Contest Challenges Technologists To Develop App for Collecting Patient-Reported Outcomes

A competition AHRQ launched this week invites technologists to compete for cash prizes for the development of an app capable of collecting standardized patient-reported outcomes (PRO) data in a range of settings, including primary and specialty care practices. The total prize pool for the three-phase AHRQ Step Up App Challenge is $250,000. PRO data report the status of a patient’s health condition and come directly from the patient, without interpretation of the patient’s response by a clinician or other medical expert. However, these data have not been collected and used routinely in practice in part because there is no standardized way to collect and integrate the information into health information technology systems. The winning app will be tested in nine practice settings affiliated with MedStar Health in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. In partnership with AHRQ, HHS' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation is providing financial support from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Trust Fund. The HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology is leading stakeholder efforts to develop the technical specifications for the challenge. For more information, access the AHRQ Step Up App Challenge Web page, AHRQ’s press release or a new AHRQ Views blog post by Director Gopal Khanna, M.B.A.