Insights

An updated look at youth suicides recently found that suicide rates in rural U.S. counties are double those of urban areas. Figuring out the causes behind the widening disparity is more difficult, but lack of access to mental health services is a big part of the problem in rural areas.

A federal law forbids hospitals from simply kicking their patients to the curb, a practice called patient dumping. Hospitals are required to treat patients who arrive at the ER. Here's how to check whether hospitals in your coverage area are violating the rules.

Homelessness has long been a serious problem in Anchorage, Alaska. The challenge for two reporters at Alaska Dispatch News was to find new ways to cut through old perceptions and debates to tell stories that showed their subjects’ enduring humanity. Here's how they did it.

Even with all the changes in the health care landscape, there are still more not-for-profit hospitals in the U.S. than profit-driven organizations or government-run hospitals. Finding out information isn't always easy, but using IRS 990 forms can offer a powerful window into their workings.

A new study of kids in the Los Angeles basin found that as air quality “improved dramatically” in recent years, so did the capacity of children's lungs. The study's attributes the gains to more stringent emissions standards. But can the air quality gains continue amid a resurgent economy?

At the Native American Health Center in East Oakland, health reform has pushed clinic staff to experiment with new ways of delivering care. But changes in the way care is reimbursed and increased competition for patients still leaves clinic leaders nervous about longterm survival.

Only three more weeks to get your application together for the USC Annenberg National Health Journalism Fellowship.

New research finds that coverage of political conflict over the measles vaccine is unlikely to change the minds of the anti-vaccination camp, but could have negative effects on public attitudes and beliefs. Is the media's coverage accentuating a false controversy?

Doctors usually train in a specialty, but they don’t have to practice in that specialty. And, in most states, they don’t have to tell you how they trained before they treat you. Records from medical specialty boards can help reporters figure out if doctors are board-certified and in which field.