California Healthline: Special Audio Reports

Leah Binder of the Leapfrog Group, Jan Emerson-Shea of the California Hospital Association, Ashish Jha of the Harvard School of Public Health and Nancy Pratt of Sharp HealthCare spoke with California Healthline about how California hospitals fared in the Leapfrog Group's recent report card on patient safety.

Heidi Bauer of the state Department of Public Health, Victoria Jones of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, Vivian Levy of the San Mateo County Health Department and Freya Spielberg of RTI International spoke with California Healthline about a pilot program to help young women obtain no-cost home tests for sexually transmitted infections.

Harold Miller, president and CEO of the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement, spoke with California Healthline about the importance of pursuing innovative health care improvement strategies that are tailored to local needs.

Oakland pediatrician Bruce Horwitz, Barbara Loe Fisher of the National Vaccine Information Center, John Talarico of the state Department of Public Health and a parent who plans to apply for a personal belief exemption spoke with California Healthline about the growing trend of parents seeking vaccine exemptions.

Tom Lenox of the Drug Enforcement Administration, Michael Plopper of Sharp HealthCare Behavioral Health Services, Sherrie Rubin of the not-for-profit organization HOPE and Robert Wailes of the California Medical Association's board of trustees spoke with California Healthline about prescription drug misuse.

Kim Dempsey, director of innovation and strategy at NCB Capital Impact, spoke with California Healthline about recommendations for improving the operations of community health centers.

April Armstrong and Thomas Nesbitt of UC-Davis Health System, Mario Gutierrez of the Center for Connected Health Policy, Jen Lang-Ree, a nurse practitioner in California, and Jonathan Lopez, a dermatology patient, spoke with California Healthline about a new law that expands and streamlines telehealth services in the state.

Deloras Jones of the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care, Pamela Lassetter of the Fresno Regional Workforce Investment Board and DeAnn McEwen of the California Nurses Association's Council of Presidents spoke with California Healthline about the state's nurse-to-resident ratio.

Deven McGraw, director of the Health Privacy Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology, spoke with California Healthline about the challenges of protecting health data privacy.

John Arensmeyer of Small Business Majority, Diana Dooley of California's Health and Human Services Agency and Anthony Wright of Health Access spoke with California Healthline about California's efforts to prepare the state for changes under the federal health reform law.

Ateev Mehrotra, a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, spoke with California Healthline about how the demand for retail clinics might increase in response to a growing shortage of primary care providers and a nationwide push to lower health care costs.

Nicole Evans of the California Association of Health Plans, Henry Loubet of the insurance brokerage firm Keenan and Lorri Unumb of Autism Speaks spoke with California Healthline about the benefits and shortcomings of a new state law requiring private insurers to cover certain autism therapies.

Lyle Hurst, network developer for the Encore Fellowships Network, spoke with California Healthline about a program that matches mid-career workers from the private sector with social-purpose organizations, including community clinics.

Tom Hubbard of the New England Healthcare Institute, Steven Noeldner of Mercer Health & Benefits and Joe Woods of HumanaVitality spoke with California Healthline about the growing popularity of employee wellness incentive programs.

Linda Davis-Alldritt, a school nurse consultant for the California Department of Education, Marin County Public Health Officer Jason Eberhart-Phillips, Catherine Martin of the California Immunization Coalition and David Witt of Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Marin spoke with California Healthline about the state's new whooping cough vaccine mandate.