President Donald Trump has announced a new private health tracking system, aimed at streamlining patient access to health records and wellness monitoring.
The proposed system is a joint venture between the federal government and Big Tech, reported PBS on Thursday. The system aims to facilitate patients in tracking and sharing their medical records among doctors, hospital systems, and health apps. The details of the system were revealed at a White House event named “Making Health Technology Great Again.”
"For decades America's health care networks have been overdue for a high tech upgrade," stated Trump calling existing systems “slow, costly and incompatible.”
Trump Pushes High-Tech Health Overhaul With Big Tech and CMS Support
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will maintain the system, drawing health data from Big Tech companies like Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), as well as big health companies like the Cleveland Clinic and UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH). Patients will have to opt-in to share their medical records and data, which CMS assures will be kept secure.
Once a patient is in the system, their information can be shared across participating apps or health networks. The Trump administration argues this will provide a more complete view of the patient’s health.
At the same press conference, officials reassured Americans that the system, once developed, would be “strictly opt-in” and would not involve “any centralized government database.”
Notably, a similar proposal was put forward by the Trump administration in 2018, but it never came to full fruition. The newly announced plan is set to launch in the first quarter of 2026, with 60 companies already on board.
Opt-In or Not, Critics Question Safety of Proposed Health Data System
Despite the potential benefits, patient advocates and ethicists have raised concerns about patient privacy and data security. Jeffrey Chester at the Center for Digital Democracy said, "This scheme is an open door for the further use and monetization of sensitive and personal health information.”
Hayley Tsukayama, Associate Director of Legislative Activism at EFF, told The Register, “Any initiative that proposes to collect sensitive data, particularly vast amounts of health information and medical records, must ensure that no one uses that information in ways people don’t expect.”
Samsung, P3 Health Partners Taps Analytics To Support Smarter, Timely Interventions
The new health data tracking system is another significant development in the healthcare technology sector. Earlier in July, Samsung (OTC:SSNLF) announced plans to acquire Xealth, a digital health platform that integrates various tools into provider systems.
Meanwhile, companies like P3 Health Partners are leveraging advanced analytics and integrated clinical-claims data to help providers gain a better understanding of their patients’ burden of illness. The company provides actionable insight to enable physicians to make more informed decisions, intervene in a more timely fashion, and personalize their care plans, especially for seniors with complex or chronic conditions.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
