Federal officials announced voluntary pledges from major tech and healthcare firms to support a national interoperability framework aimed at improving data sharing and easing provider burden.
At a White House event focused on digital health, federal officials announced that major technology and healthcare companies—including Amazon, Anthropic, Apple, Google, and OpenAI—have pledged to support new efforts aimed at building a next-generation health data infrastructure.
The efforts focus on two broad areas: promoting a CMS interoperability framework to easily and seamlessly share information between patients and providers, and increasing the availability of personalized tools so that patients have the information and resources they need to make better health decisions.
“We have the tools and information available now to empower patients to improve their outcomes and their healthcare experience,” says CMS administrator Dr Mehmet Oz in a release. “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. 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.”
At the event, CMS unveiled voluntary criteria for trusted, patient-centered, and practical data exchange that will be accessible for all network types—health information networks and exchanges, electronic health records (EHR), and tech platforms.
More than 60 companies pledged to work collaboratively to deliver results in the first quarter of 2026. Twenty-one networks pledged to meet the CMS interoperability framework criteria to become CMS aligned networks. Eleven health systems or providers committed to participate and support patient use, and seven EHRs committed to facilitate data exchange and help “kill the clipboard.”
In addition, 30 companies pledged to promote health outcomes with technology over the coming months. The new tools will use secure digital identity credentials to obtain medical records from CMS aligned networks that meet the CMS data sharing criteria. The apps will assist in the delivery of key services to beneficiaries including:
- Diabetes and obesity management;
- The use of conversational AI assistants to help patients check symptoms, navigate care options, and schedule appointments, among other tasks; and
- Tools to “kill the clipboard” by replacing paper intake forms with seamless digital check-in methods; and more.
Industry Groups See Pledges as Catalyst for Innovation and Better Data Access
The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) applauded technology leaders’ pledge to improve interoperability and user-friendly apps. “WEDI appreciates the number of early adopters that have signed this pledge and their commitment to the collaborative work to meet the objectives of the pledge,” says Robert Tennant, WEDI executive director, in a statement. “Seeing the list of diverse and important organizations that have signed this pledge signals a real sea change in how the nation’s health care ecosystem will innovate and advance over the next 12-18 months.”
Shaye Mandle, executive director of AdvaMed’s Digital Health Tech division, says improved interoperability will help medtech innovators unlock the full potential of personalized care by making it easier to access critical data across the continuum of care. “The era of personalized, precision medicine is upon us, but reaching its full potential requires data that connects the dots across the continuum of care,” he says in a statement.
The White House event builds on the May 2025 request for information (RFI) issued jointly by CMS and the Assistant Secretary for Technology Policy to solicit suggestions from stakeholders on ways to modernize the nation’s digital health ecosystem. In a little over a month, the RFI generated nearly 1,400 comments from patients, caregivers, providers, payers, technology developers, and others.
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