The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the development of the Medicare App Library as part of its Health Technology Ecosystem initiative. The library will provide a centralized directory through which Medicare beneficiaries can access patient facing digital health tools that integrate with CMS Aligned Networks.
CMS stated that participating apps will be grouped into three categories: applications designed to eliminate manual check in processes, conversational artificial intelligence assistants, and diabetes and obesity management tools. To be included, apps must sign CMS’s interoperability pledge and meet specified participation requirements, including implementing identity verification through ID.me or CLEAR, enabling connectivity to CMS Aligned Networks, and completing an evaluation by the Digital Medicine Society or the CARIN Alliance prior to CMS review. CMS also indicated that participants in the Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions (ACCESS) Model that join the Health Technology Ecosystem will be identified in the library with a special designation. The announcement reflects CMS’s continued emphasis on voluntary participation, interoperability, and consumer facing digital tools within Medicare.
