Cheryl W. Thompson of the Kansas City Star and Harris Meyer, now a senior writer at Hospitals and Health Networks magazine, have received awards for excellence in journalism from the National Institute for Health Care Management. Thompson was selected in the general-circulation category for her series "Heart Trouble at KU Med," and Meyer won in the trade publication category won for "The Quagmire of Medicaid Reform" a series which he wrote for American Medical News. Each winning entry received a $5,000 prize.
Finalists in each category were also recognized: for general circulation, Carol Hymowitz and Ellen Joan Pollock of The Wall Street Journal for their series "The New Economics of Mental Health"; and Steven Findlay of Business and Health for his series "Health Care Reform in the States" in the trade publication category. The finalists received $500.
The independent panel of judges included: Melinda Beck, senior editor, Newsweek; John Iglehart, founding editor of Health Affairs; Luci Koizum, former editor-in- chief, Medicine and Health, and now vice president for acquisitions, Faulkner & Gray; Doug Levy, medical writer, USA Today; and Alan Murray, Washington bureau chief, Wall Street Journal.
"Heart Trouble at KU Med" resulted from Cheryl Thompson's persistent investigation into irregularities at the Kansas University Medical Center's transplant unit, where dozens of good hearts were turned down without reason, denying seriously ill patients their medical hope. Her series led to the closing of the transplant unit at the hospital.
"The Quagmire of Medicaid Reform" described the political and human consequences of the debate over Medicaid changes, including the effects of funding cuts and moving the elderly and disabled to a managed care system. In addition to today's award for the NIHCM trade publication category, Mr. Meyer has won four first-place Chicago Headline Club journalism awards.
NIHCM was established in 1993 by 10 of the nation's leading health-care companies, principally associated with Blue Cross, to support research and analysis of health care issues.