[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 73 (Tuesday, April 16, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22548-22550]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-08821]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Announcement of Requirements and Registration for ``Apps4Tots
Health Challenge''
Authority: 15 U.S.C. 3719.
AGENCY: Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information
Technology, HHS.
Award Approving Official: Farzad Mostashari, National Coordinator
for Health Information Technology.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: As part of the Department of Health and Human Services digital
services strategy, the Health Resources and Services Administration
(HRSA), the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information
Technology (ONC), and Healthdata.gov are joining forces in an attempt
to leverage two key assets recently made available to the public. The
Apps4TotsHealth Challenge is a call for developers, researchers, and
other innovators to make use of the Healthdata.gov data API and
integrate the TXT4Tots message library into a new or existing platform.
TXT4Tots is a library of short, evidence-based messages focused on
nutrition and physical activity. The library is targeted to parents and
caregivers of children, ages 1-5 years, and is available in English and
Spanish. Content for the messages was derived from American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) Bright Futures: Guidelines for Health Supervision of
Infants, Children and Adolescents, which uses a developmentally based
approach to address children's health needs in the context of family
and community.
Healthdata.gov (www.healthdata.gov) is the Department's open data
catalog, housing metadata records on close to 400 HHS datasets.
Recently, Healthdata.gov has enabled a publicly-accessible data
application programming interface (API) that allows programmatic access
to the TXT4Tots message library.
The statutory authority for this challenge competition is Section
105 of the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010 (Public L. No
111-358).
DATES:
Submission period begins: April 11, 2013.
Submission period ends: May 20, 2013.
Winners announced: Health Datapalooza, June 3-4, 2013.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Adam Wong, 202-720-2866.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Subject of Challenge Competition
The Apps4TotsHealth Challenge is a call for developers,
researchers, and other innovators to make use of the Healthdata.gov
data API and integrate the TXT4Tots message library into a new or
existing platform. The intent of the challenge is two-fold:
1. Showcase the use of the new data API on Healthdata.gov.
2. Incorporate the TXT4Tots message library into a new or existing
platform.
It is important to note that stand-alone applications that only use
the TXT4Tots message library will not be sufficient to qualify for an
award. An app that asks for the child's birth date and begins texting
the parents based on the age of the child would not be innovative.
Instead, we are looking to you to use the TXT4Tots library content as
part of a larger application, where these messages will augment
existing content and provide for a richer application as a result.
[[Page 22549]]
Instructions for how to use the Healthdata.gov data API can be
found at http://healthdata.gov/data-api.
The application submitted must:
Demonstrate use of the Healthdata.gov data API to
integrate the TXT4Tots message library into an existing platform or new
platform aimed at providing interactions between the data source and an
existing function.
Demonstrate the use of the information to augment
messaging aimed toward consumer or health care providers.
The content may be integrated into an existing web,
mobile, voice, electronic health record, or other platform for
supporting interactions of the content provided with other
capabilities. Examples include query-based prompts that generate
messages using the library, visualization methods that graphically
display messages, delivery of information with other platforms with
calendar functions, and uses of gaming approaches aimed at enhancing
consumer actions directed from the text library, among others.
Demonstrate creative user interfaces that optimize the
user's understanding of the messages and ease-of-use of the
applications.
Demonstrate means by which services of the native
application are enhanced by the integration of the new content.
To be eligible to receive a prize, Solvers must submit (1) the
functioning application, or directions to access it, and (2) a
PowerPoint slide deck, of no more than seven slides, that describes how
the application addresses the requirements above.
Eligibility Rules for Participating in the Competition
To be eligible to win a prize under this challenge, an individual
or entity--
(1) Shall have registered to participate in the competition under
the rules promulgated by the Office of the National Coordinator for
Health Information Technology.
(2) Shall have complied with all the requirements under this
section.
(3) In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and
maintain a primary place of business in the United States, and in the
case of an individual, whether participating singly or in a group,
shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the United States.
(4) May not be a Federal entity or Federal employee acting within
the scope of their employment.
(5) Shall not be an HHS employee working on their applications or
submissions during assigned duty hours.
(6) Shall not be an employee of Office of the National Coordinator
for Health IT.
(7) Federal grantees may not use Federal funds to develop COMPETES
Act challenge applications unless consistent with the purpose of their
grant award.
(8) Federal contractors may not use Federal funds from a contract
to develop COMPETES Act challenge applications or to fund efforts in
support of a COMPETES Act challenge submission.
An individual or entity shall not be deemed ineligible because the
individual or entity used Federal facilities or consulted with Federal
employees during a competition if the facilities and employees are made
available to all individuals and entities participating in the
competition on an equitable basis.
Entrants must agree to assume any and all risks and waive claims
against the Federal Government and its related entities, except in the
case of willful misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of
property, revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or
consequential, arising from my participation in this prize contest,
whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or
otherwise.
Entrants must also agree to indemnify the Federal Government
against third party claims for damages arising from or related to
competition activities.
Registration Process for Participants
To register for this Challenge, participants can access either the
http://www.challenge.gov Web site or the ONC Investing in Innovation
Challenge Web site at http://www.health2con.com/devchallenge/challenges/onc-i2-challenges/.
Amount of the Prize
Total: $25,000 in prizes.
First Place: $17,500.
Second Place: $5,000.
Third Place: $2,500.
Honorable Mention (no monetary award) for best not-yet-
available application.
Awards may be subject to Federal income taxes and HHS will comply
with IRS withholding and reporting requirements, where applicable.
Payment of the Prize
Prize will be paid by contractor.
Basis Upon Which Winner Will Be Selected
The review panel will make selections based upon the following
criteria:
Application usability and intuitive user interface--25%.
Application completeness--25%.
Creativity in solving specific health problem(s)--25%.
Innovative integration into a larger platform (new or
existing)--25%.
In order for an entry to be eligible to win this Challenge, it must
meet the following requirements:
1. General--Contestants must provide continuous access to the tool,
a detailed description of the tool, instructions on how to install and
operate the tool, and system requirements required to run the tool
(collectively, ``Submission'').
2. Acceptable platforms--The tool must be designed for use with
existing web, mobile, voice, electronic health record, or other
platform for supporting interactions of the content provided with other
capabilities.
3. Section 508 Compliance--Contestants must acknowledge that they
understand that, as a pre-requisite to any subsequent acquisition by
FAR contract or other method, they may be required to make their
proposed solution compliant with Section 508 accessibility and
usability requirements at their own expense. Any electronic information
technology that is ultimately obtained by HHS for its use, development,
or maintenance must meet Section 508 accessibility and usability
standards. Past experience has demonstrated that it can be costly for
solution-providers to ``retrofit'' solutions if remediation is later
needed. The HHS Section 508 Evaluation Product Assessment Template,
available at http://www.hhs.gov/od/vendors/index.html, provides a
useful roadmap for developers to review. It is a simple, web-based
checklist utilized by HHS officials to allow vendors to document how
their products do or do not meet the various Section 508 requirements.
4. No HHS, ONC, or HRSA logo--The app must not use HHS', ONC's, or
HRSA's logos or official seals in the Submission, and must not claim
endorsement.
5. Functionality/Accuracy--A Submission may be disqualified if the
software application fails to function as expressed in the description
provided by the user, or if the software application provides
inaccurate or incomplete information.
6. Security--Submissions must be free of malware. Contestant agrees
that ONC may conduct testing on the app to determine whether malware or
other security threats may be present. ONC may disqualify the app if,
in ONC's judgment, the app may damage government or others' equipment
or operating environment.
[[Page 22550]]
Additional Information
General Conditions: ONC reserves the right to cancel, suspend, and/
or modify the Contest, or any part of it, for any reason, at ONC's sole
discretion. Participation in this Contest constitutes a contestant's
full and unconditional agreement to abide by the Contest's Official
Rules found at www.challenge.gov.
Privacy Policy: ChallengePost collects personal information from
you when you register on Challenge.gov. The information collected is
subject to the ChallengePost privacy policy located at
www.challengepost.com/privacy.
Ownership of intellectual property is determined by the following:
Each entrant retains title and full ownership in and to
their submission. Entrants expressly reserve all intellectual property
rights not expressly granted under the Challenge agreement.
By participating in the Challenge, each entrant hereby
irrevocably grants to Sponsor and Administrator a limited, non-
exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license and right to reproduce,
publically perform, publically display, and use the Submission to the
extent necessary to administer the Challenge, and to publically perform
and publically display the Submission, including, without limitation,
for advertising and promotional purposes relating to the Challenge.
Dated: April 8, 2013.
Farzad Mostashari,
National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
[FR Doc. 2013-08821 Filed 4-15-13; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4150-45-P