Business
WellPoint unveils contest parameters
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 27, 2009
The first draft of rules and guidelines for the $10 million Healthcare X Prize competition, first announced in October 2008, have been posted for public comment, and the competition could start in earnest by the end of the year.
The competition is sponsored by the WellPoint Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Indianapolis-based, for-profit Blues plan owner.
Draft guidelines call for a public health initiative that can spur a 50% improvement in health value in a community of 10,000 people over three years, as measured by an index of health metrics such as hospitalizations, emergency department visits, community fitness levels and health-related absences from work and school.
The proposed competition rules are online (link).
Organizers expect the final design to be set in June and the competition launched by the end of 2009.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/04/27/bibf0427.htm.
