HL7 is proud to announce its approval as a Friend of the Ecosystem within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Health Tech Ecosystem. This designation recognizes HL7’s essential role in supporting CMS’s Kill the Clipboard (KTC) initiative and the broader Health Technology Ecosystem project, both of which aim to reduce administrative burden and improve data access across the U.S. healthcare system.
The CMS Health Tech Ecosystem is designed to accelerate the adoption of modern, standards‑based technologies that allow patients, clinicians, and health systems to exchange information seamlessly. The initiative focuses on replacing manual, paper‑based, and duplicative processes with interoperable digital solutions that make health data easier to access, share, and use.
Advancing Interoperability to Support CMS’s Vision
As a newly designated Friend of the Ecosystem, HL7 will collaborate with CMS and ecosystem partners to:
- Advance the use of HL7 standards to support seamless, secure data exchange
- Promote standards‑based approaches that reduce administrative burden
- Support patient‑centered data access and integration
- Enable scalable, interoperable solutions across the healthcare system
“HL7 is honored to support CMS’s vision for a more connected, less burdensome healthcare system. Healthcare is entering a new phase where interoperability is no longer optional, it’s foundational,” said Professor Rachel Dunscombe, Chief Executive Officer of HL7 International. “This federal initiative reflects a broader shift from defining standards to implementing them at scale, ensuring data can be accessed and used to support better care and innovation.”
A Shared Commitment to Modernizing Healthcare Data
HL7’s participation builds on its longstanding role in developing widely adopted standards, including HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR®), which underpin many of the APIs and data exchange frameworks advancing across the U.S. healthcare system. As healthcare organizations increasingly adopt FHIR‑based APIs and modern data exchange frameworks, HL7’s participation will help ensure alignment across federal initiatives, industry partners, and the global standards community.
HL7’s involvement also reinforces the organization’s broader efforts to support digital transformation, real‑world interoperability, and the data infrastructure needed to power innovative solutions across clinical care, public health, and research.
“Our market-driven, consensus-based approach to developing open standards has built the foundation the AI era will run on,” said Daniel Vreeman, DPT, Chief Standards Development Officer at HL7 International. “Initiatives like the CMS Health Technology Ecosystem create the alignment to catalyze breakthrough capabilities for patients, clinicians, and innovators across the ecosystem.”
The CMS initiative is designed to empower Medicare beneficiaries through greater access to innovative health technologies and calls on stakeholders to voluntarily align around a shared framework for shared data.
By joining the CMS Health Technology Ecosystem, HL7 will continue working with government agencies, providers, payers, and technology partners to help translate interoperability standards into practical, scalable solutions that improve care delivery and patient outcomes.
See the full list of organizations approved as Friends of the Health Tech Ecosystem here: https://www.cms.gov/health-tech-ecosystem/early-adopters/friend.
