Insights

<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>

<p><img src="/files/u47/Antidote_-_Salt_2.jpg" width="67" height="100" style="float: right;" />Yikes: "Analysts estimate that population-wide reductions in sodium could prevent more than 100,000 deaths annually."</p>

<p>In October, <em>Antidote</em> reported that <a href="../../../../../../../../blogs/researcher-regrets-ghostwritten-hormone-therapy-review">Dr. John Eden</a>, a well-respected Australian hormone researcher and the founder and director of the <a href="http://www.sesiahs.health.nsw.gov.au/rhw/MenopauceCentre.asp">Sydney Menopause Centre</a>, had second thoughts about his participation in a review article about hormone replacement therapy (HRT) that was written with the help of pharmaceutical giant Wyeth.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.marynmckenna.com/home.html">Maryn McKenna</a> has lived inside the "hot zone" for much of her reporting career. She honed her craft at the <em>Atlanta Journal-Constitution</em>, where she was much admired for her coverage of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It takes skill to persuade any large government agency to give up some of its secrets, but McKenna did just that and turned them into fascinating stories. She has since taken the enviable career path of writing books.

<p>What does it take for a doctor to lose his license in Arkansas?</p> <p><a href="http://www.armedicalboard.org/public/verify/results.aspx?strPHIDNO=ASMB…. Randeep Singh Mann</a> appears to have pushed the envelope just about as far as it can go, and he is still holding an active medical license from that state.</p> <p>Mann, an internist in Russellville, is accused of <a href="http://www.justice.gov/usao/are/news_releases/PDFs_2010News_Releases/Ja…; the head of the Arkansas State Medical Board by planting a bomb in his driveway.</p>