An independently reviewed mark for patient-centered technology and services

ICHOM Aligned recognizes companies that can show their products and practices put patient outcomes first. Applications are assessed against eight published principles, reviewed by ICHOM, and awarded by an oversight committee.

From stated intent to demonstrated practice

A published standard, an independent review, and a public registry.

Patient-centeredness has become a standard claim in healthcare technology and services. Almost every product and every implementation partner now describes itself in these terms, and buyers have little way to tell which claims are supported by evidence. Procurement teams discount all of them equally, and the organizations doing the substantial work receive no recognition for it.

ICHOM Aligned replaces the self-declaration with an assessment. A company applies for one named offering, answers eight principles drawn from more than a decade of working in patient-centered outcomes measurement, and supplies the evidence behind its answers. An ICHOM reviewer reads the application. A specialist committee made up of a patient representative, a practicing clinician, and an ICHOM leader decides every award.

Awarded marks are published in a public registry, valid for two years, and renewed only by a full re-application.

Two marks, one scale

The two marks describe the same eight principles at two levels of demonstration. Proven includes everything required for Committed, shown to be working in practice.

Committed

The foundations are in place. The company can name the outcomes that matter to the patients its offering serves, patients have a genuine say in what it builds, its public claims are supported, and its commercial model points toward patient benefit.

Proven

The same requirements, demonstrated. The offering is in production across customers, the evidence is published or independently verifiable, and there is a track record to demonstrate it has an intention to do so.

What makes the mark meaningful

Four things distinguish ICHOM Aligned from a self-assessment or a paid listing.

Reviewed, not purchased

Every application is read against published criteria by an ICHOM reviewer and agreed off by a three-person committee. The fee covers the review. It does not purchase an award.

Written for procurement

The eight principles come from ICHOM's work on patient-centered outcomes measurement and are phrased so questions buyers and procurement teams already ask of their suppliers.

Assessed on its own terms

An accessibility service and software, a clinical decision-support service and what they control. Where a principle does not apply to a business, a reasoned explanation is recorded for review.

An assessment either way

Every applicant receives a written record of where the offering stands and whether routes to the next mark, whether or not a mark is awarded.

The eight principles

Eight principles in four themes. Each is assessed at both marks, with a published bar for Committed and a higher bar for Proven. PRINCIPLE MARKED REQUIRED must be met by every applicant. Three of the eight at Committed, four at Proven. The remainder may be answered “does not fit”, with a reasoned explanation.

MEASURE WHAT MATTERS, AND GIVE IT BACK

Measure what matters to patients

Does the offering help the outcomes that matter to patients get measured, improved, or used — in whatever way fits the company's role?

Return results to patients

Do patients actually see the results that come from the work, even where there was no direct interaction?

GIVE PATIENTS A VOICE

Patients have a say in what you build

Do patients have a real say in how the offering is built and run — in the company's own products, or in its clients'?

BE HONEST AND OPEN

Back up your claims

When a benefit is advertised, can the company support it, and show it was delivered?

Share what you learn

Is the company willing to share how things are actually going, and not only curated results?

BE FAIR: ACCESS, DATA, AND MONEY

Accessible by design

Can the people who need to use the offering actually use it — across abilities, languages, and whatever else reasonably affects access?

Portable, interoperable data

Can data get in and out, and is it clear that the customer and the patient own it so that no one is locked in?

A fair commercial model

Does the way the company earns revenue align, at least in part, with patients doing better?

Who ICHOM Aligned is for

The mark is applied for by suppliers and used by the organizations that buy from them.

Health technology companies

Digital health products, devices, and data platforms seeking independent confirmation that outcomes measurement is built into what they sell.

Providers, payers, and procurement

Buyers who need a consistent way to separate supported claims from marketing language when evaluating and approving suppliers.

Patients and patient organizations

A published account of what patient-centered practice requires of a supplier, and a public registry of the companies that have demonstrated it.

BEFORE YOU APPLY

  • The assessment covers your business, not your clients. An applicant is judged on what it controls: its products, its practices, its contracts, and the way it actually pays.
  • A principle that genuinely does not fit can be set aside. A reasoned explanation is accepted as an answer for any principle other than the required ones.
  • A mark covers one named offering. Not the company as a whole, and not a client's service.
  • The fee depends on company size and the mark applied for. It is shown in full before submission, and payment does not purchase a mark.

AFTER YOU SUBMIT

ICHOM confirms the application is complete.

A reviewer reads it against the eight principles, judging the business on its own terms, and may ask follow-up questions.

The oversight committee — a patient representative, a clinician, and an ICHOM leader — signs off on the decision.

You receive the decision together with a written assessment of where the offering stands and what would take it to the next mark.

An awarded mark is valid for two years and listed in the public registry. Renewal is a full re-application at half the initial fee.

Applications are usually reviewed on a confidential basis. The registry entry is public; the company, its offering, the mark, and its expiry date.

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