Insights

You learn a lot when you spend months reporting on a given issue or community, as our fellows can attest. Whether you’re embarking on a big new story or seeking to go deeper on a given issue, it pays to learn from those who’ve already put in the shoe leather and crunched the data. In these essays and columns, our community of journalists steps back from the notebooks and tape to reflect on key lessons, highlight urgent themes, and offer sage advice on the essential health stories of the day. 

Author(s)
By Ryan White

Some headlines earlier this week made it sound like the reigning orthodoxy of exclusive breast-feeding was crumbling. The actual study turns out to be quite a bit more narrow and nuanced than the headlines let on.

Author(s)
By Trudy Lieberman

Insurance premium rate hikes just keep coming. With these increases come lots of questions from the public, questions that journalists will be asked to address. Here's a primer on some of the nuts and bolts of rates and premiums, which, not so incidently are key to Obamacare's success or failure.

Author(s)
By William Heisel

If the local children’s hospital that performs heart surgeries on kids has been suspended and is being investigated, the public deserves to know what’s going on. If the hospital is funded by public dollars, there should not be a fight over letting the public know what’s going on.