CMS Unveils First Wave of Health Tech Tools to Advance National Data Sharing Initiative

The agency showcased dozens of tools during an event held on Thursday, approximately eight months after launching the initiative in July.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced its first major set of health technology tools under the Health Tech Ecosystem initiative, marking a key step in its effort to improve healthcare data sharing and expand digital health access across the United States.

The agency showcased dozens of tools during an event held on Thursday, approximately eight months after launching the initiative in July.

The program is designed to improve interoperability between healthcare systems, enable easier patient access to medical records, and increase the availability of digital health and artificial intelligence-based solutions through public-private collaboration.

CMS officials said more than 700 organizations have pledged support for the initiative, while over 120 companies have indicated that their products are either ready for use or nearing completion. Amy Gleason, acting administrator of the U.S. DOGE Service and senior advisor to CMS, said the ecosystem is enabling collaboration between competing companies to build shared healthcare solutions.

The initiative, initially launched with over 60 companies including major players such as UnitedHealth, Amazon, and Epic, is focused on addressing long-standing challenges in health data exchange. The healthcare sector continues to rely on fragmented systems and legacy technologies, which have slowed real-time data sharing between providers and patients.

CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said the program has two primary goals. The first is to eliminate manual patient intake processes, often referred to as “killing the clipboard,” by enabling patients to securely share health data through digital platforms such as QR codes.

The second goal is to support broader use of artificial intelligence in healthcare by making patient data more accessible for digital tools and clinical decision support systems. Officials said this could allow patients to receive more personalized and timely health insights.

Several companies demonstrated early use cases under the initiative. Humana partnered with b.well Connected Health to enable users to aggregate medical data across providers, while eClinicalWorks showcased a system that allows providers to import patient records into electronic health records using QR code scanning.

CMS also highlighted progress in digital access tools, including identity verification services for Medicare accounts and the development of caregiver access features on Medicare.gov. A new app library has also been introduced to help beneficiaries access vetted digital health tools, including chronic disease management applications.

The agency has further expanded its Blue Button API infrastructure, enabling Medicare beneficiaries to retrieve medical records and digital ID cards through standardized data endpoints.

Concerns remain around data privacy and the scale of patient data access as the initiative expands, particularly as AI-driven tools become more integrated into healthcare workflows.

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