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<p>So, California’s so-called “May revise” budget document is out, and as expected, the proposed cutbacks in health and social services programs are not pretty. <a href="http://www.californiahealthline.org/">California Healthline</a> has a comprehensive round-up of the coverage <a href="http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2010/5/17/governors-revise…;
<p>The release of a major new <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/state_data/state_highlights/… report on states' tobacco control programs</a>, the first since 2006, is a great news peg for taking a look at what's happening with stop-smoking efforts in your state and community. The CDC report gives state-by-state breakdowns of smoking rates by age and other demographics and provides a snapshot of current state regulations on smoking.</p>
<p>I’d like to believe that dangling financial incentives in front of medical groups and doctors shouldn’t influence the quality of my health care for better or worse.</p> <p>But they apparently do exactly that, according to <a href="http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/340/may11_1/c1898">some intriguing new research</a> on how financial incentives influenced health screenings and treatment for millions of patients at <a href="http://www.kp.org/">Kaiser Permanente</a>, the giant HMO based in California. </p>
<p>During its six-month pilot project, the <a href="http://www.centerforhealthreporting.org/">California HealthCare Foundation Center for Reporting on Health</a> at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism quietly produced in-depth journalism with California newspapers. Now, the Center has gone public with <a href="http://www.centerforhealthreporting.org/">a new website</a> and high-profile hires, including editor-in-chief <a href="http://annenberg.usc.edu/Faculty/Communication%20and%20Journalism/Westp… Westphal</a>.
<p>If you’ve ever wondered who, exactly, is writing health stories for the controversial Web content provider <a href="http://www.demandmedia.com/">Demand Media</a> and its brands like <a href="http://www.livestrong.com/">Livestrong.com</a>, meet Adam Cloe. I encountered Adam last week at the <a href="http://www.healthjournalism.org/">AHCJ conference in Chicago</a>, where he was staffing Livestrong’s exhibitor booth and politely taking guff from journalists appalled at the idea of getting paid 10 cents a word.</p>
<p>Here are 10 ideas from three journalists talking about how to cover health reform’s rollout at the <a href="http://www.healthjournalism.org">Association of Health Care Journalists</a> conference in Chicago:</p> <p>1. Will there be a physician shortage in your area? Start checking in with your local medical school or teaching hospital and the <a href="http://www.aamc.org/">Association of American Medical Colleges and Teaching Hospitals</a>.</p>
<p>Most journalists don't pay much attention to their local "medically indigent" program, which offers health care to poor people who don't qualify for Medicaid or other government programs. But that's one of the local programs that could be at risk under health reform.</p>
<p><img src="/files/u47/Antidote_-_Salt_2.jpg" width="67" height="100" style="float: right;" />Yikes: "Analysts estimate that population-wide reductions in sodium could prevent more than 100,000 deaths annually."</p>
<p>A quick heads up on some health data now available from the U.S. Department Veterans Affairs, pulled from the innards of a just released (and lengthy) <a href="http://www4.va.gov/OPEN/docs/open_govt_plan.pdf">"open government" report</a>. This should be of interest to journalists who have a V.A. medical facility in their community. (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Veterans_Affairs_medical_facilitie… a list</a> of V.A. medical facilities in the United States.)</p><p>From the report:</p>
<p>The CDC today released <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5912a2.htm">some surprising MMWR statistics</a> on H1N1/swine flu vaccination rates around the United States today. The regional variation, especially for children under 17, is striking, particularly amid news that <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/31/AR20100… than half of the nearly 230 million vaccine doses</a> available to Americans have been used, leaving a staggering surplus that's soon to expire.</p>