Doctor Hotspot

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/doctor-hotspot

Atul Gawande

PBS Frontline

3 August 2011

Broadcast TV Programs / 5-15 Minutes

The highest hospital costs come from preventable emergency room visits. A doctor in Camden developed a home visit program which gives better and cheaper care.

For Mothers-to-Be, Finding Health Care in a Group

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/18/for-mothers-to-be-finding-health-care-in-a-group

Tina Rosenberg

The New York Times

18 December 2013

Text / 1500-3000 Words

To educate and prepare new mothers, Centering Pregnancy and Centering Parenting sites in the United States offer community-based patient-centered care in low-income areas. Centering offers interactive learning, check-ups, and social support, so that women can take charge of their health.

For some, prenatal care is a community affair

https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-06-18/some-prenatal-care-community-affair

Shuka Kalantari

Public Radio International (PRI)

18 June 2014

Radio / 3-5 Minutes

Latin American women in San Francisco have suffered from post-partum depression, social isolation, and chronic stress at the time of their pregnancies. Run by midwives, the Centering Pregnancy program at the San Francisco General Hospital provides patient-centered care, an environment to speak in Spanish, and a nurturing community for women’s group appointments. The results boast fewer c-sections and pre-term births, and an improvement in emotional support and overall prenatal health.

For Veterans, a Surge of New Treatments for Trauma

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/26/for-veterans-a-surge-of-new-treatments-for-trauma

Tina Rosenberg

The New York Times

26 September 2012

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Post-traumatic stress has dire consequences for U.S. veterans, including an increase in suicide, and not all therapeutic treatments for the disorder have succeeded. To treat and potentially cure the effects of PTSD, the Center for Mind-Body Awareness offers veterans Buddhist-inspired meditation, and mindfulness, as well as skills to develop creative expression.

Health Care for a Changing Work Force

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/health-care-for-a-changing-work-force

David Bornstein

The New York Times

1 December 2011

Text / 1500-3000 Words

America’s system of health care is based on an old industrial-era model, without taking into account a decentralized, mobile, independent workforce that remains largely unprotected without health and unemployment insurance. The Freelancers Insurance Company, based in New York State, offers competitive premiums by having their executives receive salaries at low wages. The model keeps costs under control, which in turn makes health care more accessible to independent workers.

Helping Brazil's Poor Heal at Home

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/11/helping-rios-poor-continue-to-heal-at-home

David Bornstein

The New York Times

11 December 2013

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Physical illnesses trigger and exacerbate poverty because costs are too high to treat them. The Associação Saúde Criança in Rio de Janeiro counsels helps by assisting families with services such as food, medicine, vocational training, housing, and legal aid, which helps mothers achieve their personal goals.

How Do We Know What Really Works in Healthcare?

http://freakonomics.com/2015/04/02/how-do-we-know-what-really-works-in-healthcare-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast

Stephen J. Dubner

Freakonomics

4 February 2015

Podcast / Over 15 Minutes

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.

If this was a pill, you'd do anything to get it

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/04/28/if-this-was-a-pill-youd-do-anything-to-get-it

Ezra Klein

The Washington Post

28 April 2013

Text / Over 3000 Words

*Medical research has done wonders to rid populations of diseases; however, the U.S. health care system has failed to appropriate the right resources to Medicare patients with one or more chronic conditions. Health Quality Partners in Doylstown, PA enrolls Medicare patients with at least one chronic illness and hospitalization and sends a trained nurse to see them on a routine basis, whether they are healthy or sick. As a result, the HQP program has reduced hospitalizations and cut Medicare costs.

Helping New Drugs Out of Research's ‘Valley of Death'

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/helping-new-drugs-out-of-academias-valley-of-death

David Bornstein

The New York Times

2 May 2011

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Despite significant increases in funding and advances in biomedical research, the rates of new treatments and drugs for illnesses that reach the market every year have plummeted. A group called the Myelin Repair Foundation, along with several other foundations, uses an intensely goal-directed and collaborative method to tackle the bottleneck.

How Iran Derailed a Health Crisis

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/how-iran-derailed-a-health-crisis

Tina Rosenberg

The New York Times

3 December 2010

Text / 1500-3000 Words

Two columns on how Iran is treating its massive epidemic of injecting drug use by tackling it as a health problem, effectively lowering H.I.V. rates among drug users using an approach to drugs known as harm reduction.