Roundup: CMS' New Payment Model & A New Podcast, Plus a Q&A on AI in the Clinic

Happy week-after-Thanksgiving to all my readers. You might expect the news cycle to slow down during the holiday week, but federal agencies delivered several important updates on drug pricing and a new outcomes-based payment model for digital health providers. This is also the time of year when long-reported feature stories land. One standout holiday read came from The Wall Street Journal, which explored how people are using DNA tests to track down new relatives and even ask for part of an inheritance. The New York Times also published a must-read essay by my Scrub Capital co-GP, Dr. Jon Slotkin, on the safety of autonomous vehicles and their impact on public health.

Before diving into the healthcare news, I have a personal update. I am launching a new podcast, Lifers, featuring candid conversations with the builders, operators, clinicians, policymakers, authors, and lifelong healthcare obsessives in my orbit.

Healthcare is not a “get rich quick” sector. Sales cycles are long, technology is outdated, regulatory hurdles abound, and companies often take decades to mature. Yet the payoff is enormous: the chance to improve human health and change lives at scale.