Prize Patrol Seeks Innovation

Got a blue-ribbon health IT idea? If so, prizes courtesy of the federal government could be in your future.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT isn't saying just what those prizes might be, but it has pumped nearly $5 million into its Investing in Innovations Initiative -- or i2 Initiative, for short. Competitions enable "rapid response to emerging issues that are difficult to address with more traditional funding approaches," ONC said this week in a news release announcing the program.

"The initiative demonstrates ONC's recognition of the importance of investing in innovations and provides a platform that will attract an expanded community of innovators to the full range of the agency's programs," says Dr. Farzad Mostashari, who heads ONC. He adds that "open collaboration" is one of the goals.

Capital Consulting Corporation and Health 2.0 will manage the program and analyze emerging innovations and trends, ONC says. Competition areas established so far include:

• Secure sharing of health information within social networks.
• Access to information to support decision-making.
• Maintaining connectivity during natural disasters and other emergencies.
• Customized privacy-protected health information exchanges.

The initiative also can help clear governmental barriers to innovation: "ONC recognizes that policies that do not appropriately anticipate technological change can jeopardize success by potentially limiting competition and setting in stone inferior technologies. Accurate and timely information from this phase of the initiative will enable the federal government to engage in methodical and strategic health IT policies."

The program is the first under the administration's America COMPETES Reauthorization Act, signed in January by President Barack Obama.