Boston Children's Hospital CHIP

What Boston Children's Hospital CHIP does

Boston Children's Hospital CHIP (Computational Health Informatics Program) is a non-profit academic research program founded in 1994 and embedded within Boston Children's Hospital, a teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School. The program operates at the intersection of medicine, computer science, AI, data science, epidemiology, genomics, and health policy, serving healthcare providers, academic research institutions, public health agencies, and federal regulators. CHIP's stated mission is to reshape medicine through computation, AI, and biomedical informatics, maintaining what it describes as the innovation layer between computational research and care delivery at Boston Children's Hospital.

CHIP's core technological contributions are open standards-based health IT platforms and AI/ML tools. The SMART Health IT Platform includes SMART on FHIR, Bulk FHIR Access API, and CDS Hooks specifications that have become foundational to health data interoperability and are mandated under the 21st Century Cures Act, with six federal rules reflecting CHIP's work. SMART Health Cards have been incorporated directly into Apple iOS and adopted by 23 state health departments. The Apache cTAKES open-source clinical NLP system is the first and only top-level Apache Software Foundation biomedical informatics software. Additional product portfolio includes HealthMap (infectious disease surveillance reaching 200M+ patients via SMART on FHIR), VaccineFinder (partnered with Google, CDC, Apple Maps, Facebook, Amazon Alexa), Cumulus (federally funded data federation platform via ARPA-H), Genomic Information Commons (multi-institutional federated genomic data across 6 children's hospitals), PrecisionLink Biobank, and AI diagnostic tools including AI-ECG, AI-EFM, and TRIPOD-LLM reporting standards.

CHIP's business model is structured entirely around federal and institutional funding rather than commercial product sales. Revenue streams include federal research grants from NIH, CDC, FDA, ONC, ARPA-H, NSF, and PCORI; institutional funding from Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; and foundation grants including NICHD training grants. The program operates as a community-led academic organization with a go-to-market motion centered on scientific publishing, open-source software distribution, conference presentations, and direct regulatory engagement. Training programs include postdoctoral fellowships ($70,000-$95,000 annual stipends) and summer internships. CHIP faculty have long served as advisors to the White House, Congress, and major technology and pharmaceutical companies, with alumni holding leadership positions at Google, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, and major pharmaceutical companies.

Name

Boston Children's Hospital CHIP

Legal name

Boston Children's Hospital

Website

https://chip.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Computational Health Informatics Program (CHIP) at Boston Children's Hospital is a non-profit academic research program founded in 1994 that develops open health IT standards, AI/ML tools, and federated data platforms serving healthcare providers, public health agencies, and federal regulators.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

East Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Federal Research Grants: Primary funding from federal agencies including NIH, CDC, FDA, ONC, ARPA-H, NSF, and PCORI for specific research programs and infrastructure development
2. Institutional Funding: Funding from Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School as an embedded research program
3. Foundation Grants: Support from foundations and research fellowships including NICHD training grants

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CHIP is an academic research program that develops open standards, open-source software platforms, and AI/ML tools for health data interoperability, clinical decision support, public health surveillance, and biomedical informatics. Its portfolio includes the SMART on FHIR API ecosystem, Apache cTAKES clinical NLP, HealthMap disease surveillance, VaccineFinder, the Genomic Information Commons, and predictive analytics tools such as AI-ECG and POPP. The program also runs NIH-funded postdoctoral training and summer internship programs in computational health informatics.

Product overview

The Computational Health Informatics Program (CHIP) at Boston Children's Hospital offers a portfolio of open-source platforms, standards, and AI-powered tools rather than a single commercial product. Core offerings include SMART Health IT (SMART on FHIR API, Bulk FHIR, CDS Hooks, SMART Health Cards) for health data interoperability, and HealthMap/VaccineFinder for public health surveillance. CHIP's AI portfolio spans predictive analytics (Intelligent Histories, suicide/psychosis prediction, POPP), clinical NLP (Apache cTAKES, THYME, DeepPhe), and generative AI via LLMs integrated with FHIR infrastructure. The Genomic Information Commons and PrecisionLink Biobank support multi-institutional genomic research. Cumulus enables federated data federation across healthcare systems. These open-source tools and platforms are deployed at 800+ health systems reaching 200+ million patients, with SMART Health Cards adopted by Apple, Microsoft, Epic, and 23+ state health departments.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SMART Health IT: Open standards and API platform for health data interoperability, including SMART on FHIR and SMART Health Cards
• HealthMap
• PrecisionLink Biobank
• VaccineFinder
• Genomic Information Commons

Products and services

• SMART Health IT Platform
• SMART Health Cards
• HealthMap
• VaccineFinder
• Cumulus
• Apache cTAKES
• Genomic Information Commons (GIC)
• PrecisionLink Biobank
• POPP (Prediction of Patient Placement)
• AI-ECG
• AI-EFM
• 4CE Consortium
• Outbreaks Near Me
• Intelligent Histories
• Suicide Prediction Models
• TRIPOD-LLM
• CARRA Data Warehouse
• Postdoctoral Training in AI and Genomics
• Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Interpretable and Fair ML for Clinical Decision Support
• CHIP Summer Internship in Computational Health Informatics and AI

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 200 million patients enabled to access medical records on their phones via SMART on FHIR
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration26 records

AI capability11 records

Feature17 records

Partnerships

24 partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• ARPA-H (Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHIP is described as a core driver of the newly announced ARPA-H. CHIP is leading a team to instrument multiple care delivery systems at scale to provide rapid and accurate detection of adverse drug events in electronic health record data using AI/NLP and bulk FHIR APIs. This is part of the ARPA-H Biomedical Data Fabric (BDF) Toolbox effort aimed at democratizing access to biomedical data and creating an ecosystem of open-source tools.
• Genomic Information Commons (GIC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMulti-institutional federated genomic data commons connecting Boston Children's Hospital, Cincinnati Children's, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Washington University at St. Louis, UPMC, and Le Bonheur Children's Hospital. Partially funded by NCATS. World's first query portal providing uniform interface for retrieving genomic, phenotypic, and biospecimen metadata.
• SMART Health IT ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOpen standards initiative advancing medicine, discovery and public health through parsimonious open standards and APIs. CHIP developed SMART on FHIR which has enabled over 200 million patients to access medical records on phones. Over 800 health systems connected via SMART on FHIR.
• Genomic Research and Innovation Network (GRIN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFederated data-sharing network developed in partnership with academic medical institutions for sharing genomic, phenotypic, and biospecimen data across broadly consented cohorts.
• Massachusetts Department of Public HealthmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for developing AEGIS, one of the first web-based biosurveillance systems deployed across numerous hospitals for public health monitoring.
• CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerVaccineFinder collaboration with CDC to provide accurate vaccination location information. HealthMap Flu Trends provided to CDC as national surveillance data source. Cumulus implemented with public health departments as part of CDC Data Modernization Initiative.
• FDA (Food and Drug Administration)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHIP collaborated with FDA on expanding HL7 FHIR to support post-marketing research and surveillance within multi-source chronic disease registries, focusing on FDA 21 CFR 11-compliant workflows.
• ONC/ASTP (Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHIP contributed technical expertise to inform final rulemaking process led by ONC, ensuring Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability (HTI-1) rule reflected both patient needs and practical realities of health information exchange.
• i2b2 International Academic Users GroupmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHIP faculty developed original SHRINE software and leads i2b2 international academics users group. i2b2 powers 4CE international consortium for COVID-19 EHR data-driven studies.
• CARRA (Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHIP leads informatics efforts for CARRA Registry, a central data repository for 75+ site longitudinal studies of children with pediatric-onset rheumatic conditions. Boston Children's maintains data use agreements with over 75 major academic medical centers.
• GooglemajorTechnology or IntegrationGoogle granted HealthMap team access to Google Search API for modeling flu trends. Google Maps displays COVID-19 vaccination locations from VaccineFinder. Google Trends data used in HealthMap Flu Trends ensemble approach.
• FacebookmajorTechnology or IntegrationFacebook partnered with VaccineFinder to connect users to COVID-19 vaccines through Facebook and Instagram platforms.
• AmazonmajorTechnology or IntegrationAmazon's Alexa is powered by data from VaccineFinder for helping users find COVID-19 vaccination locations.
• ApplecoreTechnology or IntegrationApple incorporated SMART Health Cards directly into iOS and connected via SMART on FHIR to Apple Health app, enabling patients to access medical records on iPhone and iPad. Health Records on iPhone feature developed with guidance from former CHIP faculty.
• EpiccoreTechnology or IntegrationMajor EHR vendor that has adopted SMART Health Cards for enabling patients to access their health records. Epic initially opposed data-sharing rules but ultimately adopted SMART/FHIR standards.
• MicrosoftmajorTechnology or IntegrationMicrosoft adopted SMART Health Cards for COVID-19 vaccine credentials. Microsoft for Healthcare Innovation Award given to POPP project in 2019.
• OraclemajorTechnology or IntegrationOracle adopted SMART Health Cards for COVID-19 vaccine credential verification.
• Mayo ClinicmajorTechnology or IntegrationMayo Clinic adopted SMART Health Cards for COVID-19 vaccine credential verification.
• 23 State Health DepartmentscoreTechnology or IntegrationState health departments provisioning SMART Health Cards to millions of Americans, including New York (Excelsior Pass Plus), California, Hawaii, and Louisiana.
• White House and CongresscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLargest information technology companies, major pharmaceutical companies, the White House, Congress, and many federal agencies have long sought guidance and input from CHIP faculty on health data policy and technology.
• NIH Bridge to Artificial IntelligencemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHIP team working on AI-Readiness for Biomedical Data: Genomic Standards as part of NIH-funded Bridge2AI program advancing biomedical data to support AI/ML analysis.
• AI Institute for Societal Decision MakingmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHIP researcher co-leading AI Deployment project on Dynamic and Equitable Resource Allocation to enable public health officials to allocate resources equitably under evolving demands.
• NIH AIM-AHEADmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHIP faculty directs NIH AIM-AHEAD Research Fellowship program engaging early-career researchers from under-represented populations in biomedical research using AI/ML methodologies on EHR data.
• Uppsala UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCHIP Director Ken Mandl hosting author talk with Dr. Charlotte Blease, Associate Professor at Uppsala University, on her book about AI in healthcare.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Stanford Center for Biomedical Informatics Research (BMIR): Stanford's BMIR focuses on biomedical informatics, AI, and genomics within a major academic medical center. Comparable academic research program working on EHR-based AI and biomedical data science.
• HL7 / FHIR Foundation: Standards body overseeing the FHIR specification that CHIP's SMART on FHIR extends. Directly comparable as a community-driven standards organization influencing health data interoperability.
• Columbia Department of Biomedical Informatics: Academic biomedical informatics department with parallel research in clinical NLP, EHR phenotyping, and translational bioinformatics at a major U.S. medical center.
• i2b2 (Informatics for Integrating Biology & the Bedside): NIH-funded academic platform for clinical research data queries; CHIP faculty developed SHRINE (the original federated query tool) on top of i2b2. Comparable federated clinical research infrastructure.
• Regenstrief Institute: Indiana-based health informatics research institute that originated HL7 and LOINC standards. Directly comparable as an academic research center shaping national health IT standards and data exchange.
• Vanderbilt Department of Biomedical Informatics: Academic biomedical informatics department with parallel focus on clinical NLP, EHR phenotyping, and AI for healthcare. Comparable as a leading academic research unit in the same field.

Broad incumbents

• Google Health / Verily: Alphabet subsidiaries applying AI to clinical decision support, genomics, and population health. Comparable as large-scale commercial health AI organizations, but operating commercially rather than academically.
• Epic Systems: Largest U.S. EHR vendor and adopter of SMART Health Cards/SMART on FHIR. Comparable as a major beneficiary and implementation partner of CHIP's standards, though operating commercially rather than as an academic research center.
• Tempus Labs: AI-driven precision medicine company focused on genomics and clinical data at scale. Comparable as a leader in AI for clinical decision support and multi-omics data, but commercial rather than academic.
• Microsoft Healthcare (Microsoft Research): Microsoft's health research arm and product teams apply AI to clinical workflows and genomics. Comparable as a large commercial entity developing health AI capabilities that build on FHIR standards.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/ChildrensHospital
• Facebookfacebook.com/BostonChildrensHospital
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bostonchip
• Instagraminstagram.com/bostonchildrens

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Boston Children's Hospital CHIP