Some interesting new data over at Medicare’s Hospital Compare database released Wed. is worth mining for enterprise stories about how people receive treatments for heart attacks and other medical conditions at hospitals in your community.

By now, you've probably read about the controversy over ScienceBlogs' decision to launch a blog sponsored and written by PepsiCo. ScienceBloggers Dr.

I’ve been thinking lately about what we can learn from culture clashes within groups of people living with various diseases. Patient groups aren’t monoliths, but sometimes they’re covered as if they are. Journalists don’t always distinguish between people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, for example. That’s a bigger deal than you might think.

The email press release I just received on an new epidemic of whooping cough in California is a jaw-dropper:

The state is on pace to suffer the most illnesses and deaths due to pertussis, also known as whooping cough, in 50 years.

So it’s been three months already since health reform passed, and journalists around the country are still looking for ways to keep this story fresh. Earlier, I wrote about lessons you can learn from some top  Washington DC health reporters, with an eye on Sept. 23, when the next set of new provisions takes effect.

Last night, a group of San Francisco Bay Area health journalists got some intriguing health reform story ideas from one of California’s better-known health policy experts, Marian Mulkey of the California HealthCare Foundation.