White House Secures 60 Firms for Digital Health Push

The White House has launched a public-private initiative to develop a next-generation digital health ecosystem, securing commitments from over 60 major healthcare and technology firms, including Amazon, Apple, Google, and OpenAI. Announced at a 'Make Health Tech Great Again' event, the plan aims to improve secure, interoperable data exchange between patients and providers and expand access to digital health tools, such as chronic disease management apps and AI assistants. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services introduced a voluntary Interoperability Framework, with 21 networks, 11 health systems, and seven EHR vendors pledging to align by early 2026. Virta Health and others will participate in specialized areas like diabetes and obesity management to reduce chronic disease burden among Medicare beneficiaries. The approach emphasizes industry collaboration on privacy and security without new regulations, seeking to empower patients with better access to their health data. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz called the initiative a major step toward modernizing healthcare and giving patients greater control over their information.