The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) has launched a cash contest to devise the best consumer applications to help prevent and control cancer.
Like the similar Health 2.0 “REACH Challenge,” the competition hopes to attract multidisciplinary teams to create apps that address a specific health priority, in this case the priorities of the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS). These include behavior risk reduction for prevention, survivorship (e.g., nutrition, physical activity, smoking cessation), early detection and screening, informed decision-making, and adherence to treatment regimens.
The contest will run through Aug. 26, with the finalists to be selected on Nov. 18. The two finalist development teams will receive $20,000 each, and the four semi-finalists will get $10,000 each.
The National Cancer Institute’s public databases will be available to the entrants, as well as cancer-related data sets from other agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Most of the applicable datasets are from consumer surveys used in population research, including the California Health Interview Survey, the National Health Interview Survey, and the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
