The Association of Health Care Journalists is an independent,

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

dedicated to advancing public understanding of

health care Health care or healthcare is the improvement of health via the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, amelioration or cure of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in people. Health care is delivered by health profe ...

issues. Its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing. There are more than 1,500 members of AHCJ. The Association is based in

Columbia, Missouri Columbia is a city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is the county seat of Boone County and home to the University of Missouri. Founded in 1821, it is the principal city of the five-county Columbia metropolitan area. It is Missouri's fourth ...

, at the

Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in all areas of journalism and strategic comm ...

. The Current Board of Directors includes professionals from the

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

STAT STAT, Stat. , or stat may refer to: * Stat (system call), a Unix system call that returns file attributes of an inode * ''Stat'' (TV series), an American sitcom that aired in 1991 * Stat (website), a health-oriented news website * STAT protein, a ...

the University of Georgia ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Spectrum

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

MedPage Today MedPage Today is a medical news-focused site owned by Ziff-Davis, LLC. It is based in New York City, and is geared primarily toward medical and health professionals. History The news service MedPage Today was founded by Robert S. Stern in Marc ...

PBS Ideastream
and

Des Moines Register ''The Des Moines Register'' is the daily morning newspaper of Des Moines, Iowa. History Early period The first newspaper in Des Moines was the ''Iowa Star''. In July 1849, Barlow Granger began the paper in an abandoned log cabin by the junction ...

History

The Association incorporated in 1998 and procured

501(c)3 A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of the 29 types of 50 ...

status in 1999. In 2004 (at the fifth national conference in

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

), the membership approved the conversion of the Association to a

501(c)6 A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. S ...

trade association with a supporting 501(c)3 charitable organization - the Center for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. The association holds annual

meetings A meeting is when two or more Homo sapiens, people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal or business setting, but meetings also occur in a variety of other environments. Meetings can be used as form of Decision-making, ...

, publishes

newsletters A newsletter is a printed or electronic report containing news concerning the activities of a business or an organization that is sent to its members, customers, employees or other subscribers. Newsletters generally contain one main topic of in ...

, operates a

website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...

and advocates on behalf of health

journalists A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and the free flow of information. The Center presents training events, publishes educational materials and undertakes other educational projects aimed at improving the state of health

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...

Resources

AHCJ and the Center offer a number of resources and services intended to help journalists do in-depth and accurate reporting on health and health care issues. Its initiatives include the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism, an active Web site and blog, annual conferences, smaller training events, online training, and fellowships.

Awards

The Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism are notable as the only awards program for health journalism that is not influenced or funded by commercial or special-interest groups, an issue that has received scrutiny recently. The Association advocates for high

ethical standards Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns ma ...

in health care reporting and has taken a position against news organizations entering into arrangements with hospitals that improperly influence health coverage, urged reporters to resist signing

confidentiality agreements A non-disclosure agreement (NDA) is a legal contract or part of a contract between at least two parties that outlines confidential material, knowledge, or information that the parties wish to share with one another for certain purposes, but wish ...

with hospitals and opposed secrecy clauses in

contracts A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...

between medical device manufacturers and hospitals.

References

External links

*
Blog

History

Resources

Awards

References

External links

See also