Challenges

Currently, commuting is an essential and growing component of daily life for most American workers, making up about 20% of all trips taken—a significant percentage of the lives of one of the most critical segments of the American economy. ONC is challenging innovators to propose models for improving the health of American commuters through better collection, exchange and analysis of health data.

• Total Prizes: Webinar and opportunities to collaborate with industry leaders
• Deadline: March 5, 2012

Sponsored by: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)

The disabled population faces considerable difficulties with accessing and receiving care and the lack of coordinated care for this population is particularly costly. Health information technology (HIT) and electronic health records (EHRs) hold great promise in improving the health outcomes and coordination of care for people with disabilities. Accessibility and usability in health IT are high priority issues for the disabled community. A consumer-oriented system providing easy-to-use access to health information would be a valuable tool and significantly improve the health of disabled individuals. ONC is challenging multidisciplinary teams to create and test a module or application that makes it easy for disabled consumers to access and interact with the health data stored in their EHRs.

• Total Prizes: $85,000 + extras
• Deadline: July 23, 2012

In order to support broader adoption and uptake of promising IT-enabled interventions that address care transitions, ONC is challenging software developers to create an easy-to-use web-based tool that will make post-discharge follow-up appointment scheduling a more effective and shared process for care providers, patients and caregivers.

• Total Prizes: $5,000 + extras
• Deadline: April 30, 2012

Sponsored by: US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT

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. Developers and public health experts are asked 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.

• Total Prizes: $15,000 + Demo Opportunity At National Conference
• Deadline: March 9, 2012

Sponsored by: ONC

popHealth is an open source software service developed under the guidance of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) that automates the reporting of the Stage 1 Meaningful Use clinical quality measures. The popHealth Tool Development Challenge tasks developers with creating applications that leverage the popHealth open source framework, existing functionality, standards, and sample datasets to improve patient care and provide greater insight into patient populations.

• Total Prizes: $100,000
• Deadline: January 20, 2012

Sponsored by: ONC

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in America. The goal of the Million Hearts initiative is to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes over five years by reducing the number of people who need treatment and improving the quality of treatment for those who do need it. This challenge is a multidisciplinary call to innovators and developers to create an application that activates and empowers patients to get healthy and improve their heart health.

• Total Prizes: $75,000
• Deadline: Competition Closed for Judging

Sponsored by: NCI and ONC

Entrants are asked to develop innovative software applications (apps) that address challenges faced by consumers, clinicians, or researchers at one or more points on the cancer control continuum. These apps should also use public data that are relevant to cancer prevention and control, and have the potential to integrate with existing technology platforms.

• Total Prizes: $80,000
• Deadline: Challenge Closed and Winners Announced

Sponsored by: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC)

Medical devices will play an increasingly large role in the monitoring and collecting of patient data with the spread of electronic health records. As patients take a more direct role in managing their health care, devices that are implanted or used in the hospital, clinic, or home must be easy to use and monitor. The reporting of adverse events related to these devices is a logical area to start. The “Reporting Device Adverse Events Challenge” asks multi-disciplinary teams to develop an application that facilitates the reporting of adverse events related to medical devices, whether implanted or used in the hospital, clinic, or home.

• Total Prizes: $40,000
• Deadline: February 3, 2012