The Evolution of Anesthesia
The history of anesthesia is inextricably bound to the history of surgery (a topic we will cover in a future article). Until the 19th century, infection from a…
Read more
CMS Reshapes Medicare Pathways for Medical Devices
Medical device manufacturers are navigating a shifting Medicare landscape for breakthrough technologies, following two actions by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) this summer. In the…
Read more
Medicare and the Origins of Federal Transplant Coverage
Organ transplantation was an emerging and uncommon medical treatment when Congress enacted Medicare in 1965 to provide hospital and physician coverage for older Americans. Although surgical trials had…
Read more
Skin Substitutes in Medicare: Trends, Challenges, and CMS’s Policy Response
On December 24, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that its Medicare Administrative Contractors would withdraw finalized Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) for skin substitute…
Read more
A Physician’s Thoughts on Integrating New Technology into Clinical Practice
When I reflect on the changes in medicine in the almost 50 years since I graduated from medical school, I list advanced imaging as the most significant. At…
Read more
The Establishment of Medicare
According to a January KFF poll, more than 80 percent of Americans hold a favorable view of Medicare, the federal program that provides health insurance to individuals aged…
Read more
The History of Reimbursement: The Roots of Medical Insurance
Pricing and payment for medical care in the United States have always been complex, shaped by a patchwork of competing interests, evolving technologies, and shifting policy landscapes. In…
Read more
The Challenge of Achieving Health Equity in Extreme Heat
As a heat dome settles across the Southwest, the federal government and health departments across the country are emphasizing the importance of safeguarding against the impacts of extreme…
Read more
When medicine gets it wrong
We trust modern medicine to be evidence-based: grounded in the most current and reliable research available. But sometimes medicine gets it wrong, and clinicians engage in unproven, ineffective,…
Read more
Recovery Audit Contractors
Thirteen years after the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) implemented a new framework for reducing improper payments nationwide, the program remains divisive, with proponents pointing to…
Read more
Emerging pharmacology and patient expectations
The first half of 2022 saw several encouraging developments in the pharmaceutical sector. In June alone, we learned that all of the rectal cancer patients in clinical study…
Read more