California says the expense of new hep C drugs has nothing to do with who is prescribed them. But the question lingers: With some 200,000 people living with hep C in Medi-Cal, how much of a factor is cost in determining which patients receive treatment?
Health information technology is a complex and challenging topic to cover, and it's easy to get lost in the jargon. Veteran journalist Neil Versel offers background and story ideas for covering this issue in your community as health reform rolls out.
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) "open government" report. This should be of interest to journalists who have a V.A. medical facility in their community. (Here's a list of V.A. medical facilities in the United States.)
From the report:
Dr. Michael K. Gould graduated from Cornell University in 1983 with honors in all subjects. He received his medical degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) Health Science Center at Syracuse, and completed residency and chief residency training in internal medicine, also at SUNY Syracuse. He trained as a clinical fellow in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Stanford University Medical Center. He then completed a research fellowship in Health Services and Health Policy at Stanford University. He received an M.S. degree in health services research in 1998. Dr.
