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HHS Launches PACT to Modernize Procurement

PACT

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced fiscal year 2026 milestones from its enterprise transformation and government efficiency efforts, building on more than $16 billion in fiscal year 2025 acquisition savings through a new HHS PACT procurement modernization initiative aimed at making these savings durable and repeatable.

What the HHS PACT Procurement Modernization Effort Actually Does

The milestones include establishing the Procurement Alignment and Collaboration Taskforce, expanding shared procurement services, modernizing acquisition technology, and moving acquisition activity to shared enterprise systems. This work builds on HHS efforts in fiscal year 2025, which generated more than $16 billion in acquisition savings from contract terminations, reductions in scope, and decisions not to renew contracts.

Why PACT Represents a Different Kind of Effort Than Last Year’s Savings

PACT was established in fiscal year 2026. It did not produce the prior-year savings. Instead, PACT applies lessons from that work through repeatable business processes across the department, identifying additional efficiencies and improving how HHS purchases common goods and services going forward.

Leadership’s Framing of This HHS PACT Procurement Modernization Effort

“The Department’s fiscal year 2025 acquisition savings demonstrated what can be achieved when we examine spending strategically and act decisively,” said Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources and Chief Financial Officer Gustav Chiarello. “In fiscal year 2026, we are building durable systems around those lessons. PACT is helping HHS buy as one organization.”

How This Fits the Broader Federal Procurement Consolidation Mandate

These efforts advance President Trump’s Executive Order, Eliminating Waste and Saving Taxpayer Dollars by Consolidating Procurement, and support the administration’s broader government efficiency agenda. “President Trump directed federal agencies to eliminate waste and save taxpayer dollars by consolidating procurement, and HHS is putting that directive into practice,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Resources Anthony Figliola, who has led the department’s enterprise transformation efforts.

The Shared Services Expansion Within This HHS PACT Procurement Modernization Effort

HHS fully established the Office of Mission Acquisition Solutions, or OMAS, as its shared services organization for common information technology and professional services acquisitions. All HHS divisions have joined OMAS, which supported the transfer of more than 4,000 contracts across eight HHS divisions and is managing a portfolio representing approximately $2.5 billion in fiscal year 2026 obligations.

The Technology Modernization Behind This Effort

HHS completed the cloud migration of the HHS Consolidated Acquisition System, moving 3.1 terabytes of acquisition data to an environment authorized under the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program while decommissioning costly legacy infrastructure. This migration strengthens system security, scalability, and performance, establishing the technical foundation for broader adoption across HHS.

NIH’s First Major Division Transition Within This HHS PACT Procurement Modernization Effort

On June 30, 2026, the National Institutes of Health completed its transition of common information technology and professional services acquisition activity to HCAS, marking the first major HHS division migration to the enterprise platform and including more than 1,000 active awards. HCAS now supports more than 19,500 award actions representing approximately $6.5 billion in fiscal year 2026 obligations, with additional division transitions underway.

Why NIH’s Transition Matters as a Precedent

As the first major division to complete this migration, NIH’s transition serves as a proof of concept for how other HHS divisions will similarly move their acquisition activity onto the shared HCAS platform, offering a template other divisions can follow as the department continues its broader consolidation effort.

The Unused Obligations Review Within This HHS PACT Procurement Modernization Effort

Through a separate Undelivered Orders review, HHS identified approximately $174 million in obligated funds that were no longer needed on 882 expired contracts, deobligating those funds in accordance with applicable fiscal law and program requirements. This review was separate from PACT, and HHS also remains on pace to complete 5,782 contract closeouts during the fiscal year.

Why This Separate Review Adds to the Broader Savings Picture

Conducting this Undelivered Orders review as a distinct workstream from PACT demonstrates that HHS is pursuing acquisition efficiency through multiple parallel initiatives simultaneously, rather than consolidating all its cost-saving efforts under a single program alone.

What This HHS PACT Procurement Modernization Effort Means Going Forward

With OMAS now fully established across all HHS divisions and NIH’s transition to HCAS complete, other HHS divisions still in the process of migrating their acquisition activity to the shared platform will likely face similar timelines and implementation challenges as NIH navigated during its own transition. Given that these milestones advance HHS’s Agency Priority Goal for fiscal years 2026 and 2027 to modernize and centralize procurement, the department’s continued progress on this front will likely remain a recurring benchmark HHS reports against in future budget and performance disclosures.

What to Watch Going Forward

As HHS continues expanding operations supported by OMAS and assessing additional areas of common spending for consolidation, industry observers and government efficiency advocates will likely watch whether the department’s fiscal year 2026 efforts produce measurable additional savings comparable to the $16 billion generated in fiscal year 2025. Given the department’s stated plans to develop enterprise contracting vehicles for recurring needs and strengthen oversight of expired contracts and outstanding obligations, this HHS PACT procurement modernization effort may serve as a model other federal agencies reference as they pursue similar procurement consolidation mandates under the same executive order.

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Written by

The DistilINFO Editorial Team covers healthcare payer, provider, government health, life sciences and health AI news for more than 135,000 industry decision makers. Since 2016, DistilINFO has published daily briefings that summarize the developments that matter most to health plans, health systems and the organizations that serve them. Our stories are based on primary sources, including press releases, regulatory filings, CMS and HHS announcements, and peer-reviewed research, which we cite and link in every article. Questions or corrections: digital@distilinfo.com.

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