What Healthcare Industry Resilience Collaborative does

Healthcare Industry Resilience Collaborative (HIRC) is a Minneapolis-based non-profit collaborative founded in 2019 that operates as the de facto standards body for healthcare supply chain resilience, transparency, and partnership. The organization administers a tiered Resiliency Badge program (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond) evaluated across seven supply chain domains — demand planning, supplier management, inventory management, logistics, supply chain visibility, risk management, and operational health — alongside a parallel Transparency Badge program and member-driven Member Choice Awards. HIRC convenes a multi-stakeholder governance ecosystem of healthcare providers, medical supply manufacturers, group purchasing organizations (GPOs), and industry partners, with named participants including Cleveland Clinic, CommonSpirit Health, BJC Health, Bon Secours Mercy Health, and Cardinal Health. Certification milestones include Pfizer as the first pharmaceutical Diamond recipient (2024) and BD as the first MedTech Diamond recipient (2025).

Name

Healthcare Industry Resilience Collaborative

Website

https://hircstrong.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

HIRC is a non-profit healthcare supply chain standards body that administers tiered Resiliency and Transparency badge programs across seven resilience domains, convening providers, suppliers, and GPOs around common evaluation criteria.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Supply Chain Standards and Certification

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), All Other Support Services (561990)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

FHIR/HL7 Data Repositories & Canonical Data Models (HLACAIAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Interoperability Standards, Profiles & Implementation (HL7/FHIR/IHE) (HLACABAA), HIE Platforms & Network Services (Community/Regional/National) (HLACABAB)

Keywords

• Healthcare supply chain standards
• Supply chain resilience
• Healthcare certification programs
• Supplier transparency badges
• Supply assurance

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: HIRC operates as a membership-based organization where healthcare providers, suppliers, and GPOs join to participate in standards development, access certification programs, and benefit from supply chain evaluation resources. Revenue is generated through member participation and badge certification fees.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

HIRC develops and administers healthcare supply chain resilience standards and certification programs for healthcare providers, medical supply manufacturers, and group purchasing organizations (GPOs). Its core offerings are the tiered HIRC Resiliency Badge (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond) and the HIRC Transparency Badge, which certify suppliers against seven standardized supply chain resilience domains and recognize standardized enterprise-level transparency disclosures. HIRC also operates the Member Choice Awards program and provides governance frameworks, decision signals, and an item-level data normalization initiative (in partnership with Symmetric Health Solutions) that supports over 1,200 hospitals in operationalizing UDI data.

Product overview

HIRC operates as a healthcare supply chain standards and certification organization, not a traditional software product company. Its offerings consist of industry certification programs including the Resiliency Badge (with tiered levels: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond) and the Transparency Badge, which recognize supplier excellence in supply chain practices. Additionally, HIRC administers the Member Choice Awards program that acknowledges suppliers demonstrating excellence in transparency, resiliency, and partnership. These credentials and recognition programs are governed through HIRC's member community and supported by standards, decision signals, and implementation resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• HIRC Resiliency Badge Tiered supplier certification program (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Diamond) awarded by HIRC to medical supply manufacturers and MedTech companies that demonstrate measurable resiliency and transparency across seven healthcare supply chain resilience domains: demand planning, supplier management, inventory management, logistics, supply chain visibility, risk management, and operational health. It is the highest supplier recognition in HIRC's program and serves as a recognized industry credential used by healthcare providers and GPOs in supplier evaluation.
• HIRC Transparency Badge
• Member Choice Awards

Quantifiable outcome

• Supports over 1,200 hospitals in normalizing item masters and operationalizing UDI data
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Symmetric Health SolutionscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 February 2025Strategic partnership to address fragmented item-level product data in healthcare supply chains. The collaboration aims to improve procurement accuracy, validated substitution at point of care, and end-to-end automation by leveraging Symmetric's nightly-refreshed catalog of tens of millions of item records. Symmetric provides HIRC members with no-cost data assessments, a supplier working group, and support over 1,200 hospitals in normalizing item masters and operationalizing UDI data.
• BJC HealthcoreOthersParticipating member in HIRC, contributing to standards governance and utilizing HIRC certification programs for supply assurance.
• Bon Secours Mercy HealthcoreOthersParticipating member utilizing HIRC standards for supply chain transparency and resilience evaluation.
• Cardinal HealthcoreOthersParticipating member and GPO leveraging HIRC standards for supplier evaluation and decision-making.
• Cleveland CliniccoreOthersParticipating member utilizing HIRC certification and transparency standards for supply chain assurance.
• CommonSpirit HealthcoreOthersParticipating member contributing to standards governance and supply assurance initiatives.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• GS1 Healthcare: GS1 is the global standards organization for supply chain identification (barcodes, GTINs, GLNs) used heavily in healthcare. HIRC's item-level data normalization and UDI work directly intersects with GS1's data standards, making GS1 a comparable standards-body peer.
• Healthcare Distribution Alliance (HDA): HDA is the national trade association representing pharmaceutical distributors. It establishes industry guidelines and standards for healthcare distribution, comparable to HIRC's supply chain resilience and transparency standards.
• Association for Health Care Resource & Materials Management (AHRMM): AHRMM is the leading membership group for healthcare supply chain professionals, providing education, standards, and resources. It overlaps with HIRC's provider-focused supply assurance mission.
• Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA): HSCA represents GPOs operating in the healthcare supply chain and advocates for standards and best practices. It serves a similar governance and standards-setting role as HIRC across the GPO ecosystem.

Emerging players

• ECRI Institute: ECRI is an independent nonprofit that researches healthcare quality, safety, and supply chain risks, publishing supplier evaluations and patient safety alerts. It overlaps with HIRC in providing trusted third-party supplier intelligence to providers.
• Symmetric Health Solutions: Symmetric Health Solutions normalizes UDI and item-level healthcare data and is HIRC's strategic partner. It is a directly adjacent data infrastructure provider enabling HIRC's certification and item-level data programs.

Broad incumbents

• Premier Inc. Premier is one of the largest US GPOs and a healthcare improvement company with proprietary supplier evaluation and performance benchmarking tools. As an HIRC member, it is a comparable broad incumbent shaping supply chain standards.
• Vizient: Vizient is a major healthcare performance improvement company and GPO offering supplier evaluation, analytics, and contracting services. It represents a broader commercial incumbent in the supplier assessment space.

Others

• FDA UDI Program: The FDA's Unique Device Identification (UDI) system mandates device labeling and data standards in healthcare supply chains. HIRC's UDI operationalization work is directly tied to this regulatory framework, making it a key ecosystem participant.
• ISO (International Organization for Standardization): ISO develops international standards across industries, including supply chain management standards (e.g., ISO 28000). As a global standards body, ISO represents the broader ecosystem of certification frameworks HIRC aligns with and competes against for credibility.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/healthcare-industry-resilience-collaborative

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Healthcare Industry Resilience Collaborative