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Zen and the Art of Dying Well

Courtney E. Martin

August 14, 2015 |

The New York Times |

Text |

1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Francisco, California

Patients' last years of life are the most expensive for the health care system. For a fifth of the cost, a Zen hospice program, in San Francisco, is helping those who are dying improve their quality of death by enjoying the present.

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Achieving Mental Health Parity: Slow Going Even In ‘Pace Car' State

Jenny Gold

August 13, 2015 |

Kaiser Health News |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, Oakland, California

California has taken perhaps the most proactive stance in the nation in enforcing laws to ensure people with mental illnesses have fair and timely access to care. But even in this state, it’s proving difficult to ensure mental patients truly have equal access to treatment. New laws aim to hold insurers and health care providers accountable.

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Colorado's Effort Against Teenage Pregnancies Is a Startling Success

Sabrina Tavernise

July 05, 2015 |

The New York Times |

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800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Walsenburg, Colorado

Colorado causes a large decline in teen pregnancy and abortions by implementing free, long-term birth control to prevent pregnancy. While demonstrating massive success, its continuity is in the air considering the ongoing fight over health insurance at the federal level.

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Advancing TB Test Technology, Where It Matters Most

Jens Erik Gould

June 12, 2015 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City

Tuberculosis is still a rampant problem in the developing world. Doctors are looking for even more advanced ways to test for TB beyond the GeneXpert tests.

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Overkill

Atul Gawande

May 11, 2015 |

The New Yorker |

Text |

Over 3000 Words

Response Location: United States, McAllen, Texas

An investigation reveals a startling percentage of medical procedures provided in the United States are unnecessary or inappropriate - harming patients physically as well as financially. This "profit-maximizing medical culture" can be countered by incentivizing health care facilities to eliminate needless procedures, federal crackdowns, and increasing access to information for patients.

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How One Hospital Brought Its C-Section Rate Down In A Hurry

Anna Gorman

May 10, 2015 |

KQED |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Newport Beach, California

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, under pressure from the insurance network to lower maternity costs, used a number of tools to lower the rate of cesarean sections done. The changes not only helped drastically reduce costs, but created a better, safer birth outcomes for patients.

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Health Care Systems Try to Cut Costs by Aiding the Poor and Troubled

Sabrina Tavernise

March 22, 2015 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: United States, Minnesota

Some medical conditions are costly no matter what, but many super utilizers rack up costs for avoidable reasons related to poverty, homelessness, mental illness, etc. and visit the ER to be safe for a night. A pilot program, in Minnesota, is reducing avoidable hospital use by fixing patients’ problems before they become expensive medical issues.

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Recycling Unused Medicines to Save Money and Lives

David Bornstein

March 20, 2015 |

The New York Times |

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1500-3000 Words

Response Location: United States, San Jose, California

One in five seniors reports cutting back on basics like food or heat to afford prescription drugs - for many, cutting back on medicine led to faster health declines, increased hospitalizations and premature death. Sirum, a new nonprofit, was designed to make it easy for institutions to donate medicines with the assurance that they would be safely transported and dispensed to people who needed them.

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How Do We Know What Really Works in Healthcare?

Stephen J. Dubner

February 04, 2015 |

Freakonomics |

Podcast |

Over 15 Minutes

Response Location: United States, Boston, Massachusetts

Studying the outcomes of public health delivery can lack a scientific methodology. MIT economists have applied the methodology of randomized controlled trial (RCT) to study the effect of the Medicaid expansion plan in Oregon. These researchers look into how the new healthcare coverage affects clinical outcomes, emergency-room use, and employment.

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Looking a Dangerous Disease in the Mouth

David Bornstein

October 30, 2014 |

The New York Times |

Text |

800-1500 Words

Response Location: New Zealand, Wellington

Tooth decay affects children from all backgrounds, but it’s concentrated among low-income and rural populations, who have the most difficulty accessing and affording dental care. One approach gaining momentum in the United States to extend access to underserved groups is based on an idea that was pioneered in New Zealand 93 years ago, and has been adopted in more than 50 countries - the idea is to train “dental therapists,” who, like dental hygienists, work under the supervision of dentists, but who can also drill teeth and perform non-complex extractions.

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