[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