COLUMBIA, SC — Companion Data Services (CDS) proudly announces that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has awarded the company the Strategic Partners Acquisition Readiness Contract (SPARC) Continuously Available CMS Hosting Environment (CACHE) Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Task Order.

Under this contract, CDS will provide strategic, technical and program management guidance, as well as IT support services to aid in modernizing CMS business processes and supporting systems. The program aims to enhance IT infrastructure using on-premises and hybrid cloud technologies.

This award marks the culmination of CDS’s continued exceptional service delivery to CMS, involving the establishment and operation of the CACHE Disaster-Recovery as a Service (DRaaS) and IaaS environments at data centers in Ashburn, Virginia, and Kent, Washington.

Lola Jordan, president of CDS, credits the company’s focus on its clients’ goals for the contract’s success.

“Our strategic focus on the customer experience has allowed us to work as a trusted technology solution partner with the largest health agency in the United States,“ said Jordan. “CDS is excited to bring our expertise to support other prospective agency customers on their journey towards IT transformation.“

About Companion Data Services

CDS, a Celerian Group company, is a leading provider of secure and innovative health care IT solutions. It offers secure health care development, managed IT, cloud and hosting services in multiple geographically dispersed data centers for the federal, state, and commercial markets. CDS and its parent company provide services for the CMS, TRICARE, the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program, Medicare Advantage health plans, and other private health plans. The company is headquartered in Columbia, South Carolina, with offices in Dallas, Texas, and State College, Pennsylvania.

About the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

CMS is a federal agency in the US Department of Health and Human Services that administers the Medicare program and works in partnership with state governments to administer Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and health insurance portability standards.

CMS’ other responsibilities include:

• The administrative simplification standards from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996.
• Quality standards in long-term care facilities (nursing homes) through the survey and certification process.
• Clinical laboratory quality standards under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments.