Insights

<p>It wasn’t until four years after the first allegations were brought against Dr. Michael E. Stoddard in Colorado that the curtain was pulled back for the patients to see what had been happening on stage.</p> <p>The scene that the <a href="https://doraimage.state.co.us/LibertyIMS::/user%3Dreg%20public;pwd%3D;s… Board of Medical Examiners’ final decision</a> set, with Stoddard as the main player, was not pretty.</p>

<p>The Internet and social media have a way of upending professional conventions and giving rise to new models. &nbsp;As traditional boundaries blur, some unique collaborations have emerged between cutting-edge journalists and public health practitioners. I’ve been fascinating by some of these projects, which have yielded new insights, ground-breaking stories and new ways of connecting with the public.&nbsp;</p>

<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&gt;, 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>When Dr. R. Jan Gurley (a.k.a. Doc Gurley) went to Haiti to provide emergency medical care earlier this year, it blew her mind that she could carry her entire medical library with her on her iPhone. "My entire medical library, including little videos of how to do really invasive procedures, is on my iPhone. I should be able to text, upload photos and even little bits of video with my iPhone," <a href="http://www.reportingonhealth.org/blogs/doc-gurleys-ground-rules-haiti">… told ReportingonHealth</a>.</p>

<p>This review first appeared at <a href="http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/thepublicsquare/2010/04/26/the-real-c… Public Square.</a></p>

<p>The annual <a href="http://www.healthjournalism.org/">Association of Health Care Journalists</a> conference has become indispensable in a way conferences never are.</p> <p>Far from just an excuse to see old friends and drink too much, the AHCJ conference is always so packed with great speakers and workshops that writers find themselves wishing for a baby monitor they could set up in one session while they attend a different session down the hall.</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>If the <a href="http://www.propublica.org/">ProPublica</a&gt; experiment with nonprofit investigative journalism is teaching us anything, it is the importance of follow-through.</p>

<p>Reading Dr. Michael E. Stoddard's history of infractions, like so many medical board records in Colorado, is a little like reading Tom Stoppard's play <em>Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead</em>. Each disciplinary document focuses on what happened offstage, omitting key details and leaving the real drama, tragedy, or dark comedy to the imagination.</p>