Insights

<p>Surgeon General Regina Benjamin got an earful today from participants in a conference call unveiling a high-level prevention council and strategy called for in the new health reform law.</p>

<p>For writers of most any stripe, getting the gig is only half the battle. Once you've finished your masterpiece, be it an investigative report or a quick blog post, how do you cut through the vast Internet -- Google has already indexed more than one trillion pages -- to find the readers for whom you have worked so hard?</p>

<p>Here’s what we’re reading today:</p> <p><strong>Health Reform:</strong> California’s Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signs a number of bills to move along health reform in the state, including the nation’s first state legislation to create health insurance exchanges. Check out <a href="http://blog.health-access.org/2010/10/implementing-and-improving.html">… list of signed bills</a> at Health Access’ blog.</p>

<p>It’s a phrase only a bureaucrat could love: “assurance of compliance.”</p> <p>The federal government uses the term frequently. When an agency is considering giving money to state or local government or to a private organization, it often makes them fill out an assurance of compliance asserting that they are following<a href="http://www.usaid.gov/policy/ads/300/303mac.pdf">civil rights</a> laws, <a href="http://ori.dhhs.gov/documents/PHS-6315.pdf">research guidelines</a>, and other restrictions.</p>

<p>Here’s what we’re reading today:</p> <p><strong>ADHD:</strong> Researchers find the first evidence that attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is genetic, a finding that could lead to better treatment. Reuters’ Kate Kelland <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68S5UD20100930">has the story</a>.</p>

<p>I've been criticized in the past for focusing on criticism of bad health reporting, rather than aiming some positive reinforcement at the good pieces. &nbsp;Well,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68S3TM20100929">here you go</a>.</p>

<p>Here’s what we’re reading today:</p> <p><strong>Sabotage:</strong> Science noir, indeed: Nature’s Brian Maher reports on <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100929/full/467516a.html">a jaw-dropping case of medical research sabotage</a> at the University of Michigan.</p>

<p>Prior to 2007, a clinic like <a href="../../../../../../../../blogs/shadow-practice-part-11-joint-commission-overlooks-risky-practices-led-patient-death">Anaheim Hills Surgery Center</a> could have been penalized or even shut down by the state of California. One court ruling changed that, allowin

<p>The “medical home” is one of those elements of health reform that seems like a classic DBI story: dull but important. It doesn't have to be.</p> <p>In this post, I’ll talk about what medical homes are, why is everyone talking about them in the context of health reform and how can you cover this topic in your community in a compelling way.</p>

<p>Here’s what we’re reading today:</p> <p><strong>Health Insurance:</strong> Ugh. A new Hewitt Associates report shows just how much our health premiums are expected to rise next year. The Los Angeles Times’ Duke Helfand <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2010/sep/27/business/la-fi-healthcare-costs… the details</a>.</p>