Its mission is to improve the quality, accuracy and visibility of health care reporting, writing and editing.
The current Board of Directors includes professionals from The Boston Globe, STAT, the University of Georgia, NPR, MedPage Today, and The Des Moines Register.
The association holds annual meetings, publishes newsletters, operates a website and advocates on behalf of health journalists and the free flow of information.
The annual Health Journalism conference and other regional workshops and summits have been held in nearly 50 locations across the U.S.
[12] The Association advocates for high ethical standards in health care reporting and has taken a position against news organizations entering into arrangements with hospitals that improperly influence health coverage,[13] urged reporters to resist signing confidentiality agreements with hospitals[14] and opposed secrecy clauses in contracts between medical device manufacturers and hospitals.