NCI – The Health Care Blog

ONC Invests in Innovation Challenges

Sep 14, 2011• 1

By Matthew Holt

Health 2.0 is thrilled to announce that we are launching two challenges as part of the official kick-off of the Investing in Innovation (i2) program. Over the next 2 years the ONC will be issuing nearly $2 million in prize money for numerous challenges all designed to inspire innovation in health information technology. Along with our colleagues at Capital Consulting Corporation, Health 2.0 is the contractor supporting this effort. We started with a joint NCI/ONC effort which is already underway, but now the first two challenges are live. And they are:

Reporting Device Adverse Events Challenge ONC is asking 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. This challenge has $40,000 in total prizes
Ensuring Safe Transitions from Hospital to Home Challenge. ONC is challenging software developers to improve care transitions and build upon these tools by generating an intuitive and easy-to-use application to empower patients and caregivers that fits into existing ways that providers communicate. This challenge also has $40,000 in total prizes.

These are both critical parts of health care where new innovation can make a big difference–and developers can win a substantial prize to get them on their way.

ONC and NCI Partner to Launch Exciting New Challenge

Jul 21, 2011• 1

By Jean-Luc Neptune, Health 2.0 Developer Challenge

Health 2.0, in conjunction with the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), is excited to launch a new innovation competition sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI): “Using Public Data for Cancer Prevention and Control: From Innovation to Impact.”

This highly innovative effort is presented as part of the ONC’s Investing in Innovations (“i2”) Initiative, and is being managed by Health 2.0 through the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge program. Teams are asked to develop an application that has the potential to integrate with existing health information technology platforms and addresses targets at one or more points on the cancer control continuum, using public data that are relevant to cancer prevention and control.

Teams are required to address challenges faced by consumers, clinicians, or researchers on the continuum of cancer control. Suggested targets include promoting healthy behaviors (e.g., nutrition, physical activity, smoking cessation), early detection and screening, informed decision-making, and adherence to treatment plans.

This is a two-phase challenge. Submissions for Phase I are due August 26, 2011, and will be judged on their use of cancer-related data, as well as potential for impact, innovation, and usability. Finalists from Phase I will receive a $10,000 award at a major health IT conference in September 2011. In Phase II, up to two winning teams from the slate of finalists will each receive a $20,000 award at an international system sciences conference in January 2012.

NCI’s Abdul Shaikh on Challenge for Enabling Community Use of Data for Cancer Prevention and Control

Oct 21, 2010• 2

Indu Subaiya, Director of the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge interviews Abdul Shaikh, Program Director for National Cancer Institute's Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch at NIH about the National Cancer Institute's inspiration in putting together the Enabling Community of Data for Cancer Prevention and Control challenge. Abdul talks about NCI's support of data mash-ups and visualizations related to cancer prevention and the need to create tools for both consumers and policy makers to utilize their data to drive behavior change, and draws inspiration from Hans Rosling's TED talk in 2006.

Interview with Abdul Shaikh