Avery Comarow

How One Hospital Fends Off 'Code Blues'

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - May 13, 2008

A fast heartbeat, or a nurse's concern, can quickly bring a team to check on an ill patient. more >>

"Un-American" Surgery Abroad

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - May 6, 2008

Is it unpatriotic to fly halfway around the world to have a knee repaired? more >>

Saving on Surgery by Going Abroad

By Avery Comarow - Health - May 1, 2008

Medical tourism or medical travel can produce discounts of 80 percent. more >>

Taking a (By)pass on Surgical Volume

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - April 22, 2008

Conventional wisdom says deaths go down the more often a hospital does a procedure. Oh, yeah? more >>

'Sister Nurse' Responds to Critics

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - April 15, 2008

Nursing instructor Karen Madsen's hospital observations drew fire from other nurses. more >>

Pennsylvania's New Hospital Infection Report

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - April 11, 2008

The state's hospitals are reporting a higher rate than last year, but maybe the news isn't as bad as it looks. more >>

Close Encounter of the Nurse Kind

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - April 8, 2008

A nursing professor's tale of the two faces of her daughter's hospital care. more >>

Marketing Hospital Patient Satisfaction

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - April 1, 2008

So far there hasn't been much hoopla from hospitals on a new survey. more >>

A Review of the New Patient Satisfaction Tool

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - March 28, 2008

A few tweaks would help, but the revamped Hospital Compare page is mostly a winner for consumers. more >>

How Hospitals Compare on Patient Satisfaction

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - March 28, 2008

Now you'll be able to find out online, thanks to a new national patient-satisfaction survey. more >>

Do Patients Plus Clinical Trials Equal Better Care?

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - March 25, 2008

Hospitals that sign up lots of patients for studies just might be improving the quality of care across the board. more >>

Is the Ratings Game Stacked Against Doctors?

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - March 18, 2008

I haven't yet seen a website that evaluates physicians usefully, thoroughly, and fairly. more >>

Marcus Welby Is Alive and Well in the Far East

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - March 11, 2008

Is it the culture? Just a different approach to doing medicine? Whatever it is, it's good for hospital patients. more >>

A Little Gum to Get Things Moving

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - March 4, 2008

Here's one effective medical treatment that's (almost) free. more >>

Award for Heart Transplant Writer

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - February 26, 2008

Amy Silverstein's critics have told her she is ungrateful and never should have written "Sick Girl," her account of her many years with a transplanted heart. Others applaud her honesty. more >>

Do You Want Your Doctor to Tell You What to Do?

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - February 26, 2008

Maybe getting more involved in your own care will make you healthier. And maybe, suggests a new study, it won't. more >>

Imagine That—a Healthcare System That Works!

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - February 21, 2008

Sunday hours, personal attention, convenient appointments, clear bills, no copay... There's a lesson here, says a family physician. more >>

A Deluge of Dollars Is No Back Cure

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - February 19, 2008

We're spending more than ever on easing back pain. It's mostly not helping. more >>

Wringing Our Hands Over Infection Control

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - February 7, 2008

Commenters agree: There's much more to keeping hospitals from infecting patients than soap and water or a sanitizing gel. more >>

Deciphering Unexpected Deaths in a Diabetes Study

By Avery Comarow - On Medicine - February 7, 2008

Diabetic patients need to keep working on getting their blood glucose down, says a leading physician. more >>

When It Hurts to Take a Statin

By Avery Comarow - Health - February 4, 2008

Here's what to do if taking one of these cholesterol-lowering drugs becomes painful. more >>

On Medicine: My Life as a Statin Junkie

By Avery Comarow - Health - January 29, 2008

I've been popping cholesterol pills almost forever. And I'll keep on keeping on. more >>

Cleaner Hands, Fewer Infections? Maybe Not

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - January 23, 2008

The need for hand washing is too obvious to be stated, yet a new study calls a truism into question. more >>

Checklists Can Save Lives

By Avery Comarow - Comarow On Quality - January 17, 2008

But the plug was pulled on a large research project because the sponsor didn't follow one. more >>

The News About Vytorin Sounds Bad, but Don't Panic

By Avery Comarow - Health - January 15, 2008

Reading our FAQ won't lower your cholesterol, but it might do wonders for your heart rate. more >>