The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on April 9 announced the first rollout of tools aimed at building a modern digital health ecosystem, marking an early step in the agency’s push to modernize how patients access and share healthcare information.
The initiative, unveiled during CMS’ HealthTech Ecosystem Live! first wave launch event, brings together new infrastructure, a Medicare App Library and a group of patient-facing applications designed to reduce reliance on paper-based processes and improve care coordination.
More than 700 organizations have pledged support for the effort since CMS first called on the industry last year, with hundreds of companies now contributing to early implementations, according to an April 9 press release from CMS.
CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, said the effort is intended to address longstanding gaps between healthcare and other sectors’ use of technology.
“For too long, Americans have navigated a health system that lags behind the technology they use everywhere else,” Dr. Oz said in the release. “Today, CMS is bringing healthcare into the modern era, aligning innovators to deliver solutions that make care easier, more connected and more personalized.”
The agency highlighted tools from more than 50 companies, many of which are already available or expected to be released soon. The tools are designed to allow patients to access and share their health data through trusted applications, representing an early real-world implementation of a connected digital health ecosystem.
According to the press release, key features include digital check-in tools, referred to by CMS as “Kill the Clipboard,” that allow patients to share information via smartphone rather than paper forms, as well as personalized health apps that offer guidance on nutrition, wellness and chronic disease management.
CMS said the initiative is built around shared standards for identity, security and interoperability, with the goal of reducing administrative burden and enabling broader innovation across the healthcare system.
The launch represents an early phase in CMS’ broader effort to create a more connected, patient-centered system, with the agency emphasizing that coordinated infrastructure and private-sector collaboration will be critical to scaling the ecosystem.
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