Apelon
Apelon is a private, employee-owned healthcare terminology solutions company that provides open-source DTS terminology server software, mapping tools, and consulting services to government agencies, health information exchanges, EMR vendors, and research institutions for clinical data standardization and interoperability.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1984
- HeadquartersHartford, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Apelon does
Apelon is a private, employee-owned healthcare terminology solutions company founded in 1984 (originally as Lexical Technology) and headquartered in Hingham, Massachusetts. The company specializes in designing, building, and deploying clinical terminologies for public and private healthcare organizations, with a particular focus on enabling semantic interoperability across health IT systems. Its core technology is the open-source Distributed Terminology System (DTS), an enterprise-grade terminology server that manages standard and local terminologies (including SNOMED CT, LOINC, ICD-10, RxNorm, and over 70 total standard vocabularies) with FHIR-native terminology service support, role-based access control, versioning, and Java/.NET/REST APIs. The platform is complemented by TermManager, a web-based terminology mapping tool, and TermWorks, a spreadsheet add-in for terminology mapping workflows within Excel.
Apelon generates revenue through a hybrid model combining recurring software support and content subscriptions with professional services such as training, implementation, data modeling, terminology mapping, and customization — the professional services line has reportedly grown to exceed the recurring base. The company follows a "Red Hat"-style open-source commercialization model with annual enterprise subscription pricing. Its go-to-market is primarily direct enterprise and government field sales, supported by deep engagement at healthcare informatics conferences (HIMSS, AMIA, HL7, ISO, IHTSDO, OpenHIE) and channel partnerships with Clinical Architecture and OpenHIE. Customer segments include terminology developers, health information exchanges, federal and international government agencies, system integrators, EMR vendors, measure stewards (e.g., NCQA for HEDIS), and research institutions, with notable anchor relationships including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and NCQA. The company operates with 51–100 employees, most of whom work remotely.
Apelon firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Apelon
- Legal name
- Apelon, Inc.
- Website
- https://apelon.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1984
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Apelon is a private, employee-owned healthcare terminology solutions company that provides open-source DTS terminology server software, mapping tools, and consulting services to government agencies, health information exchanges, EMR vendors, and research institutions for clinical data standardization and interoperability.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Apelon industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Healthcare Informatics Software
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Health Services (8000)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Healthcare Terminology, Ontology & Code Set Management (SNOMED/LOINC/ICD/RxNorm) (HLACAIAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Terminology Services & Semantic Interoperability (SNOMED/LOINC/RxNorm mapping) (HLACABAJ), FHIR/HL7 Data Repositories & Canonical Data Models (HLACAIAI)
Keywords
Where Apelon is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Hartford
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Apelon business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Software Support Services: Software income follows the 'red hat' model with revenue derived from support services and content subscriptions for DTS and terminology tools.
- Content Subscriptions: Subscription service providing access to standard terminology content releases including SNOMED CT, LOINC, ICD-10, RxNorm, and over 45 other terminologies in standard and custom formats.
- Professional Services: Consulting services including training, advice, technical services, data modeling, data mappings, implementation support, and content/software customization. Professional services revenue has grown to exceed the recurring base.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Custom enterprise pricing based on organizational needs |
| Subscription | Monthly | TermWorks subscription options |
| Subscription | Monthly | TermManager subscription options |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Apelon product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Apelon designs, builds, and deploys clinical terminology management software and services for healthcare organizations. Its flagship DTS (Distributed Terminology System) is an open-source enterprise terminology server that manages standard and local clinical vocabularies (SNOMED CT, LOINC, ICD-10, RxNorm, CPT, and 70+ others) and exposes FHIR terminology services, complemented by TermManager (web-based mapping tool), TermWorks (Excel add-in), professional consulting, and a content subscription library.
Product overview
Apelon provides a modular clinical terminology software suite centered around its open-source DTS (Distributed Terminology System) platform. The core offering consists of DTS as the enterprise terminology server, complemented by TermManager (web-based mapping tool) and TermWorks (spreadsheet add-in) for terminology mapping workflows. DTS Editor provides the desktop client interface, while DTS Browser offers a lightweight web option. The platform is extensible through numerous plug-in modules including Import/Export tools, TQL Editor, Grid Editor, Template Editor, Graphic Viewer, and User Manager. All products focus on managing and standardizing clinical terminologies like SNOMED CT, LOINC, ICD-10, and RxNorm for healthcare interoperability.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- DTS (Distributed Terminology System): Apelon's flagship open-source enterprise terminology server for managing standard and local terminologies, with FHIR-native terminology service support.
- TermManager
- TermWorks
Products and services
- DTS (Distributed Terminology System) Apelon's flagship open-source enterprise terminology server that manages standard and local clinical terminologies in a single platform. Provides FHIR terminology service endpoints, Java/.NET/REST APIs, version control, role-based access, and direct integration into larger eHealth solutions for healthcare organizations, government agencies, and EMR vendors.
- TermManager Web-based terminology mapping tool that enables users to map local terms to national standards such as SNOMED CT, LOINC, ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, and RadLex. Includes multi-user workflow options and flexible output formats for healthcare data teams running terminology mapping projects.
- TermWorks Spreadsheet add-in (Excel) that maps local terms to national standards such as SNOMED CT, LOINC, ICD-10-CM, ICD-10-PCS, and RadLex using advanced lexical and semantic matching techniques. Enables terminology standardization without requiring a separate database installation.
- DTS Editor Desktop client application for DTS providing comprehensive terminology management including namespace editing, subset creation, concept authoring, and user management with role-based access control.
- DTS Browser Lightweight web-based JSF/RichFaces browser for searching and browsing DTS terminologies without requiring desktop installation.
- Consulting Services Professional services spanning data governance, standards implementation, terminology mapping, and OMOP-based analytics. Includes training, advice, technical services, data modeling, data mappings, implementation support, and content/software customization for healthcare organizations.
- Content Subscription Subscription service providing access to standard terminology content releases including SNOMED CT, LOINC, ICD-10, RxNorm, and over 45 other terminologies in standard and custom formats.
Quantifiable outcome
- DTS 4.8 supports Windows Server 2019, MySQL 8, SQL Server 2019, JBoss EAP 7.4, WildFly 23 for enterprise deployment flexibility
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Apelon
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments7 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Apelon technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature6 records
Apelon partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and strategic.
- Team Prometheus Federal Services (PFS)coreApelon selected as team member on Team Prometheus Federal Services for the Department of Veterans Affairs Integrated Healthcare Transformation (IHT) 2.0 contract. PFS is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business Joint Venture managing the Titan Alpha Joint Venture with Atlas Research LLC. Apelon contributes in Standards & Interoperability (4S) and Terminology (4X) categories, maintaining and evolving VA's national terminology infrastructure.
- Clinical ArchitecturecorePartnered with Clinical Architecture to support very large scale deployments of the DTS terminology platform, extending implementation capabilities for enterprise-level healthcare organizations.
- OpenHIE (Open Health Information Exchange)strategicApelon actively supports OpenHIE, an initiative focused on low-resource settings and developing country healthcare information exchange, aligning with global health data interoperability goals.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Apelon competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- SNOMED International: The international standards body that owns SNOMED CT and increasingly offers tooling, value sets, and content services. While not a pure commercial competitor, its expanding tooling and member-driven content efforts overlap with the standards-management layer Apelon commercializes.
- Solventum (formerly 3M Health Information Systems): Large incumbent in medical coding, terminology, and clinical documentation improvement (CDI). Offers terminology and value-set management capabilities as part of a broader portfolio that competes with Apelon for payer, provider, and government health-IT spend.
- Oracle Health (Cerner): Major EHR vendor embedding terminology services into its Millennium platform and increasingly positioning native semantic infrastructure. Competes with Apelon indirectly by absorbing terminology management into the EHR stack, particularly for Cerner-installed provider and federal customers.
- Regenstrief Institute: Steward of LOINC and a major player in healthcare terminology standards. Regenstrief develops terminology infrastructure and tooling used by hospitals, laboratories, and EHRs, making it an overlapping authority and infrastructure competitor in the terminology ecosystem.
- Optum (UnitedHealth Group): Broad healthcare technology, analytics, and services incumbent with significant terminology, coding, and clinical data normalization capabilities serving payers, providers, and government. Its scale and embedded customer relationships make it a structural competitor for terminology and interoperability contracts.
- Epic Systems: Dominant US EHR vendor that maintains its own terminology and value-set infrastructure (including the open-source Hermes terminology server) and partners with terminology content providers. Its bundled semantic capabilities limit the standalone terminology server opportunity for Apelon at Epic-installed sites.
Direct peers
- Clinical Architecture: Direct competitor in healthcare terminology management, offering terminology server, mapping, and content solutions to large health systems. Also a partner to Apelon for very large-scale DTS deployments, illustrating the overlap between partnership and competition in the terminology server market.
- Wolters Kluwer Health Language: Direct competitor offering a terminology management platform (Health Language) that aggregates, maps, and updates standard terminologies (SNOMED CT, LOINC, ICD, RxNorm). Targets the same provider, payer, and HIE customers as Apelon for terminology normalization and interoperability.
- Intelligent Medical Objects (IMO): Direct competitor focused on clinical terminology, mapping, and provider-friendly terminology content integrated into major EHRs. IMO's terminology mapping and code-set management products directly overlap with Apelon's TermManager and DTS offerings for provider and health-system customers.
Emerging players
- CareCom: European-based terminology management vendor offering terminology tooling and master data management for SNOMED CT and other standards. Competes with Apelon on terminology server functionality, particularly for HIE and government customers outside the US.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Apelon social profiles
Digital presenceApelon financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Apelon leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Apelon funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Apelon M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Apelon
What does Apelon do?
Apelon designs, builds, and deploys clinical terminology management software and services for healthcare organizations. Its flagship DTS (Distributed Terminology System) is an open-source enterprise terminology server that manages standard and local clinical vocabularies (SNOMED CT, LOINC, ICD-10, RxNorm, CPT, and 70+ others) and exposes FHIR terminology services, complemented by TermManager (web-based mapping tool), TermWorks (Excel add-in), professional consulting, and a content subscription library.
Is Apelon a public or private company?
Apelon is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.
When was Apelon founded?
Apelon was founded in 1984. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Apelon based?
Apelon is headquartered in Hartford, United States, in the North America region.
How does Apelon make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Software Support Services are the primary driver. The others are content Subscriptions and professional Services.
Who are Apelon's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are SNOMED International, Solventum (formerly 3M Health Information Systems), Oracle Health (Cerner), Regenstrief Institute, Optum (UnitedHealth Group) and Epic Systems. Direct peers are Clinical Architecture, Wolters Kluwer Health Language and Intelligent Medical Objects (IMO). CareCom is listed as an emerging player.
Does Apelon have an API?
Yes. DTS provides Java and .NET Web Services APIs, REST APIs, and built-in FHIR Terminology Service endpoints for integration with health IT applications. The SOAP-based web services API allows integration with web-based applications. The API is backwards-compatible with existing DTS applications. Developers can also create custom plug-ins for DTS using the Module Framework. Developer documentation is at apelon.com/dts-documentation.
What industry is Apelon in?
Apelon's product category is Healthcare Informatics Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLACAIAF, Healthcare Terminology, Ontology & Code Set Management (SNOMED/LOINC/ICD/RxNorm), with a secondary code of HLACABAJ, Terminology Services & Semantic Interoperability (SNOMED/LOINC/RxNorm mapping). Its NAICS code is 54151 and its SIC code is 7372.