Kno2 Taps CLEAR to Fortify National Health Network Identity

BOISE, Idaho – January 28, 2026 – In a significant move to bolster the security and efficiency of national healthcare data exchange, Kno2, a federally designated Qualified Health Information Network (QHIN), announced it is integrating CLEAR's secure identity platform, CLEAR1, into its core infrastructure. The initiative positions robust identity verification not as an add-on, but as a foundational utility for the thousands of healthcare organizations connected to its network, promising to streamline operations while raising the bar for data security.

The multi-phased rollout, which commenced this month, marks a critical step in addressing one of the most persistent challenges in digital health: proving that providers, organizations, and patients are who they claim to be. By embedding CLEAR1's technology, Kno2 aims to create a more trusted and scalable environment for the exchange of sensitive patient information.

A New Foundation for Trust in Healthcare Data

The integration arrives at a pivotal moment for the U.S. healthcare system. The industry is grappling with a dual mandate: increase the seamless flow of data to improve patient care while simultaneously defending against an onslaught of cyberattacks and fraud. The healthcare sector remains a prime target for data breaches, with millions of patient records compromised annually, leading to significant financial loss and a dangerous erosion of patient trust.

This initiative directly addresses the security framework laid out by federal interoperability mandates, most notably the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA). As one of the nation's first designated QHINs under TEFCA, Kno2 is contractually obligated to ensure a high level of security and trust among its participants. TEFCA requires identity proofing to a minimum of Identity Assurance Level 2 (IAL2), a standard that involves verifying strong identity evidence, such as a government-issued photo ID, and comparing it to the individual.

By building CLEAR1's capabilities into its network, Kno2 is embedding a solution designed to meet and exceed these rigorous standards from the ground up.

"Identity as part of our healthcare communication infrastructure is fundamental to functioning as a comprehensive network, including our participation as one of the nation's QHINs," said Therasa Bell, President and Cofounder of Kno2. "When identity is delivered as shared infrastructure, trust scales with the network."

Streamlining a Broken System

Beyond enhancing security, the partnership targets a major source of administrative friction and cost in healthcare: provider onboarding. For decades, the process of verifying and credentialing healthcare provider organizations has been notoriously slow, manual, and paper-intensive. These delays can stall revenue cycles, as an estimated 85% of claim denials are related to credentialing issues, and prevent providers from delivering patient care promptly.

The first phase of the Kno2 and CLEAR1 rollout focuses squarely on this problem. By integrating CLEAR1 into its Communication API, Kno2 will dramatically accelerate the verification of provider organizations joining its network. This allows for faster, easier onboarding without compromising the integrity of identity checks, ultimately benefiting both the provider and patient experience.

Furthermore, Kno2 is making this powerful identity capability available to its extensive network of electronic health record (EHR) and health IT partners as a white-label solution. This allows partners to offer secure, branded onboarding and administrator verification services directly within their own platforms. They gain the benefit of a sophisticated, compliant identity solution without incurring the immense cost and complexity of developing and maintaining one themselves, a process that can take months or years.

"As the industry moves toward more interoperable, data-driven care, strong identity assurance is essential to securing the exchange of sensitive clinical information," stated David Bardan, General Manager and Head of Healthcare at CLEAR. "By integrating CLEAR's reusable identity platform, Kno2 is raising the security baseline for every organization on its network and reducing the risk of unauthorized access."

A Strategic Play in the National Interoperability Game

This move solidifies Kno2's strategic position in the rapidly evolving health IT landscape. By tackling identity head-on, the company is not just adding a feature but is fortifying its role as a central pillar in the nation's interoperability infrastructure. The Identity and Access Management (IAM) market in healthcare is projected to surge from $1.63 billion in 2024 to over $4.26 billion by 2030, and Kno2 is positioning itself at the forefront of this growth.

The strategic vision extends well beyond the initial phase. Future rollouts planned for 2026 will expand CLEAR1's functionality across the ecosystem. This includes supporting Individual Access Service (IAS) technology providers, which are critical for empowering patients with control over their own health data, a key goal of TEFCA. It will also provide EHR vendors with a streamlined mechanism to verify providers for participation in major national initiatives, most notably the CMS National Directory of Healthcare Providers & Services.

The CMS National Directory is a federal effort to create a single, reliable source of provider information to support patients, payers, and other stakeholders. Accurate provider identity is the bedrock of such a directory, and Kno2's integration of CLEAR1 provides a ready-made solution for its partners to contribute verified data, ensuring compliance and enhancing the directory's utility.

Inside the Technology: How CLEAR1 Secures Identity

CLEAR, widely recognized for its biometric identity verification services at airports and stadiums, has adapted its technology for the stringent requirements of healthcare. The CLEAR1 platform is not reliant on a single piece of information but employs a multi-layered approach that combines hundreds of identity signals for high-assurance verification.

This process includes advanced biometric checks, such as facial recognition with liveness detection to prevent spoofing, which compares a user's real-time selfie to their government-issued ID. The platform also performs sophisticated document authentication to detect forgeries and validates personal information against trusted third-party data sources to prevent synthetic identity fraud.

This expertise has already been proven in the healthcare space, as CLEAR was previously selected to power secure digital identity for Medicare.gov. The core principle is the creation of a reusable digital identity; once a provider or administrator is verified, their trusted identity can be used seamlessly across different applications within the network, reducing repetitive verification steps while maintaining a high level of security. By integrating this proven technology, Kno2 is providing a powerful tool that enables secure, effortless, and trusted communication across the entire care continuum.