Sunlight Foundation Reporting Group

1. Consumer groups protest disappearance of doctor discipline data

   By Sarah Dorsey Sep 20, 2011 10:09 a.m.

   Robert Tenny, a doctor identified by the Kansas City star who was sued multiple times for malpractice.

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2. Shrinking of private practice may drive up health care costs: study

   By Sarah Dorsey Aug 29, 2011 11:43 a.m.

   Over the last three years, more and more doctors have left private practice to work for hospitals. A new study has found that this trend might be contributing to the rising cost of health care, at least in the short term.

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3. Medicare and the Super Committee: Can doctors afford to lose two percent of their payments?

   By Sarah Dorsey Aug 19, 2011 10:08 a.m.

   Medicare and other health care services could see their funds drained in any number of ways as, over the next few months, the congressional Joint Committee on Debt Reduction--better known as the "super committee"--looks for ways to reduce the national debt.

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4. New Sunlight Health App points to problems at an Illinois nursing home

   By Sarah Dorsey Jul 26, 2011 10:08 a.m.

   On October 19, 2010, a Rockford, Illinois man was admitted to a local hospital. Emergency room staff found seven large bed sores on his body; some spanned several inches and had advanced to stage IV, the most severe. One wound, according to emergency room notes, was infected and covered his entire tailbone.

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5. Controversy heats up over Medicare cost-cutting board

   By Sarah Dorsey Jul 14, 2011 10:10 a.m.

   The fight over who will be in charge of keeping Medicare costs in line heated up this week as two House committees held contentious hearings on the subject. Opponents of the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a 15-member panel appointed by the president and authorized to cut Medicare spending when it rises above a certain level, say such decisions should be left to Congress.

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6. First glimpse at medical error rates separates the good, the bad and the ugly

   By Sarah Dorsey Apr 25, 2011 11:28 a.m.

   Between Oct. 1, 2008 and June 30, 2010, Medicare patients at St. Joseph’s Medical Center in Yonkers, N.Y., suffered thirteen instances of severe bed sores during their stay requiring additional treatment, a rate of nearly 2.9 per 1,000 treated. At St. John’s Riverside Hospital, three miles down Broadway from St. Joseph’s, the rate was 20 times lower: only one severe bed sore was reported, even though St. John's discharged far more Medicare patients during that period -- 8,270 to St. Joseph's 4,541.

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7. One year after passage, health care reform continues to generate lobbying and legal fees

   By Sarah Dorsey Mar 23, 2011 3:07 p.m.

   One year ago today, President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law. The legislative process that led to the bill's enactment proved to be a boon to lobbyists, including former aides to key members. Industry exerted influence on the administration and members of Congress from early on in the process, and continued lobbying after the bill was passed.

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8. New GOP wave could slow the pace of healthcare reform

   By Sarah Dorsey Nov 4, 2010 12:50 p.m.

   House Republicans will begin planning their agendas this week. Many of these candidates made their opposition to the President's health care law a central issue in their campaigns. But to what extent will Tuesday's elections actually affect the course of reform?

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9. Can we rate heart surgeries like blenders?

   By Sarah Dorsey Sep 9, 2010 11:41 a.m.

   The Consumers Union, publisher of Consumer Reports, released a set of ratings yesterday for something rather more important than appliances: heart bypass surgery. Using data submitted to the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS), the Consumers Union has graded various heart surgery groups using a three-star scale, similar to the way it rates radios, cameras and washing machines. It's a set of valuable public data that could serve as a model for expanding the Department of Health and Human Services' open government sites like Data.medicare.gov and the Community Health Data Initiative.

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10. States of Transparency: Tennessee

    By Sarah Dorsey Sep 7, 2010 12:32 p.m.

    The Open Government Directive encouraged states to put valuable government data online. In this series we're reviewing each state's efforts in this direction.

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11. Lobbying dollars continue to flow toward health care reform

    By Sarah Dorsey Aug 31, 2010 12:22 p.m.

    The President signed the health care reform bill in March, but over $125 million in lobbying dollars continues to flow to the issue, lobbying disclosure forms show. Total dollars spent lobbying on health care issues remained high in the three months after the reform bill was passed, dipping by only $16 million since the first quarter of the year.

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12. States of Transparency: Colorado

    By Sarah Dorsey Aug 20, 2010 4:49 p.m.

    The Open Government Directive encouraged states to put valuable government data online. In this series we're reviewing each state's efforts in this direction.

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13. Senator given $100K round of applause by musicians' group

    By Sarah Dorsey Aug 17, 2010 3:30 p.m.

    Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., a lawmaker who moonlights as a classical pianist, was honored in June along with the likes of the co-writer of Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi." The senator was recognized not for his musical abilities, however, but for his support of the music industry. Alexander was the guest of honor at the National Music Publishers Association's annual meeting, an event attended by over 500 songwriters and music publishers -- and one that cost the organization over $100,000 to host, according to the "honararia" section of lobbying records filed with the Senate Office of Public Records.

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14. States of Transparency: Alaska

    By Sarah Dorsey Aug 11, 2010 9:51 a.m.

    The Open Government Directive encouraged states to put valuable government data online. In this series we're reviewing each state's efforts in this direction.

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Investigations by Sunlight Foundation reporter Sarah Dorsey