Look, it’s not brain surgery! Seriously, though, it’s spine surgery—and it’s becoming more high tech.

Health tech company Xenco Medical, founded in 2011, has created biomaterial and implant devices that can regenerate bones in patients undergoing spinal and other orthopedic surgeries. The products use a chemical process that builds up proteins to model and grow bone, helping patients heal more effectively after surgery.

The surgical devices are just part of the company’s longitudinal treatment strategy to provide patients with an ongoing and interactive postoperative care plan. Last year, Xenco introduced its TrabeculeX Continuum technology, which combines both surgical devices and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital health rehabilitation to heal bones. To date, over 3,180 patients have utilized the treatment, said Xenco founder and CEO Jason Haider.

Once a surgery is completed, the patient begins a “mechanotransduction phase” that harnesses patient activity during rehabilitation and sends biochemical signals to cells that help boost the healing process.

Keep reading here.—CM

Welcome to February’s On Rotation!

Wondering who’s in and who’s out at major health companies, startups, hospitals, and more? We’ve got you covered.

Here’s a noncomprehensive roundup of the past month’s career shifts.

Have a job announcement to share? Drop Caroline or Cassie an email at [email protected] or [email protected].

José (Joe) Almeida: Medtech company Baxter International’s chair, president, and CEO retired effective immediately after nearly a decade at the helm, the company announced on Feb. 3. He will continue in an advisory capacity through the end of October. The board of directors appointed lead independent director Brent Shafer as chair and interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found.

Molly Biwer: Biwer left her position at Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic as chair and SVP of marketing, brand strategy, advertising, and enterprise strategic partnerships this month to join Atlanta-based Emory Healthcare as chief marketing officer, the health system announced on Feb. 19.

Keep reading here.—CC

The new US Department of Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rescinded on Monday a long-standing public comment practice at the nation’s largest public health agency—shortly after promising a “new era of radical transparency” last month.

In a policy statement on Feb. 28, Kennedy said the “extra-statutory” public comments “impose costs on the department and the public, are contrary to the efficient operation of the department, and impede the department’s flexibility to adapt quickly to legal and policy mandates.”

Since the move effectively limits citizens from sharing their opinions with the agency, experts have shared concerns that removing these opportunities for public commentary could impede the agency’s ability to operate in the public’s interest.

Lawrence Gostin, a law professor and chair of global health law at Georgetown University, posted on X that the move allows the HHS to “operate in secret” and “ignore the views of key stakeholders.”

Keep reading here.—CM

Farm Bureau health plans offer affordable coverage—but at what cost? Discover how these ACA alternatives work and who they really benefit.