Friend of the Ecosystem

Friend of the Ecosystem is a designation established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to recognize organizations that support the agency’s interoperability, data sharing, and patient access goals. As the largest public payer in the United States, CMS administers Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), influencing coverage and care delivery for more than 150 million Americans. Through rulemaking and innovation initiatives, CMS drives standards that shape the broader healthcare ecosystem, with an emphasis on improving patient care, transparency, and digital access to health information.

The Friend of the Ecosystem initiative aligns with CMS interoperability and patient access rules that encourage payers, providers, and technology partners to enable secure data exchange. Organizations recognized under this framework commit to supporting application programming interfaces (APIs), standards-based data sharing, and patient-directed access to health information. The goal is to advance digital healthcare by ensuring individuals can obtain and use their health data across systems, while providers can coordinate services more effectively.

By promoting collaboration across the healthcare ecosystem, CMS seeks to reduce administrative burden, strengthen care coordination, and improve outcomes. Healthcare technology vendors, payers, and provider organizations that participate as Friends of the Ecosystem signal their support for open standards and responsible data exchange. This effort reflects a broader shift toward digital healthcare models that rely on interoperable systems, secure identity verification, and reliable access controls to protect sensitive data while maintaining continuity of patient care.

Imprivata is an approved Friend of the Ecosystem and supports CMS objectives through healthcare solutions designed to secure access, protect patient information, and streamline clinical and administrative workflows. By enabling strong authentication, identity management, and secure interoperability across healthcare technology environments, Imprivata healthcare solutions help organizations safeguard data and advance patient care within an increasingly connected healthcare ecosystem.