Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: The late chef, author, and television personality Anthony Bourdain, who recovered from heroin addiction in the 1980s, used his global platform to educate the public about the opioid crisis.

Stories That Caught Our Attention This Week: As providers adopt new technologies, the debate over high-tech health care delivery has intensified. What does the future hold?

The population of seniors is growing rapidly while the physician supply shrinks — especially among primary care doctors and geriatricians. Many health care organizations are exploring a surprising solution: old-fashioned house calls mixed with new technology.

Humboldt County has been hit hard by the opioid epidemic, but recent media coverage missed significant, successful steps local leaders have taken to stem the tide. (Aerial photo of Humboldt Bay: Robert Campbell)

Welcome to the first edition of Essential Coverage. Every Friday, we’ll send you into the weekend with a recap of stories we found worth reading — stories covering all our topics, from health reform to maternal health, to opioid safety, and much more. 

Federal residency funding has remained stagnant for decades while the number of medical schools increases and doctors from other countries arrive to compete for positions in training. A physician describes the implications. (Photo: Dean Ishida/UCLA)

Health care providers cannot effectively coordinate a patient’s care without access to a shared set of accurate clinical information about that patient. That’s what Collective Medical aims to provide, and that’s why it has received the CHCF Innovation Fund’s latest program-related investment.

Chris Perrone, director of CHCF's Improving Access team, told the California Legislature how Medi-Cal expansion under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has affected access to care for people who rely on the program.