New AHRQ Competition Aimed at Understanding How Social Factors Impact Community Health Problems

Applications are being accepted now for a new AHRQ challenge competition to develop online tools that use free, publicly available “social determinants of health” data to better understand and predict communities’ unmet healthcare needs. The total prize pool for the Visualization Resources of Community-Level Social Determinants of Health Challenge is $220,000. Participants must develop visualization tools that draw upon information from at least three free, publicly available data sources, whether federal, state or local. Sources may include data from voice and digital assistance service lines, such as 911 emergency services, 311 community services, and 211 personal referrals for community services. The deadline for applications is May 27. To learn more, access the AHRQ press release about the challenge or register for a webinar on April 10 from 1 to 2 p.m. ET. This new challenge is the second in a series of AHRQ competitionsto encourage the development of innovative tools to tackle healthcare problems.