Ethics
Digital Ortho Data Privacy – Part 1: Understanding Collection, Ownership, and Commercial Use
Digital tools are becoming a steady presence in orthopaedic care, and many surgeons are seeing more platforms handle information that reaches further into a...
Reimbursement Cuts vs Care: How Far Can You Stretch Before Quality Bends?
For 2025, the Medicare conversion factor dropped about 2.83 percent, from 33.2875 to 32.3465, while the Medicare Economic Index for 2025 rose 3.5 percent,...
Global Surgical Missions and the Lessons Orthopaedic Surgeons Bring Home
Key points
Five billion people worldwide lack access to safe, affordable surgery.
Orthopaedic missions deliver care abroad and reshape how U.S. surgeons practice.
Teaching and mentorship leave...
The Fellowship Gap: Are We Failing the Next Generation of Orthopaedic Surgeons?
Each year, new graduates enter operating rooms without the confidence or foundational skills needed to manage real-world complexity. This problem didn’t develop overnight. It...
When Your Implants Pay You
Physician-Owned Distributorships and Device Choice in the Ethical Crosshairs
The increasing presence of physician-owned distributorships (PODs) has forced orthopaedic surgeons to reconcile clinical autonomy with...
Antitrust, Access, and Ethics: Lessons from the J&J/Biosense Webster Verdict
Orthopaedic professionals are no strangers to the tension between innovation and regulation. The recent $147 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson's subsidiary Biosense Webster...
Post-Recall Preparedness: How Practices Are Screening and Managing Implant Failures
Recalls disrupt workflows, affect patient confidence, and force orthopaedic practices to re-evaluate how they monitor implant performance. If you're managing patient populations with recalled...
Should Orthopaedic Surgeons Be Shielded by Evidence-Based Guidelines in Malpractice Cases?
As an orthopaedic surgeon, you're trained to make decisions based on experience, clinical judgment, and evidence. But in the courtroom, the standard of care...
Addressing Health Disparities in Orthopaedic Care: An Ethical Obligation or Systemic Challenge?
Access to orthopaedic care is uneven. Some patients receive timely treatment, while others wait too long or never receive surgery at all. Race, insurance...
Rationing Joint Replacement Surgeries: Who Gets Priority in a Resource-Limited System?
If you work in orthopaedics, you know how challenging it can be to manage long waitlists for joint replacement surgeries. Limited resources mean not...
