CMS Forms New Office to Lead Interoperability and Health Tech Modernization
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The new office will be responsible for enterprise-wide technology strategy across Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and other CMS-run services.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) has established a new Office of Health Technology and Products (OHTP) to consolidate leadership over interoperability, digital platforms, and technology modernization across federally administered health programs, according to a Federal Register notice published June 11.
The new office will be responsible for enterprise-wide technology strategy across Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and other CMS-run services. It will focus on modernizing key digital assets including Medicare.gov, provider directories, claims processing systems, and other beneficiary-facing and administrative platforms. The office will work in coordination with the CMS Chief Information Officer to align technology planning and execution across programs.
As outlined in the notice, the OHTP will lead efforts in interoperability, artificial intelligence integration, digital product development, and data infrastructure enhancement. A key mandate includes improving standards-based health data exchange across systems to support more consistent and efficient information flow between providers, payers, and federal platforms.
The office will be structured into eight divisions and is assigned more than 90 responsibilities spanning system modernization, product governance, digital service delivery, and enterprise technology implementation across CMS operations.
The restructuring comes amid broader organizational changes within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which recently revised the role of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC). The agency’s scope was narrowed back to its original health IT policy, standards, and certification functions after earlier restructuring under the previous administration.
In parallel, HHS has repositioned several technology leadership roles, including the Chief Technology Officer, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer, and Chief Data Officer, under the department’s Chief Information Officer. The shift is intended to centralize enterprise IT, cybersecurity, and data governance functions within HHS.
Industry observers have noted that the creation of the new CMS office reflects a structural shift in how federal health technology initiatives are managed, with CMS taking a more direct role in interoperability and digital modernization responsibilities that were previously distributed across multiple HHS entities.
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