By Brian Scarpelli, Executive Director, Connected Health Initiative (CHI)
As we close out the year, I’m proud to reflect on what the Connected Health Initiative (CHI) accomplished on behalf of patients, innovators, providers, and the broader healthcare ecosystem. This was a year defined by sustained engagement and concrete results, with the CHI community advancing policies that better align coverage, payment, and regulation with how care should be delivered in a connected, data-driven world.
CHI was often at the center of these debates, pressing for practical solutions that expand access, reward prevention, and accelerate the adoption of technologies that advance the Quadruple Aim.
CHI by the Numbers
In 2025, CHI filed 39 filings and letters, released two new issue papers, held more than 50 meetings with Congress and the Administration, and convened or participated in multiple public events and briefings. Each effort was aimed at addressing real policy barriers facing connected health technologies and the patients who rely on them.
Advancing Congressional Action on Connected Health
On Capitol Hill, CHI continued to be a leading voice for modernizing healthcare policy through legislation. We worked to advance the WEAR IT Act, which would help ensure that clinically validated wearable technologies can be used to support prevention, chronic disease management, and treatment within federal healthcare programs.
In parallel, CHI played an active role in securing congressional action to preserve and expand Medicare telehealth flexibilities, helping protect access to virtual care for seniors and underserved populations. These efforts reinforced the importance of legislative certainty as providers and patients increasingly depend on connected care models.
Coverage, Payment, and Wearables: Turning Policy Into Practice
This year also delivered meaningful progress in digital health coverage and payment, which is where policy most directly affects adoption. Working with the Administration, CHI advocated for changes needed to increase the uptake of efficacious wearables that support prevention and treatment. Those efforts helped lay the foundation for CMMI’s ACCESS and LEAD Models, which recognize the role of AI-enabled digital tools and wearables in value-based and population-based care. We are continuing to push for progress in these key models.
At the same time, CHI achieved further incremental but important wins in Medicare reimbursement policy. In the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, CMS updated coverage rules for remote monitoring in ways that better reflect real-world clinical use. The Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program was modernized to embrace technology-enabled delivery, and CMS made additional advances that build on years of CHI advocacy to align payment policy with innovation. Taken with a range of other improvements, such as expanded support for remote presence in care settings, these changes continue to move Medicare toward a system that rewards outcomes, prevention, and connected care.
Expanding Leadership at the State Level
Recognizing the growing role of states in shaping healthcare policy, CHI significantly expanded its state-level engagement this year. As a recent example, in November, I had the opportunity to testify before the Mississippi state legislature on healthcare AI issues, highlighting both the promise of these technologies and the need for thoughtful, innovation-enabling policy frameworks. This work reflects CHI’s commitment to engaging policymakers wherever critical decisions are being made.
Driving the National Conversation on Data Flows and Interoperability
CHI continued to lead on information blocking and interoperability, pressing for policies that enable appropriate data access and use across the healthcare continuum. This year, ASTP made clear that it intends to crack down on illegal information blocking, validating long-standing CHI advocacy. At the same time, we have emphasized that enforcement alone is not enough. Further work remains to ensure seamless, trusted data flows that truly support care coordination, innovation, and patient empowerment.
Accelerating Trustworthy Innovation with the FDA
CHI also deepened its collaboration with the FDA, working to identify ways to streamline the process for bringing efficacious and trustworthy digital health technologies to market more quickly. The FDA has now approved more than 1,000 AI-enabled tools, underscoring both the pace of innovation and the importance of clear, predictable regulatory pathways. We are committed to enacting further game-changing updates to the FDA’s process in 2026 that will widely support the uptake of efficacious wearables.
Identifying What’s Next for Digital Health
Finally, CHI remained focused on what’s coming next. We published a new issue paper on the role of software-based innovations in value-based care, including forward-looking recommendations for policymakers. CHI will continue to drive policy discussions on key issues like how AI software should be categorized and covered in Medicare. We also engaged on emerging issues such as standard-essential patents and their impact on innovators that rely on interoperability and safety standards to compete, an increasingly important concern as connected health becomes more standards-driven and globally integrated.
Looking Ahead to 2026
Perhaps most importantly, this year highlighted the strength of CHI’s growing community and partnerships. CHI brings together a uniquely diverse set of stakeholders—innovators, providers, patient advocates, and policy experts—who share a commitment to advancing connected health responsibly. That collaborative model is one of CHI’s greatest assets, and it will be essential to driving the next wave of progress in 2026.
The challenges ahead are complex, but this year demonstrated what’s possible with sustained advocacy, technical expertise, and a strong, engaged community. We’re proud of what we accomplished—and energized for what comes next.
