We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Merck | Heritage Provider Network Innovation Challenge, presenting awards of $240,000 in non-dilutive capital to the teams who create the best solutions for care plan adherence.
The challenge calls on innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, designers, and patients to submit concepts for products/services/solutions to enhance patient engagement and adherence to provider-recommended care plans, and ultimately to improve the quality of life for patients with heart disease and/or diabetes. Entrants will be competing for a chance at non-dilutive cash prizes (total prize purse of $240,000, winner takes home $140,000 total), industry-leading mentorship, an invitation to attend an in-person design boot camp facilitated by a faculty of experts, and the opportunity to engage with end users in a mini-pilot exercise.
As upcoming regulatory shifts place patients at the center of disease management, there is increasing demand for innovative solutions that facilitate patient collaboration and engagement, and address current gaps in patient care. Create a new solution for these issues that helps patients adhere to their care plans in the Merck | Heritage Provider Network Innovation Challenge.
This is the second challenge in The Health Data Challenge Series, a formal program of the Health Data Consortium and powered by Luminary Labs, with the end goal of helping private, non-profit, and government organizations apply the best practices of the leading tech incubators and accelerators to identify the most innovative uses of data to improve health or healthcare.
Submitted concepts should focus on human-centric design to achieve health and wellness, draw on rich data sets to understand real-life behaviors of patients, and leverage the patient ecosystem to create novel but highly functional methods for personalized support.
The Challenge is officially open for submissions as of 8:00 AM EST on October 15, 2013 and will accept submissions through November 10, 2013 at 11:59 PM EST. Visit the Challenge site to access background information and open data sets, view the challenge criteria, and, of course, to submit a concept for consideration.
Why are care plans the focus of this Challenge?
With new Meaningful Use Stage 2 Objectives set to go into effect in 2014, healthcare providers are increasingly incentivized to develop comprehensive care plans around healthy behaviors, medication management, lifestyle modifications, and other factors for patients with chronic and/or complex conditions including heart disease and diabetes. While the concept of a care plan is not new, care plans have typically been static and impersonal, serving the purpose of uniting multiple care providers around common goals rather than engaging patients in disease management efforts. From the patient perspective, a care plan’s list of conditions, medications, goals, and recommendations can appear confusing and daunting. In particular, the emphasis on “longitudinal care plans” mandated by new regulations suggests and invites the development of related solutions to increase patient engagement and improve adherence to provider-recommended care plans.
Submit your concept to the challenge.
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