Insights

<p>If you have a smartphone, chances are you know what an invaluable tool it is for a journalist.&nbsp;This week, we're highlighting iPhone applications that are useful for health journalists.</p>

<p>Which consumer health website was dubbed a "hypochondria time suck?" Answers and more in our Daily Briefing.</p>

<p>When I began reporting on health taboos in Asian communities in New York, I didn't know I would be facing such tough challenges.</p><p>&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>The Wall Street Journal</em>’s series on Medicare costs, “<a href="http://topics.wsj.com/subject/S/secrets-of-the-system/6281">Secrets of the System</a>,” sets the mind spinning with possibilities for future health investigations. I culled five tips from the <a href="../../../../../../../../blogs/covering-medicare-spending-part-1-tips-wall-street-journals-secrets-system">on Wednesday</a>. Here are five more. Next week, I will offer a few story ideas that could grow out of the Journal’s efforts to crack open the Medicare claims database for everyone.</p>

<p>Who are the federal government's most-wanted fugitives in health fraud? Answers and more in our Daily Briefing.</p>

<p>California scored in the lowest quartile among all states in its health care system's provision of services for children in a new Commonwealth Fund report, and the reasons behind it have very much to do with budget priorities. But there are also the complex issues of immigration and access to care that are not so easily resolved.</p>

<p>Are hospitals in your community affected by nationwide shortages of certain drugs? Answers and more in our Daily Briefing!</p>

<p><em>The Wall Street Journal</em>’s <a href="http://www.soros.org/initiatives/fellowship/fellows/schoofs_2008">Mark Schoofs</a> and <a href="http://businessjournalism.org/2010/10/27/sifting-medicare-claims-for-fr… Tamman</a> have been dismantling Medicare’s claims database piece by piece for months in a series of blockbuster stories under the umbrella “<a href="http://topics.wsj.com/subject/S/secrets-of-the-system/6281">Secrets of the System</a>.”</p>

<p>From the Jonas Brothers to Antonio Banderas, celebrities are cutting deals with Big Pharma. Plus more from our Daily Briefing.</p>

<p>Some officials call for a committment to zero emissions as railard facilities sitting next to homes and schools plan to double in size.</p>