Digital Health

CMS’s Innovation Center under the Trump administration is positioning digital health as a core VBC infrastructure layer, accepting 150 participants into the ACCESS model to align Medicare payment with measurable outcomes for obesity, diabetes, musculoskeletal pain, and depression through technology-supported care in Original Medicare (ACCESS participants). The model sits alongside broader CMMI activity around LEAD, TEAM, CJR-X, and musculoskeletal/falls-prevention episodes, signaling a shift from isolated pilots toward condition-specific, tech-enabled accountability models that reward scalable prevention, longitudinal management, and measurable functional improvement. For ACOs, health systems, and digital health vendors, the strategic tension is moving from “can digital tools engage patients?” to “can they reliably produce auditable outcomes, integrate with care teams, and perform under Medicare risk-based payment constraints,” as AI-enabled care execution platforms and safety-net innovators seek to become operating partners in population health management.