posted 03/15/2012
My experience reporting on health care in Oregon has been mostly positive, particularly with regards to transparency. Public information is typically handed over without fuss, officials are reachable and often willing to talk and the state, at least from my experience, has a generally favorable attitude toward the press. When I started my project on patient safety, I figured I would encounter much the same thing. I was wrong.
posted 07/22/2011
I've been a health reporter for a number of years and, in the past few have focused increasingly on issues of cost and quality. I am still amazed at how opaque these issues are and how reluctant the medical community is to talk about them. Often, when I ask about quality I'm met with incredulity. How dare I question the medical care provided?