insight into how states, insurers, and other organizations are publishing information on the costs and quality of care in efforts to empower consumers to be more effective shoppers for health care services.
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Ballroom B |
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Changes in rules, new ethical debates about organ transplants Always a dramatic topic, organ transplantation offers new ethical questions that make for fresh, compelling journalism. If you’re fascinated by transplants, get ready to learn what’s new. Our expert panel will cover transplant tourism, transplant from HIV-positive donors, the new kidney allocation rules and Donation after Circulatory Death.
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Stevens Creek |
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How big data might revolutionize medical research and treatment There’s a lot of buzz about “big data” these days, but what does it really mean for medical research and treatment today and in the future? A panel of experts will present insights from academic, clinical, laboratory and industry perspectives, and guide reporters to better understand how big data collection and analysis can affect patient care and what issues have to be considered when covering the subject.
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Winchester |
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5:40- |
Membership meeting |
Magnolia |
Conference welcome and kickoff
News briefingOverview | Wednesday/Thursday/Friday | Saturday/Sunday