Media interested in learning more about Sustainable Agriculture to inform their reporting should attend.

Wiley - in partnership with World Federation for Science Journalists (WFSJ) & Association of Heath Care Journalists (AHCJ) - presents Science Talks with Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC): What Journalists Should Know About the Environmental Impact of Microplastics. With thanks to speakers Dr. Susanne Brander and Dr. John W. Davis.

What we report on health care – and what our audience sees, reads, or hears aren't always one and the same. MIT political scientist Adam Berinsky is an expert on public opinion – and what goes wrong. Recently he's been doing a lot of fascinating research on health policy and health news and has some provocative things to tell reporters about who we trust – versus who the public sees as a trusted communicator.

How can you be sure your expert source doesn't have a shady past? What if your lead anecdote has a history of insurance fraud? We'll walk through some websites and strategies you can use to create a routine and spot potential red flags before you get burned, whether you're interviewing a patient with a medical story, an outside expert researchers or anyone else.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

Millions of Americans are taking prescription drugs made in China and don’t know it – and pharmaceutical companies are not eager to tell them. The pressure to lower costs has led some drug companies to look overseas where manufacturing standards are less strict and quality control can be iffy. This poses particular risks to older adults, who often take a half-dozen or more medications daily and who may be especially vulnerable to devastating side effects from tainted products.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

Climate change has many impacts on public health, including the transmission of infectious diseases. Changes in temperature and rainfall mean that mosquitos and ticks that transmit disease become more plentiful and affect more regions of the U.S. and the rest of the world. More destructive storms destroy public health infrastructure and expose more people to water-borne diseases. Changes in humidity increase the risk of illnesses being spread through bodily fluids. Learn more about these impacts from two environmental health experts and story ideas to illuminate how climate change is changing the spread of disease in animals and people.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

AHCJ is pleased to provide ongoing training and support for new and seasoned health reporters. As part of our partnership with Wiley we offer members access to an educational series of webinars called Science Talks that are brought to you by The Wiley Network.

In this session, Understanding Antimicrobial Resistance, media will learn:

• A brief history of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and how it occurs. 

• What are the leading causes of microbes/bacteria becoming resistant to drug treatments?

• What threat does antimicrobial resistance pose to humans?

• How are scientists fighting back against antimicrobial resistance?

• AMR expert sources to use in news stories

• Treatment options available now and in the future

The webinar will include time for questions and answers.

We will take a look at the Medicaid expansion landscape for 2019, after the midterm elections, changes in state government and ballot initiatives. What has to happen next? And what will it take for the holdout states to finally change. We also will review what's known about ACA enrollment by the end of November.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

After years of decline, the number of sexually transmitted disease diagnoses in the U.S. is on the rise. Our panelists will discuss why this is happening and what journalists need to know. They will suggest some story ideas to explore and resources for reporters.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

Three members of the Cincinnati Enquirer staff will discuss how they reported, edited, and produced the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Seven Days of Heroin" special report.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

This edition of Science Talks will look at the history of HIV/AIDS, what regions are most affected and the reasons for regional disparities, what treatments are available now and in the future and which sources of information are most reliable for journalists reporting on HIV and AIDS.

The role of the courts has recently heightened as many individual market and Medicaid policy issues are set to be determined by judges across the country.

In the lead up to the midterm elections, this webinar will examine the implications of impending health policy legal decisions.

In the more than seven decades since community water fluoridation efforts were launched across America, scores of studies have supported the safety and effectiveness of optimally fluoridated water in reducing tooth decay. But most water supplies in the U.S. are controlled locally. Laws and ordinances governing water fluoridation are often passed at the community level.

Our guest, pediatric dentist Johnny Johnson, president of the American Fluoridation Society, will update reporters on fluoride research and debates that may be coming to their communities.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

New trackers can help us get insight into the coming ACA enrollment season, county by county.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

Two public health leaders who are working on the front-lines of the opioid crisis will talk about how they are working to address the impact of social determinants on infectious disease death rates and will provide reporters with ideas on where to find stories in their community.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

While family caregivers form the backbone of the health and long-term care systems, a projected shortage of caregivers, coupled with an increasing aging population, is prompting a need for new approaches to care for seniors with multiple chronic conditions who want to age in their communities.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

If you are looking for detailed information about the financial health of hospital systems and health care facilities, you need to know EMMA. The Electronic Municipal Market Access website is the official source for comprehensive annual financial reports and operating information about any hospital or health care facility financed by public debt.

AHCJ provides ongoing training and support for new and seasoned health reporters. As part of our partnership with Wiley we offer members access to an educational series of webinars called Science Talks that are brought to you by The Wiley Network.

In the next webinar, Science Talks with Dr. Peter Halfmann, journalists will learn:

• The current situation in regions affected by the Ebola virus and if there is still any danger.

• Where we stand with the research on finding a vaccine and if the latest trials on humans proofed successfully.

• When the vaccine will be made available for humans affected in regions by the Ebola virus.  

• What the future will bring in terms of infectious diseases, such as Ebola.

• How local journalists can better report on infectious diseases including: what they should look for, what kind of questions to ask, what resources they should use.

We'll discuss association health plans and short-duration health plans – what are they, what will they cover (and not cover), how will they address pre-existing conditions, and what do they mean for the ACA markets?

The nations’ employers, who provide health insurance for more than half of all Americans, know that maternity care is the number one reason for hospitalization among most employee populations. They also know that the highest cost for maternity care is when a pre-term infant (those born at less than 39 completed weeks of gestation) is treated in the neonatal intensive care unit. For this reason, employers nationwide want hospitals to reduce the number of early elective deliveries.

There has been growing momentum among policymakers to address rising prescription drug prices. One solution is leveraging market forces to bring down costs by increasing competition through generics and biosimilars. During this webinar panelists will discuss the main opportunities and challenges of the generic and biosimilar market, how past administrations have approached this issue, and how different stakeholders, including consumers, are impacted.

Did you know that AHCJ members have access to the Cochrane Library as well as all health science titles published on Wiley Online Library? With this benefit, you can read millions of articles from more than 1,500 journals, including Cochrane Library, Cancer, Journal of the American Heart Association and more.

To help you use these resources, we have partnered with Wiley on a new series of webinars called Science Talks that are brought to you by The Wiley Network. In this first of a series of webinars, learn:

• How to use the Cochrane Library to support news stories covering important health subjects;

• What sets Cochrane evidence aside from other types of health-related studies;

• Why Cochrane evidence has rigorous quality standards;

• The role of media in helping to translate medical evidence to help consumers make informed health decisions.

As adults age, so do their immune systems, leaving them vulnerable to vaccine-preventable diseases like the flu, shingles and pneumonia. Yet adult vaccinations are low in the U.S., which can result in costly hospitalizations and other medical interventions. This panel will explore some of the reasons for low adult vaccination rates, which range from the failure of insurers to cover adult vaccines to lack of information from health providers.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

Dec. 18, noon ET

The threat of antibiotic resistance continues to grow. In some cases, resistant bacteria have already meant patients are living in a "post-antibiotic" world. In 2016, a Nevada woman died after developing an illness from bacteria that were resistant to all approved antibiotics in the U.S.

How are these bugs spreading? What is the U.S. doing to halt their spread? And how can reporters cover antibiotic resistance in their communities? Two CDC officials will talk to reports about this evolving story.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

A group of four studies led by University of Michigan researchers finds that beliefs about one's own aging are predictive of future health.

Self-perception affects a person's physical and mental well-being – from timeliness of seeking care to feelings about themselves, their partners, and other older adults.

Our guest will discuss how self-perceptions of aging affect health and the role the media plays in reinforcing those perceptions.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

AHCJ members are invited to participate in a free online demo of the LexisNexis news archives, which journalists use to research subjects and find sources for their work.

The webinar is being offered as part of a deal to get discounted access to LexisNexis, a program for AHCJ members arranged in partnership with the Contently Foundation, a New York nonprofit for investigative reporting. 

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

This Alliance for Health Policy webinar will unpack the knowns and unknowns heading into the upcoming Affordable Care Act marketplace open enrollment period that begins on Nov. 1.

We will examine what those currently enrolled in marketplace coverage and those planning to shop for coverage can expect when it comes to plan choices, costs, plan design, and help enrolling. 

This conversation with the California exchange director Peter Lee about lessons learned in the first years of enrollment, and how to apply them going forward in a different political climate.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

Next year, 2018, will mark 100 years since the Spanish flu swept the world, killing as many as 100 million people. Now that we are at the beginning of this year's flu season, what are the deadly strains that are circulating and how likely is a pandemic flu? What is the state of preparation if a pandemic flu in the United States if one were to strike? What about the world?

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

The Trump administration has told states to expect “more freedom to design programs that meet the spectrum of diverse needs of their Medicaid population.” Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waivers have been available to states as long as the program has existed, but each administration takes its own approach to assessing waiver requests. 

This presentation will give attendees an understanding of the Medicaid waiver landscape heading into a busy fall, when precedent-setting decisions are expected on several states’ proposals.

Reporting on addiction can be challenging because there are so many facets to the big picture and so many pitfalls resulting from stigma about addiction.

Sometimes stories don't focus enough on withdrawal and recovery aspects of addiction. Sometimes an article inadvertently reinforces stereotypes or stigmatizing misconceptions, such as portraying addiction as a moral failing rather than a chronic disease.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

Public health experts from Purpose Built Communities and Build Healthy Places Network will offer journalists insights into growing efforts to tackle the social determinants of health with an eye on communities at-large.

Amid increasing recognition that one’s neighborhood can impact health as much as – if not more than – other medical factors, this webcast will look at specific steps some cities and other areas are taking to address health with a more holistic lens by looking at space, redevelopment, affordable housing and more.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

This webinar will focus on how the AHCA would impact states and Medicaid beneficiaries, how a system of per capita caps would work, what we learned from the Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, and how states might respond to new waiver flexibility from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. We will examine these issues from both the federal and state perspective, and from the perspective of reporters covering this important issue.

Health policy is unpredictable in the Age of Trump. This webinar will look at recent developments in Washington, D.C. – and how they affect health coverage in states.

We’ll look at the current state of the Affordable Care Act, and likely changes to Medicaid.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

Online and social media platforms provide journalists with new ways of telling stories beyond the printed word. But journalists don’t have to invest in high priced professional video cameras or audio equipment to tell a multimedia story.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

This webinar looks ahead at the issues surrounding U.S. health care and at potential changes that Congress, the Trump administration, and the states will be likely to adopt in the coming months and years. 

What are the problems that persist in the health system, especially in the individual insurance market? What are the policy options to address them, through executive action, agency rulemaking, and legislation? 

Whether you are taking part in this year's PitchFest at Health Journalism 2017 or simply looking to improve your approach with other editors, this 60-minute webinar will help elevate your pitch to a story package that screams, "Commission this now!" You'll learn how to avoid common pitching  blunders, and how to best communicate your ideas.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

Writing in the newly released "Handbook of the Philosophy of Medicine," medical ethicist Arthur Caplan, Ph.D., head of the ethics program in the Global Institute for Public Health at New York University, contends that there is nothing natural about aging and that it serves no purpose.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

This webinar will present an overview of the individual and employer-based insurance markets before and after the ACA, and it will will look ahead at the choices both insurers and consumers must make for 2018 and beyond. 

This webcast will feature Beth Truett, president and chief executive officer of Oral Health America, a national advocacy organization that is focused upon improving the oral health of older Americans. Truett will talk about a growing push to add a dental benefit to Medicare and the findings of new research by her group on the oral health of multigenerational "grandfamilies."

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate.

Public health historians Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner, authors of “Lead Wars: The Politics of Science and the Fate of America's Children,” will offer their take on the nation’s long fight against lead poisoning and its devastating health impact.

Reporters will gain a better understanding about how the environment impacts the health struggles of various communities as well as how those health struggles have been tackled over time, particularly when it comes to children, race and equality.

The webcast will help provide context and ideas for those covering environmental health, public health or specific readership areas.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate.

This 30-minute webinar led by author and freelancer Brooke Borel, author of the recently published, “The Chicago Guide to Fact-Checking” will provide step-by-step tips on how to check your story for errors, how to annotate your stories for a checker, materials you need and when to start annotating.

If you're one of the first 50 who log in to the webcast, you'll be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a copy of Borel’s book.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate.

Joanne Kenen will host a conversation with Katherine Hempstead, who directs the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's work on health insurance coverage, about the upcoming enrollment season – and some of the data the foundation has gathered to better understand the status of the insurance market.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate.

Nearly every health care reporter comes across this challenge daily: how to account for costs? Whether writing about the uninsured, drug prices, insurance plans or the business of heath care, journalists are constantly wading through complex web of pricing and related issues.

Consumer Union’s Lynn Quincy will discuss how to navigate the challenge of health care costs, from finding transparent information on costs and quality to understanding the wide price variations for seemingly similar care. 

This event is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your website login and password.

Dementia coaches help educate and train families, organizations and communities to view and treat people with Alzheimer’s and related dementias in best-practices dementia care. They do so in ways that maintain or improve the person’s lifestyle for as long as possible while maintaining his or her dignity.

This event is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your website login and password.

For journalists reporting on how payers, providers and patients are promoting discussions about treatment options and costs, AHCJ will host a webinar with Robert W. Carlson, M.D., chief executive officer of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

This event is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your website login and password.

Health journalists often need detailed, accurate information about health care providers.

Learn more about a new AHCJ membership benefit through the company Carevoyance, providing data covering hospitals, physicians, laboratories and other providers. 

This event is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your website login and password.

Social media, video and a host of other technological changes have a daily impact on health journalism coverage – but what about their messaging to patients, caregivers and others?

We will take a look at how the language and information facing today’s population is impacting people’s health across the country with Rima Rudd, a founder in the field of health literacy studies and a leading researcher exploring this aspect of health communication.

This event is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your website login and password.

The perfect story pitch needs to answer detailed questions in a relatively short word length: why this story; why this story is perfect for this particular publication; why this story needs to be covered now; and how this story has been covered in the past.

In this webcast, two experienced editors, Jessica Bylander of Health Affairs and Anna Maltby of Refinery29, will talk about pitching to their publications. They will also give advice on how to package a successful pitch, and how to package a successful story idea. 

This event is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your website login and password.

CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt oversees Medicaid, Medicare, Children's Health Insurance Program and the ACA health insurance exchanges. And he's deeply involved with CMS efforts to improve value and quality of U.S. health care by changing delivery models and payment incentives. He's talking to AHCJ members about what's ahead this year. 

The webcast will be moderated by Joanne Kenen, AHCJ's core topic leader on health reform and health editor at Politico.

This event is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your website login and password.

The Foodborne Outbreak Online Database (FOOD) Tool is a public tool that allows for a basic look at outbreak data between 1998 and 2014. The presenter will give a brief description of the surveillance system which collects this outbreak data and give a demonstration on how to use the FOOD Tool.

This event is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your website login and password.

This webcast features the team responsible for the recent seven-part Deadly Dentistry series featured in The Dallas Morning News. Reporter Brooks Egerton will talk about the deaths he investigated and the national pattern he described "in which state dental enforcers ignore many malpractice cases and leave the public in the dark.”

Collaborator and data journalist Daniel Lathrop will talk about state-by-state findings that were part of the series.

This event is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your website login and password.

Calling obesity an "epidemic" is almost a cliche in health reporting, but there is no question that obesity is linked to many serious health issues and quality of life, and obesity incidence has been increasing.

That reality has led to even more medical research into its causes, its treatment and management and the conditions obesity increases the risk of experiencing.

Obesity expert and physician Yoni Freedhoff will provide an overview of obesity research and explain what reporters need to know and look for in medical research about obesity.

This event is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your website login and password.

LGBTQ youth are at a higher risk for mental health, substance abuse and other health issues, yet are less likely to get health care. Despite growing attention to these health challenges, health care providers, insurers, families and even youth themselves are grappling with how to address such disparities.

Susan Heavey, AHCJ's topic leader on the social determinants of health and health disparities, will discuss ongoing and unique challenges facing LGBT youth with Lawrence D’Angelo, M.D., M.P.H., division chief of adolescent and young adult medicine at Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C and director of the hospital's Youth Pride Clinic.

This event is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your website login and password. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

Today, average life expectancy is almost 80 years. But, while we’ve added years to life we haven’t always made those extra years healthy and vigorous. Eighty percent of seniors have at least one major chronic condition, and half have two or more. Chronic diseases of later life cost our nation more than $1 trillion per year and will increase to $6 trillion by 2050.

A new frontier in science is revealing the “problem behind the problem” of chronic disease. “Geroscience” is the study of how the underlying processes of aging itself put us at risk to develop chronic disease. And it is on its way to modifying those processes through new medical strategies that could benefit millions.

This event is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your website login and password. If you don't have that, please visit this page and enter your email address to have an access key sent to you.

In November, the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute (HCI3) will publish methodology that will allow consumers, health plans, provider organizations and others to better calculate complication rates for individual physicians.

AHCJ members are invited to a webcast with François de Brantes, HCI3’s executive director, who will explain the methodology and preview the results of the organization’s third annual State Report Card on Transparency of Physician Quality Information.

This year the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS Now), a database and visualization tool that makes it quicker and easier to see how antibiotic resistance for four bacteria transmitted commonly through food has changed during the past 18 years.

In this short webcast, CDC personnel will demonstrate the tool and answer questions about how the data might be used.

NOTE: This is exclusively for AHCJ members; you will need to be logged in. If you're having trouble logging in, please email info@healthjournalism.org.

Join us for a webcast with François de Brantes on how health insurers and providers are making bundled payment work. 

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate.

Learn about insurance carriers in each state – their enrollment, premiums, claims and several measures of utilization. Katherine Hempstead, of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, will share data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate.

AHCJ will host a webcast especially for independent journalists who are planning to take part in the Freelance PitchFest. Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate.

Reforms to the health care delivery system have been overshadowed by the ACA enrollment story. Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate.

Tune in Feb. 2

Elder abuse affects an estimated one in 10 older adults in the U.S., according to the National Center on Elder Abuse. That does not include financial exploitation. Advocates say much more can and should be done. 

NOTE: This is exclusively for AHCJ members; you will need to be logged in. If you're having trouble logging in, please email info@healthjournalism.org.

Tune in Jan. 27

In advance of February, Children’s Dental Health Month, Shelly Gehshan, director of Pew’s children’s dental campaign, will discuss the latest research on oral health and how it may impact policy in the states. NOTE: AHCJ member name and password required.

Recorded Nov. 11

Media audiences far away from west Africa are seeing more and more Ebola-related stories in their own states or communities. What do reporters need to know? AHCJ members will get some help sorting out the answers to that question in this webcast.

NOTE: This is exclusively for AHCJ members; you will need to be logged in. If you're having trouble logging in, please email info@healthjournalism.org.

This webinar will clarify what reporters need to know about the science and pseudo-science behind water fluoridation. NOTE: AHCJ member name and password required.

This discussion will cover the upcoming 2nd ACA enrollment period. NOTE: This is exclusively for AHCJ members; will need your username and password. If you don't have that, please email info@healthjournalism.org.

Frailty is associated with greater mortality, chronic disease burden, risk of infections, falls, and hospitalization. NOTE: This is exclusively for AHCJ members; will need your username and password. If you don't have that, please email info@healthjournalism.org.

A. Mark Fendrick, M.D., director of the Center for Value-Based Insurance Design, will explain the principals of VBID and why this strategy is important for consumers. NOTE: This is exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need to have your website username and password. If you don't have that, please email info@healthjournalism.org.

Studies show that seniors in nursing homes often go without dental care. Experts will look at the need for oral health services in nursing homes and steps that are being taken to get this care to patients.

This will be an event exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your username and password for the website. If you don’t have that information, please reset your password using the one-click login option or contact info@healthjournalism.org.

What is it really like to be a family caregiver for someone with dementia or serious illness? What are some of the key issues that aren't being discussed? And how can journalists better bring untold caregiver stories to light? 

This will be an event exclusively for AHCJ members so you will need your username and password for the website. If you don’t have that information, please reset your password using the one-click login option or contact info@healthjournalism.org.

As the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services prepares to release payment information for individual doctors, AHCJ will host a webcast to help reporters find the stories in the data.

The CMS data includes the number and type of services provided, and the amount paid for those services delivered in 2012. Journalists can use this data to help consumers to make more informed choices about the care they receive. AHCJ has long advocated for the release of this data.

This will be an event for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your website login information to participate.

AHCJ will host a webcast especially for independent journalists who are planning to take part in the Freelance PitchFest at Health Journalism 2014. Our panel of editors will give their best advice on how to make your pitch communicate a story, and impress them in the process. Note: This webcast is for AHCJ members, so you will need to have your login and password to participate.

How does the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force come to its determinations and how can you report on the science and not just the heat a recommendation generates? You will need your AHCJ user name and password for access.

Medicare reform is a hot topic, ith both political parties proposing raising the Medicare eligibility age and premiums on older adults, among other changes. Two experts will help AHCJ members understand the issues. This is an event for AHCJ members so you will need your AHCJ user name and password to access the webcast. Click here if you need help or contact info@healthjournalism.org.

For years, health insurers and employers have been shifting the responsibility to pay for care to consumers and employees. AHCJ will explore the need for information on the cost of care in this webcast. This is an event for members so you will need to log in. Click here if you need help logging in or contact info@healthjournalism.org.

We’ll get early assessments of whether health care reform is actually getting dental care to more kids, through private insurance and Medicaid expansions. 

This is an event for AHCJ members so you will need your AHCJ user name and password to access the webcast. Make sure you have that information beforehand. Click here if you need help or contact info@healthjournalism.org.

Freelancers often walk a fine line between doing work that pays the bills and doing work that helps them reach their creative and career goals. Reporting fellowships are a way to do both. There are a number of reporting fellowships out there, and most are open to freelancers. But how do you make yourself stand out? How do you line up the clients, the story ideas and the plans for doing a fellowship, all while maintaining your other freelance work?

A recording of this webcast is now available for AHCJ members. 

Nearly one in five uninsured Americans live in rural areas, and a greater proportion of rural residents lacks health insurance compared with the proportion of urban residents without health care coverage. One of the goals of the Affordable Care Act is help make health insurance coverage affordable and accessible for the approximately 60 million Americans who live in rural areas.

You will need your AHCJ user name and password to access the webcast, so make sure you have that information beforehand. Click here if you need help.

CMS officials answered questions from reporters about the federal health insurance marketplace. Reporters had direct, on-the-record access to Gary Cohen, deputy administrator and director, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, and Julie Bataille, director, CMS Office of Communications.

A recording of this briefing is now available to AHCJ members.

Reporting on end-of-life issues can be touchy for everyone involved and journalists need to handle issues of death and dying with sensitivity and skill. Understanding the processes, both clinical and legal, the nuances, and methods to manage such emotional issues with patients, families, and care providers, will result in more effective and powerful stories. 

Sharpen your reporting skills and learn more about treatment decision making, health care near the end of life, hospice and palliative care and ethical issues that accompany them.

Join us for a webcast on Wednesday Aug. 7 at 8 a.m. PDT/11 a.m. EDT. Our panelists will be V.J. Periyakoil, M.D., director of Palliative Care Education and Training at Stanford University; Nancy Berlinger, Ph.D, a research scholar at The Hastings Center and an author on end-of-life care; and Lisa Krieger  a San Jose Mercury News health reporter whose multi-part series on death and dying chronicled her personal experiences with the process.  Liz Seegert, AHCJ's topic leader on aging will moderate.

For freelancers and potential freelancers, pitching is job No. 1. AHCJ knows that; that’s why every year, our annual Health Journalism conference offers Freelance PitchFest, which puts you face-to-face with some of the biggest health editors in the country. Members attending Pitchfest know they have to be ready to make a good impression in minutes — and members who won’t be attending the conference, but are busy freelancers, want to know more about pitching too.

AHCJ has your back with a webcast on pitching health stories that sell, featuring some top editors.

One key issue addressed at the recent World Economic Forum was the rapidly increasing global aging population; and how to prepare for its profound impact on global health, as well as the direct economic, social and political implications.

Global experts from the WEF Global Agenda Council on Ageing led this discussion in Davos and presented a new report outlining key challenges/opportunities associated with global aging, including how to improve healthy aging through the innovation of global health systems and investment in long-term health options; as well as specific initiatives to seize the social and economic opportunity created by the aging population.  

AHCJ members are invited to a webinar with leaders from the WEF Council on Ageing to discuss these topics and share specific outcomes from their discussion in Davos

Today, Americans are living 30 years longer than their ancestors did just four generations ago. Yet policymakers have been slow to recognize the implications of this unprecedented increase in longevity.

As a result, social institutions of all kinds – workplaces, communities, families, educational organizations, health care providers – haven’t yet adapted to the challenges and opportunities posed by America’s aging population. Nor is there any consensus over what successful adaptation might look like.

In this webcast, three experts will discuss noteworthy trends and research in aging, including a recent study on troubling disparities in life expectancy that was featured on the front page of The New York Times. Judith Graham, AHCJ’s topic leader on aging, will moderate.

This AHCJ webcast will examine one big piece of the puzzle: what this election’s outcome means for seniors on Medicare, older adults who receive long-term care services from Medicaid and other programs that serve our elderly population.

Just days after the November elections, states will have to make final (or reasonably final) decisions about whether they are going to run their own health insurance exchange and what that will look like – or whether the federal government will take responsibility for all or part of the exchange.

We’ll talk to three experts who are doing hands-on work with both “red” and “blue” states.

A recording of this webinar is available.

AHCJ members took advantage of an exclusive on-the-record conversation with Farzad Mostashari, M.D., national coordinator for health information technology, and other officials with the HHS Office of National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

View and learn how to use an updated “Health IT Dashboard” to find local-level information for your stories.

AHCJ will hold a members-only call with CMS officials to discuss major upgrades to Nursing Home Compare and Hospital Compare websites.

Join AHCJ on Thursday, July 19, at 11:30 a.m. ET, for an exclusive members-only conversation with officials from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services about the rollout of major new additions to the Nursing Home Compare and Hospital Compare websites. You won't want to miss this.

Many of you are familiar with the Compare websites as sources for information about nursing home citations, hospital patient satisfaction scores, as well as mortality and readmission information. CMS has redesigned the sites and will be launching them on Thursday.

Click here to log in for more information and the chance to test your browser in advance.

To assist reporters who will need to localize the decision, AHCJ will host a webcast with experts to offer suggestions on stories you can pursue right away and in the weeks ahead. The event will take place at noon ET on June 29, the day after the court releases its ruling.

Does your local hospital place more cardiac stents than others? Do more of its patients leave the emergency room without being seen? Does it have a high level of C-section births? These questions and others are relatively easy to answer thanks to a data gold mine kept by the obscure California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development. It doesn't matter if your hospital is public, nonprofit or for-profit, data on its patients and services are available online.

Charles Ornstein, senior reporter at ProPublica and president of AHCJ's board of directors, will guide you through using the data to answer those questions and more.

What do current Medicare beneficiaries think of the program? What do they like and don't like? How would they change their coverage if they could? Experts will explore the high out-of-pocket costs some beneficiaries still must still pay and whether they have too many choices for supplemental and drug coverage. What are the prospects for preventive care services that many beneficiaries say they want? Experts will also look at the long-term prospects for Medicare.

Our panel of experts and journalists will discuss these issues and more with an eye toward what journalists need to know to best inform their readers and viewers.

Send questions in advance to talkinghealth@healthjournalism.org.

A webinar for journalists

There's little question that health reform has dominated the news this summer, but is the coverage tackling the right issues? Join us for a "Talking Health" webinar, presented by AHCJ, The Commonwealth Fund, and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, to find out what top journalists think of the coverage of this complicated policy debate.

Health reform is picking up steam in Congress. A major flash point in the coming debate is whether employers and individuals should be able to obtain health insurance through a public plan that is similar to Medicare, as well as private insurance from commercial carriers.

Our next Talking Health program will feature two experts: Cathy Schoen, senior vice president for research and evaluation at The Commonwealth Fund, and Bruce M. Bullen, chief operating officer of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care. They will be on hand to offer their judgments on what we can expect. Our two journalist experts, Noam Levey, a reporter at the Los Angeles Times; and Ceci Connolly, a staff writer at The Washington Post; will provide their insights and suggestions for covering what will be a major story in the coming months.

The speakers will answer questions submitted before and during the webcast.

Obama presidency: Does his health plan stand a chance?

What lies ahead for health reform? The candidates made lots of promises during the campaign and now the time has come to deliver on them. Will the new president really be able to bring insurance coverage to more Americans given the country's other financial problems and the growing deficit? Will we again fall back on an incremental approach?

Our next Talking Health program will feature two experts who have been following the politics of health reform for a long time and two journalists who will give suggestions for covering the story for the next year nationally and locally. They will be taking questions from the audience, so submit questions today!

AHCJ, The Commonwealth Fund, and the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism will present Talking Health, a webcast for members that will explore the growing problem of the underinsured – those who have insurance but are still at risk for substantial out-of-pocket expenses.

Get MP3 and Flash presentations from the 2007 Urban Health Journalism Workshop. Topics include the health issues of children, seniors and immigrants in urban settings, as well as obesity, mental health, disaster preparedness and the mapping of local health data.

Multimedia presentations are now available from this workshop, the third of its kind presented in California by AHCJ over the past year, was sponsored by The California Endowment. Logistical support also came from The Maynard Institute for Journalism Education.

Audio is now available from the AHCJ San Francisco Bay Area Chapter meeting on Sept. 5 at the Kaiser Family Foundation about "Universal health coverage in California and the U.S.: Will it happen, when, and what will it look like?"

AHCJ and the Kaiser Family Foundation hosted this interactive roundtable webcast on March 6, 2007. Trudy Lieberman, president of AHCJ's board of directors, moderates a panel of experts discussing what journalists need to know about covering SCHIP.

With the State Children's Health Insurance Plan (SCHIP) up for reauthorization, this roundtable - a partnership between the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Kaiser Family Foundation - focuses on what journalists need to know about covering SCHIP in their states. Health reform proposals announced by would-be presidential candidates call for expanding coverage through SCHIP.

Hospital emergency rooms are under siege. Some inner city hospitals are losing on-call specialists to treat severely injured patients or must pay high prices to keep them. In some parts of the country, ambulance diversions are continuing. So are wallet biopsies which telegraph to hospitals who can pay and who cannot. Changes to Medicaid mandated by the Deficit Reduction Act could affect the care those on Medicaid will receive. Technology and emergency room care will become more expensive, raising the question: “Who will fund this place of last resort as the move to market-driven health care rushes ahead? “

A roundtable focusing on the new Medicare prescription drug benefit known as Part D, designed to help Medicare beneficiaries pay for their medications.

This roundtable focuses on health savings accounts and related approaches advocated by the Bush Administration and others to address rising health care costs and lack of coverage for the uninsured. Webcast and transcript available.