Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicators App Challenge

Challenge Background

Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicators App Challenge Webinar Video 12.16.11

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT are challenging teams of developers and health professionals to co-design an application that will be used to help solve one or more of our Nation’s high-priority health problems.

The Leading Health Indicators are the nation’s critical health priorities and are part of the Healthy People 2020 initiative. The indicators will be used by policymakers and health professionals to track progress in local communities as they work toward meeting national health goals. For more information about the LHIs visit www.healthypeople.gov.

Challenge Description

Developers and public health experts are expected to co-design an application that makes the health indicators customizable and easy to use.

Successful applications will make it easy for users to use the Healthy People 2020 Leading Health Indicators (LHIs) and mash up data in meaningful ways. The app could include tools to help users integrate:

  • The LHIs health topic areas, measures and evidence based resources of interest
  • Community, county, state health status comparisons
  • Data from electronic health records to assist with case management
  • Real time communication tools to stay in touch with peers
  • Educational curriculums to teach health promotion and disease prevention
  • Related news, analyses, and blogs from outside resources
  • Related community level data, combining with the LHI data in innovative ways
  • Access to social media outlets and online networking communities

 

Co-Designing for the End User of the App

There are two steps to building an app for the Challenge.  The first is to select a “persona” or a specific user who might find your application useful and design with that person’s needs in mind. The second - the co-design step – is for developers to team-up with a field expert who will help strategize the application’s design and subsequent realization.

1)    Selecting a “persona”.  How can your app make a difference? This matrix provides numerous combinations of potential brainstorming scenarios that might help you get started. To implement your initiative, you must  select determinants for each of the following: a person, place and a Leading Health Indicator. .

For example: You might create an app for. . .

  • … a firefighter (person) who wants to work with a community center (place) teaching people of all ages about dangers of second hand smoke (Leading Health Indicator) [it also relates to accidental fires in the home]. . . or. . .
  • …a dentist (person) who wants to work in nursing homes (place) to improve oral health (Leading Health Indicator) or senior citizens. . .or. . .
  • an exercisetherapist (person) who wants to work with workplaces (place) to meet physical activity guidelines (leading health indicator).

2)    Finding an expert in the field for co-design.  How can you get your app to make a difference? The possibilities are endless.  Now that you  know the type of app you want to build, decide what your app will do.  Pair up with an expert and co-design the app to solve a problem or revolutionize the way that work is done.

For example: You might work with …

  • Maurice, a social worker who sees the unmet prevention needs of his clients every day. He wants to partner with a developer to design a tool that connects his clients with appropriate preventive services closest to them and tracks their progress from arranging the first visit and all follow up visits required to complete the assessment. He wants it to include appropriate metrics for tracking and reporting the use of preventive services for these clients.
  • Alison, a primary care physician who recognizes that a population health approach can improve care for her patients, by grouping patients according to risk factors and providing them with evidence based interventions.  She would like to partner with a developer to design a population healthcare toolkit to help her launch a new kind of practice, including a protocol checklist and a set of the most relevant Leading Health Indicators to track outcomes for her population and record them in her electronic health record.
  • Sue, a university professor who is frustrated with the lack of real world public health stories to complement her academic curriculum. She would like to partner with a developer to design an interactive curriculum application to integrate into public health courses. The curriculum would capture multimedia case studies from community organizations that are successfully using evidence based interventions and one or more of the Leading Health Indicators to track and report their progress. Her students could access the case studies from their cell phones.

If you are a developer and you have an initiative you want to pursue, reach out to experts to turn your idea into a reality.

If you are an expert in need of an app, reach out to developers and designers to turn your idea into a reality.

Evaluation Criteria

  • Easy Access – The solution provides stakeholders with easy access to comprehensive suite of information resources to maximize their success in achieving the objectives of their choice
  • Platform Neutrality – The solution is platform neutral and can be accessed by simple web browser and/or mobile device
  • User Appeal – The solution has the potential to engage users, including those who may be on the front lines of prevention but are not web savvy
  • Innovation of Design – The solution is original, creative, and empowering
  • Broad applicability – The solution has potential for expansion and reuse
  • Integration of Health Data – The solution has multiple data sets
  • Evidence of Co-design and Collaboration – The solution has been thoughtfully designed with public health or health care subject matter experts
  • Narrative - In addition to submitting either a clickable demo or a working prototype, applicants should submit a narrative explaining how the app is intended to work and outlining plans for a fully developed product. Teams may include any other details that relate to the evaluation criteria and their application. Narratives may be entered as word documents, PDFs, or PowerPoint slides
  • Bonus Points:

Submission Criteria

  • A registration button and related link for the challenge can be found at the top of the right hand column of this page. Teams are asked to register to help Health 2.0 and the challenge sponsor anticipate resources needed to manage the project.
  • Registered teams may receive updates from Health 2.0 and the Sponsor during the submission period that provide useful information with regards to the competition.
  • There are no additional forms or steps required after submission of the registration form. Instructions on how to submit an entry will be sent prior to the close of the submission deadline. Teams are not bound or limited by the proposal description submitted in the registration form and may update or modify their projects as needed prior to final submission.

Timeline

  • Submission Period Begins: October 31, 2011 12:00AM EST
  • Submission period Ends: March 9, 2012 11:59PM EST
  • Evaluation Period Begins: March 12, 2012 12:00AM EST
  • Evaluation Period Ends: March 30, 2012 11:59PM EST
  • Winners Announced: April 10, 2012 6:00 PM EST, 2012 National Health Promotion Summit Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington DC

Terms & Conditions

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