Representatives from more than 60 healthcare and technology organizations were at the White House on July 30 as the Trump administration advanced its vision for what it is calling a Health Technology Ecosystem.
The event, branded Make Health Tech Great Again, followed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS’s) May release of a Request for Information (RFI) seeking public comment on the future of digital health, including the Medicare digital marketplace, interoperability infrastructure, and the role of emerging technologies. The effort is being pursued in cooperation with the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy/Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
President Trump has said the initiative will “empower Americans with a 21st Century experience on health.” It builds on more than a decade of federal health IT initiatives, including the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016, CMS’s Blue Button 2.0, and the 2020 Interoperability and Patient Access final rule. But in a significant departure from prior efforts, the current strategy emphasizes voluntary alignment over regulatory mandates. CMS is working to convene private-sector leaders around a shared set of technical standards and common goals.
In a Q&A session on the RFI, CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz encouraged attendees to approach the initiative with humility and openness to collaboration. “There’s some large companies on the line now, some insurgents, small-time folks who want to be big-time… but all of you have the same goal: to figure out what we can do to modernize the practice of health information,” he said. Oz called on participants to be “meek”—not in weakness, he clarified, but in a spirit of cooperation: willing to “sheath the sword” to advance health technology.
Amy Gleason, strategic advisor to HHS and CMS and acting administrator of the Department of Government Efficiency, echoed this sentiment, while emphasizing the administration’s call for bold thinking. “We want to understand not just what’s working—but what’s missing,” she said.
Who’s Participating
Participants at the July 30 event included some of the largest names in health and tech: Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and OpenAI; health systems such as Cleveland Clinic and Intermountain Health; major payers like UnitedHealth Group; and a range of electronic health record vendors and digital health firms, including Epic, Oracle Health, eClinicalWorks, Noom, Sharecare, and Zocdoc.
So far, 21 organizations have pledged to align with CMS’s interoperability goals. These early adopters, described informally as “CMS Aligned Networks,” have committed to meeting new voluntary criteria for improving data exchange, enhancing application program interfaces, and integrating real-time data into clinical workflows. Other program goals include reducing redundant paperwork and expanding access to consumer-facing digital tools.
“We’re not issuing mandates here,” one CMS official said of the RFI. “We’re issuing an invitation to build.”
Balancing Promise and Prudence
Some participants have described the initiative as a breakthrough in reducing fragmentation and improving care coordination. Gleason shared a personal story about her daughter, who lives with a rare disease and sees 12 providers across several health systems. After her daughter uploaded her records into an AI-powered assistant “just to see what would happen,” the system flagged a discrepancy that may make her eligible for a clinical trial.
The story illustrates the promise of patient-directed innovation. But it also highlights a concern on the part of digital rights advocates, who caution against uploading protected health information into commercial or experimental platforms not covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996. In comments to the Associated Press, Jeffrey Chester of the Center for Digital Democracy warned that the administration’s broader push could enable greater commercialization of sensitive health data. Some respondents to the RFI similarly noted the risk that patients may not fully understand how their data is used, stored, or shared when engaging with AI-enabled tools.
Implementation Challenges
The initiative’s scalability remains a central question. While large health systems and vendors may be able to quickly adapt, smaller and rural providers could face barriers related to IT infrastructure, staffing, or cost. CMS has acknowledged these challenges and encouraged respondents to the RFI to identify practical obstacles and potential solutions.
Stakeholders have also raised questions about how CMS’s framework will align with the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement. CMS has stated that its efforts are intended to build on—not replace—existing interoperability standards.
“This is about practical outcomes,” one official said in the RFI Q&A. “Not just what’s on paper.”
What Comes Next
With the RFI comment period now closed and early participants identified, CMS is expected to issue further updates by the end of 2025. Participating organizations will begin demonstrating progress on their commitments in 2026.
It remains to be seen what extent of collaboration will be achieved, how privacy risks will be managed, and what improvements patients and providers will see. Still, by emphasizing coordination over mandates, the Health Technology Ecosystem signals a meaningful shift in how federal health agencies engage with the private sector on digital infrastructure.
“This is about infrastructure, yes,” Gleason said. “But it’s also about people. And what happens when technology actually works for them.”