Trump to launch effort to improve Americans' access to their medical records -- but privacy concerns loom [View all]

Source: CNN Politics

PUBLISHED Jul 30, 2025, 6:00 AM ET


President Donald Trump on Wednesday will make a fresh push to improve Americans’ access to their own medical records, tasking dozens of major health and technology companies with solving an issue that has long bedeviled the federal government.

The plan is expected to center on a pledge that roughly 60 companies will sign — including tech giants Microsoft and Oracle — to help develop new ways for more easily sharing patient data across the US’s fragmented health care system, three people familiar with the matter told CNN. Trump is slated to tout the voluntary framework during a White House speech on Wednesday.

Yet it remains unclear how quickly the companies can make progress on such a sweeping goal — and how the administration plans to hold them accountable for following through on the high-level, nonbinding commitment. The proposal may also spark pushback from privacy advocates who have warned that making patients’ sensitive health data more widely accessible risks also making it less secure.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees the largest federal health programs, declined to comment on the details of the announcement. But in a statement, spokesperson Catherine Howden said the “initiative aims to build a smarter, more secure and more personalized healthcare system — one that improves patient outcomes, reduces provider burden and drives greater value through private sector innovation and aligned federal leadership.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/30/politics/trump-medical-record-health-privacy-tech