Tech giants back unified health data-sharing platform in US
The Trump administration wants to build an interoperable digital health platform for handling patient records, medical operating systems, and apps – helped by the private sector – that can improve patient care.
The initiative will be supported by tech giants, including Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, Google, and OpenAI, and will focus on developing a framework that would be administered by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which said it would "improve patient outcomes, reduce provider burden, and drive value."
The emphasis is on voluntary participation from companies, healthcare systems, insurers, and other health actors, rather than rulemaking, and CMS is hoping to start running the first 'Aligned Networks' in the first quarter of 2026.
"For decades, bureaucrats and entrenched interests buried health data and blocked patients from taking control of their health," said Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr at an event this week to launch the 'Make Health Tech Great Again' plan.
"That ends today. We're tearing down digital walls, returning power to patients, and rebuilding a health system that serves the people."
Looking at the nuts and bolts of the CMS Digital Health Ecosystem, it revolves around the creation of a system that will allow the sharing of medical and patient data between patients and providers, and an effort to develop digital health tools to help people manage and prevent health conditions.
That will involve big changes to data networks, electronic health record (EHR), and health apps already being used across US healthcare systems, and questions are already being raised about patient confidentiality implications, given the involvement of private companies. CMS has insisted, however, that "nothing…is intended to contravene, supersede, or preempt federal or state healthcare or privacy laws."
Anyone who wants to share their data in this way will have to opt in to the ecosystem, which will initially focus on apps for diabetes and obesity management, conversational AI assistants to help patients check symptoms, navigate care options, and schedule appointments, and an effort to replace any digital forms with electronic versions.
"We have the tools and information available now to empower patients to improve their outcomes and their healthcare experience," said CMS Administrator Dr Mehmet Oz.
"For too long, patients in this country have been burdened with a healthcare system that has not kept pace with the disruptive innovations that have transformed nearly every other sector of our economy," he added.
"With the commitments made by these entrepreneurial companies today, we stand ready for a paradigm shift in the US healthcare system for the benefit of patients and providers."
Image by mcmurryjulie from Pixabay
