What CARIN Alliance does

CARIN Alliance is a non-partisan, multi-sector healthcare alliance founded in May 2016 by David Blumenthal, David Brailer, Aneesh Chopra, and Leavitt Partners to advance consumer-directed exchange of health information. Headquartered in Washington, D.C. and administered by Leavitt Partners (Salt Lake City, UT), the alliance convenes over 60 member organizations across consumers, providers, payers, health IT companies, and government observers — including Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, UnitedHealthcare, Humana, CVS Health, BCBSA, Centene, and HL7 — to develop open technical standards and a trust framework for consumer-facing digital health applications.

CARIN's core product is a portfolio of HL7 FHIR-based Implementation Guides (the CARIN IG for Blue Button with 240+ claim data elements, the Digital Insurance Card IG, and the Real-Time Pharmacy Benefit Check IG) and the CARIN Code of Conduct for Consumer-Facing Applications, now in its third version. These assets are freely distributed and have been recommended as best practices by ONC, CMS, and the TEFCA Recognized Coordinating Entity. The alliance operates the consumer-facing directory MyHealthApplication.com (40+ attested apps) and the CARIN-CFA Accreditation Program administered by DirectTrust, which CMS recognized in February 2026 as an approved pathway for the Medicare App Library.

CARIN is a non-profit and does not sell commercial products. Its operating model is funded through voluntary membership dues, in-kind contributions from member organizations, and grant support (including a $200,000 NCPDP Foundation grant in June 2025). The alliance employs 1-10 people and operates entirely through standards publication, public comment, community convenings, and policy advocacy rather than a sales motion.

Name

CARIN Alliance

Legal name

CARIN Alliance

Website

https://carinalliance.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

CARIN Alliance is a non-profit, multi-sector healthcare alliance that develops open HL7 FHIR implementation guides and a Code of Conduct to enable consumers and caregivers to access, use, and share their digital health information across providers, payers, and applications.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Interoperability Standards

NAICS

Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

akta.pro primary industry

Interoperability Standards, Profiles & Implementation (HL7/FHIR/IHE) (HLACABAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

FHIR/HL7 Data Repositories & Canonical Data Models (HLACAIAI), Payer-Provider Data Exchange (X12, prior auth, claims/clinical attachment) (HLACABAK)

Keywords

• Health interoperability standards
• HL7 FHIR implementation guides
• Consumer health data exchange
• Healthcare API standards
• Digital health code of conduct

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Alliance Membership: CARIN Alliance operates as a non-profit multi-sector alliance. Revenue appears to come from membership dues and participation fees, though specific amounts are not disclosed. The alliance is administered by Leavitt Partners, LLC.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

CARIN Alliance develops and promotes open HL7 FHIR-based implementation guides, the CARIN Code of Conduct for Consumer-Facing Applications, and a third-party accreditation program that enable consumers to access, aggregate, and share digital health information across providers and payers. Its work products include the CARIN IG for Blue Button (240+ payer claim data elements), the Digital Insurance Card IG, the Real-Time Pharmacy Benefit Check IG, and MyHealthApplication.com — a consumer-facing directory of applications that attest to the Code of Conduct.

Product overview

CARIN Alliance is a multi-sector healthcare alliance that develops open technical standards, codes of conduct, and implementation guides for consumer-directed health information exchange. The core offering is the CARIN Code of Conduct for Consumer-Facing Applications (now in its third version), which has been recommended by ONC, CMS, and recognized by CMS as a pathway for the Medicare App Library. Complementing this are technical Implementation Guides including the CARIN IG for Blue Button (enabling access to 240+ payer claim data elements via FHIR), the Digital Insurance Card IG, and the Real-Time Pharmacy Benefit Check IG. The alliance also maintains MyHealthApplication.com, a consumer-facing portal for discovering trusted apps that attest to the Code of Conduct, and offers an accreditation program through DirectTrust for third-party validation of compliance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• MyHealthApplication.com: A vendor and platform agnostic website to help consumers select a healthcare application of their choice to aggregate their clinical, coverage, and payment information.

Products and services

• CARIN Code of Conduct for Consumer-Facing Applications A multi-sector consensus code of conduct outlining how consumer-facing applications not covered by HIPAA should use, manage, and exchange personally identifiable health information, based on FIP, GDPR, and CCPA principles. Recommended as a best practice by ONC, CMS, and the TEFCA Recognized Coordinating Entity; now in its third version.
• CARIN IG for Blue Button (Consumer Directed Payer Data Exchange) An HL7 FHIR-based implementation guide that includes 240+ claim data elements (the Common Payer Consumer Data Set or CPCDS) mapped to FHIR resources, enabling consumers to access their claims information through applications of their choice via payer APIs.
• CARIN Digital Insurance Card Implementation Guide

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 40 consumer-facing health applications listed on MyHealthApplication.com have attested to the CARIN Code of Conduct
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature8 records

Partnerships

26 partnerships are on record, tiered core, key board member, key alliance member, government partner, alliance member, administrative partner and affiliated alliance.

• Digital Medicine Society (DiMe)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2026DiMe and CARIN Alliance are collaborating with CMS to develop criteria for which healthcare apps meet security and trustworthiness standards for inclusion in the Medicare app library.
• DirectTrustcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 October 2022DirectTrust and CARIN Alliance collaborate on the CARIN-CFA Accreditation Program administered by DirectTrust, providing independent third-party validation that consumer-facing apps meet transparent privacy, security, and data use standards. In February 2026, CMS recognized this accreditation as an approved pathway for participation in the Medicare App Library.
• Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEHNAC partnered with CARIN Alliance in October 2022 to create the CARIN Code of Conduct Accreditation Program (CCCAP) for evaluating consumer-facing health applications.
• CarequalitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCARIN Alliance collaborates with Carequality on advancing consumer-directed exchange, leveraging Carequality's national interoperability framework to enable third-party applications to connect with various data holders via a single trusted on-ramp.
• HL7 InternationalcoreTechnology or IntegrationCARIN is a proud member of the HL7 community contributing to health care standards including FHIR implementation guides. CARIN implementation guides are hosted on HL7 FHIR infrastructure and tested at HL7 Connectathons.
• Applekey board memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerApple serves as a Board Member of CARIN Alliance, contributing to the development of consumer-directed exchange standards and working on health data interoperability through Apple Health.
• Microsoftkey board memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerMicrosoft serves as a Board Member of CARIN Alliance, contributing cloud for healthcare and interoperability expertise to advance consumer-directed exchange.
• Amazon Healthkey alliance memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmazon participates as an Alliance Member contributing to CARIN's interoperability initiatives and health technology ecosystem development.
• Google Healthkey alliance memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerGoogle participates as an Alliance Member contributing expertise in health data standards and consumer health applications.
• Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA)key alliance memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerBCBSA participates as an Alliance Member, representing major Blue Cross Blue Shield health plans in implementing CARIN Blue Button and consumer-directed payer data exchange.
• United Healthcarekey alliance memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerUnited Healthcare participates as an Alliance Member contributing to implementation of patient access APIs and CARIN interoperability standards.
• Humanakey alliance memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerHumana participates as an Alliance Member contributing to consumer-directed exchange and health data interoperability initiatives.
• CVS Healthkey alliance memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerCVS Health participates as an Alliance Member contributing to pharmacy benefit and consumer health data initiatives.
• Centenekey alliance memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerCentene participates as an Alliance Member contributing to Medicaid and government health plan interoperability.
• The Argonaut Project / HL7key board memberStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Argonaut Project serves as a Board Member, focused on advancing FHIR-based interoperability and consumer access to health data.
• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)government partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerCMS is a consulted government agency and key stakeholder. CMS recognizes CARIN-CFA Accreditation as an approved pathway for the Medicare App Library and has incorporated CARIN implementation guides into regulations.
• Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC)government partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerONC is a consulted government agency that has recommended the CARIN Code of Conduct as a best practice. ONC staff have engaged with CARIN on TEFCA IAS SOP feedback and other interoperability initiatives.
• Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)government partnerStrategic or Co-development PartnerHHS is a consulted government agency. The Digital Identity federation proof of concept was conducted with HHS, ONC, and CMS as government observers.
• CLEARalliance memberTechnology or IntegrationCLEAR participates as an Alliance Member providing digital identity verification technology for healthcare applications.
• ID.mealliance memberTechnology or IntegrationID.me participates as an Alliance Member contributing digital identity and authentication capabilities for consumer health applications.
• 1upHealthalliance memberTechnology or Integration1upHealth participates as an Alliance Member providing FHIR API platform and health data aggregation services.
• b.well Connected Healthalliance memberTechnology or Integrationb.well Connected Health serves as a Board Member and Alliance Member providing consumer health platform and data aggregation solutions.
• Flexpaalliance memberTechnology or IntegrationFlexpa participates as an Alliance Member and co-hosts the State of the CMS Patient Access API webinar series with CARIN.
• Leavitt Partnersadministrative partnerImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerLeavitt Partners, LLC serves as the administrative entity for CARIN Alliance, providing management, policy expertise, and operational support. Ryan Howells of Leavitt Partners leads CARIN initiatives.
• HIMSSaffiliated allianceStrategic or Co-development PartnerHIMSS is an affiliated alliance collaborating on health IT standards and interoperability initiatives.
• The Pew Charitable Trustsaffiliated allianceStrategic or Co-development PartnerPew Charitable Trusts is an affiliated alliance working on health data interoperability and consumer access issues.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• CommonWell Health Alliance: Non-profit alliance focused on nationwide health data interoperability via a network of EHR vendors. Like CARIN, it is a multi-stakeholder alliance developing infrastructure for cross-organization health information exchange, though CommonWell is more provider-centric while CARIN focuses on consumer-directed exchange.
• The Sequoia Project: Non-profit that serves as the Recognized Coordinating Entity (RCE) for TEFCA. CARIN has cited TEFCA RCE recommendations of its Code of Conduct; both organizations operate as interoperability governance bodies shaping federal health IT policy and standards.
• Carequality: Interoperability framework enabling health information exchange between networks. CARIN explicitly collaborates with Carequality to enable consumer-directed exchange through a trusted on-ramp, making it a direct peer in interoperability governance.
• DirectTrust: Non-profit industry alliance that administers the CARIN-CFA Accreditation Program under partnership. DirectTrust provides accreditation, trust frameworks, and identity services for healthcare - directly comparable as a non-profit standards/accreditation body in the same ecosystem.
• Argonaut Project: HL7-backed initiative accelerating FHIR-based API development. A CARIN board member, the Argonaut Project is a direct peer focused on FHIR implementation guides, though it covers broader provider-facing use cases.
• EHNAC: Non-profit standards development and accreditation organization for healthcare. EHNAC partnered with CARIN in 2022 to create the original CARIN Code of Conduct Accreditation Program (CCCAP) - a direct peer in healthcare accreditation.

Broad incumbents

• HL7 International: The parent standards body for FHIR. CARIN develops HL7 FHIR implementation guides hosted on HL7 infrastructure; HL7 is the broader incumbent whose standards CARIN operationalizes for the consumer-directed exchange use case.

Emerging players

• SMART Health IT: Boston Children's Hospital spin-out advancing FHIR-based apps and interoperability for consumer health. Comparable to CARIN as a developer of FHIR app standards and consumer-facing health application frameworks.
• Digital Medicine Society (DiMe): Non-profit advancing digital health through evidence-based standards. DiMe is collaborating with CARIN and CMS on Medicare App Library criteria - comparable as a partner organization building trust and quality frameworks for consumer health apps.

Others

• HIMSS: Global non-profit advisor and thought leader in health IT. HIMSS is an affiliated alliance of CARIN, comparable as a large-scale health IT advocacy and education organization, though with broader scope including conferences and professional certification.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/carinalliance?lang=en
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@carinalliance
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/carinalliance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about CARIN Alliance