Breakthroughs

North Texans got to ask an official from the National Security Agency questions about privacy last night. In part, thanks to Edward Snowden. Since the former NSA contractor began leaking classified documents showing the agency’s vast reach, officials have been trying to make their case to the public. Tuesday night the director of compliance at NSA, John DeLong visited SMU.

So who’s on healthcare.gov? Turns out it’s not just people searching for health care. The site is also attracting hackers — a Department of Homeland Security official told lawmakers there’s been “a handful” of attempts so far. National cyber security expert Fred Chang, who’s now a professor at SMU in Dallas, has been called to examine concerns about lack of privacy of users of the website.

Health technology start ups are taking off in North Texas. Entrepreneurs from across the country are coming here to take advantage of the capitol, creativity and connections between the worlds of medicine and tech.

There’s a new gym in North Texas – but if you want to lift weights or use the treadmill at Downsize Fitness, you have to be at least 50 pounds overweight.

President Obama made a whirlwind swing through Dallas on Wednesday, jetting in for fundraisers and a quick visit to health care navigators at Temple Emanu-El — where he made his pitch for Obamacare in person to Texans for the first time.

Rural hospitals provide emergency and routine care for millions of people in Texas. But over the past few decades, their doors have been closing. The Affordable Care Act was supposed to help financially-strained rural hospitals stay open – but it doesn’t look like there will be much relief for those in Texas.

Rural hospitals provide emergency and routine care for millions of people in Texas. But over the past few decades, their doors have been closing. The Affordable Care Act was supposed to help financially-strained rural hospitals stay open – but it doesn’t look like there will be much relief for those in Texas.

In rural Texas, finding a family practice doctor is no easy feat. There are dozens of counties without doctors, and the need for health care is only going to increase as more people buy insurance through the Affordable Care Act. So how do we convince recent medical school graduates to strap on their boots and take root in rural clinics? Give them a taste. Turns out, they often end up sticking around.

Be Covered Texas, a statewide education and outreach initiative sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, will be hosting a free community health event Oct. 26 at the Dallas Convention Center Arena. The fair, which runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. will provide educational information on the Affordable Care Act, free flue shots and other activities.

Even with Obamacare, more than one million people in Texas are in health care limbo. Since the state didn't expand Medicaid, low-income people people like Sheila Anderson won’t have access to government assistance or health insurance subsidies on the marketplace.

If and when the technical problems on the online health insurance marketplace clear up, millions of people are expected to enroll. Not Jackie Sawicky.

It’s been three weeks since the health insurance marketplace opened in Texas. While we don’t know exactly how many people have made it all the way to the finish line, it’s clear plenty are still stuck. As part of KERA’s series Obamacare 101: Making The Choice, we profile of a Fort Worth woman who’s been uninsured for more than a decade.

Obamacare could make getting access to healthcare a lot easier for the Riley’s. In the North Texas family of five, three are members of the Choctaw Nation and have special perks under the Affordable Care Act. As part of KERA’s series Obamacare 101: Making The Choice, we bring you a profile the Riley’s.

The Dallas VA Medical Center is offering new help to the most injured North Texas vets – those with multiple wounds– physical and psychological. Monday, officials cut the ribbon on a new $5 million polytrauma center.

It’s a big job: trying to connect more than 11,000 physicians, 140 hospitals and millions of patients to a central database. That’s the ambitious goal of the North Texas Accountable Health Partnership. Of course, linking so many electronic medical records is not only tough, but controversial, especially when it comes to privacy.

The Centers for Disease Control says one of every 20 patients gets an infection during a hospital stay.  In Fort Worth, a hospital is fighting that problem with an ultraviolet light machine that looks like one of Luke Skywalker’s sidekicks.