Sunlight Foundation

  1. 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.

    Read all about it

  2. Lack of disclosure protects bad nursing home firms

    By Sarah Dorsey Jul 8, 2010 2:31 p.m.

    The pattern of understaffing at Skilled Healthcare Group's 22 California nursing homes could have raised red flags for patients and their families, but ownership information is currently difficult to obtain. The company has been ordered to pay $670 million for violating California state staffing minimums. A portion of the fee, the result of a class action lawsuit, is intended to refund patients for the quality of care they received.

    Read all about it

  3. OGD: A state-by-state look at Medicare payments

    By Sarah Dorsey Apr 23, 2010 11:03 a.m.

    Click on the picture for a larger version.

    Read all about it

  4. OGD: Future Medicare data looks promising

    By Sarah Dorsey Apr 12, 2010 3:28 p.m.

    The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services appear to be on to something with their promised new datasets. It's a leap for an agency whose previous offerings were a confusing mishmash of poorly-labeled files. If they continue to add granularity as they roll out more features, journalists could have a useful and innovative set of tools on their hands.

    Read all about it

Search the Blog

Real Time Ticker

Recent Posts

Reporting we're watching

Popular tags

2012 election 2012 elections 2013 Inauguration Ad Ad Hawk Ad Hoc AIG american crossroads Arab Spring Barack Obama BP budget Campaign contributions Campaign Finance Center for Responsive Politics Citizens United consumer banking Contracting Conventions2012 Correspondence crossroads GPS dark money Data Mine datamine debt ceiling Disclose act Distributed Research Dodd-Frank Earmarks Election 2012 Elizabeth Warren FARA FCC FDA FEC Federal Election Commission Finance Data Catalog Financial Bailout Financial Reform FLIT FOIA follow the unlimited money Foreign lobbying Foreign Lobbying Influence Tracker freshmen Fundraising Guns Handy Tools health care Hoc House House Freshmen 112th House Majority PAC Immigration Independent Expenditure Independent expenditures influence Influence Explorer investment James Bopp Jr. Lobbying lobbying tracker Logs_6553 Majority PAC Mark Sanford Market Meltdown Media Medicare meeting logs Mitt Romney National Rifle Association Newt Gingrich NRA obama OGD Open Government Directive Orrin Hatch outside spending Party Time PMA Group political ad sleuth Political Party Time Politwoops President Obama Priorities USA Action Recovery Recovery.gov Rep. John Murtha Research Restore Our Future revolving door Rick Perry Rick Santorum Romney Ron Paul Sen. Christopher Dodd Sheldon Adelson states of transparency Stealthy Wealthy stimulus Sunlight Live super committee super congress Super PAC super PAC profile Super PACs supercommittee Supercongress supreme court TARP Taxpayers for Common Sense transparency