Robin Fields
I’m a senior editor covering health, including the drug industry, insurance denials and reproductive care.
Need to Get in Touch?
I’m interested in hearing from patients, their families and those formerly or currently working in health care about practices that put lives at risk or abuse a system all of our lives depend on.
What I Cover
I’m covering health, including the drug industry, insurance denials and changes in access to reproductive care.
My Background
I was among the first reporters to join ProPublica in 2008, and I then went on to serve as the managing editor from 2013 to 2022 before returning to reporting. Stories I’ve reported or edited have won pretty much all the journalism awards there are. As a ProPublica reporter, I’ve written mostly about health, including stories on U.S. dialysis care, psychiatric hospitals, maternal mortality, health insurance denials and pricey prescription drugs. Before joining ProPublica, I was a reporter at the Los Angeles Times, where I investigated California’s guardianship system for incapacitated adults, and the Sun-Sentinel in South Florida, where I wrote about consumer scams as well as innumerable disasters, both natural and manmade.
Dialysis Data, Once Confidential, Shines Light on Clinic Disparities
ProPublica obtained data about the performance of more than 5,000 U.S. dialysis clinics. ProPublica’s Dialysis Facility Tracker allows patients to compare clinics on such measures as patient survival, infection control, hospitalization rates and transplant rates.
Sen. Grassley Demands Information on Dialysis Clinic Conditions
Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, sent a letter Tuesday to Dr. Donald Berwick, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, expressing concern about clinic conditions and oversight described in a report published by ProPublica and the Atlantic Monthly in November.
New Study Shows Higher Mortality Risk at For-Profit Dialysis Chains
A new study shows that patients treated at dialysis clinics run by the largest U.S. for-profit chains have a higher risk of death than patients treated by the biggest nonprofit chain.
When Needles Dislodge, Dialysis Can Turn Deadly
Medicare rules do not require dialysis clinics to tell outside authorities about lapses in patient safety, even if they result in injuries or deaths. One model: The Department of Veterans Affairs, which has adopted mandatory reporting of accidents and near-misses to save lives.
In Dialysis, Life-Saving Care at Great Risk and Cost
Every year, more than 100,000 Americans start dialysis. One in four of them will die within 12 months -- a fatality rate that is one of the worst in the industrialized world. And dialysis arguably costs more here than anywhere else. Although taxpayers cover most of the bill, the government has kept confidential clinic data that could help patients make better decisions. How did our first foray into near-universal coverage, begun four decades ago with such great hope, turn out this way? And what lessons does it hold for the future of health care reform?
Troubled Mental Health Provider Acquired by Competitor
Psychiatric Solutions Inc., a mental health care provider that has been the subject of several ProPublica stories, will be acquired by Universal Health Services Inc., another large operator of hospital and psychiatric facilities. The companies announced the deal today.
Psychiatric Solutions' Executive Pay Probed by Justice Department
The Justice Department is investigating executive compensation at Psychiatric Solutions Inc., the inpatient mental health care company that has been the subject of several articles by ProPublica. The company substantially increased executives' salary and options about two weeks before reports surfaced that the company was in talks to be acquired.
Florida Regulators Stop Admissions to Troubled Youth Facility
Florida has halted admissions to a Manatee Palms, psychiatric hospital for children and adolescents operated by a subsidiary of Psychiatric Solutions Inc., which is under scrutiny for reports of neglect and sexual abuse at several of its centers.