California-based integrated physicians group Heritage Provider Network (HPN), the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) and Open mHealth, a mobile health focused non-profit, have launched a mobile apps prize challenge that will reward mHealth startups with US$100,000.
The mHealth startups participating in the Heritage Open mHealth challenge will be judged on their innovative uses of the Open mHealth architecture and mobile applications to manage clinical conditions.
According to the three organisers of the challenge, whereas there exists thousands of mobile and Web applications for different health conditions, it is a challenge for a patient with multiple conditions to integrate these applications and gain the best help in managing their conditions.
“The goal of the Open mHealth architecture is to allow patients and clinicians to combine existing and emerging applications and devices to create integrated, personalised health solutions that enable improved disease management and better health outcomes,” the organisers said.
Teams therefore have 11 weeks to submit their entries, which will include a mobile app utilising the Open mHealth architecture and a link to an emulator or video of the app’s capabilities and functionality.
To qualify for participation, the team has to have a minimum of two people and a maximum of 10. To ensure the success of the projects, the organisers advise the teams to include at least one member with clinical expertise.
The submissions will be judged based on creativity and originality, usefulness, the impact the solution will have on the health of individuals or communities for the targeted health issue, accessibility to the potential users among other factors.
The award winnning ceremony will take place at the 2013 Health Datapalooza IV that is slated for June 3 to 4, 2013 in Washington, DC, where the finalists will pitch their applications.
