Insights

State medical boards should transform themselves from boards composed mainly of doctors to a model where members of the general public occupy most of the board seats, according to consumer advocates. The push for change follows on a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

A strong relationship with the county coroner or medical examiner and an understanding of autopsies and forensic investigations will serve you well on the health beat. Here's how to make use of these resources, while still remaining empathetic to those grieving their loss.

Recent data and survey results suggest that health reform's promise of getting people out of the ER and into less costly care settings hasn't come to pass yet. There's a growing realization that it's going to take more than health insurance to change patients' longterm habits.

New data show that teens and young adults in the ER for an assault injury were 40 percent more likely than their peers to be involved in gun violence over the next two years. That makes such ER visits a big opportunity for those working to interrupt the cycle of youth gun violence.

Apply to join the team as the managing editor at Answer.com's new healthy living website. And check out other positions in health reporting, editing, and social media. Also, a new online course will cover Ebola for journalists.

Patients and health care journalists have long called for greater transparency in the prices of health care, and several companies now provide that information for free. Two recent surveys asked whether the public is using this it.

The hardest part of reporting on the health implications of Central Valley rivers was not the research or content, but finding the right characters for the stories. In the end, a radio reporter discovered the best way to find the characters that brought his stories to life was on the river itself.

Death and birth records are crucial to public health and health reporting. They can help verify causes of death, point you to family members, or allow you to track larger public health trends. Here's how to start using them for your stories, if you aren't already.

How much time should elapse before a patient returns for a follow-up visit? The answer, of course, is that it depends on the situation. But as a recent JAMA article made clear, there are surprisingly few evidence-based answers to guide doctors here.

The University of Minnesota is replacing the chairman of its psychiatry department following two scathing reviews of its safety protocols in research involving human subjects and its recruitment of a troubled man who later died by suicide in a schizophrenia drug trial.