The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)’s Choosing Care Challenge supports unique technology solutions to enhance patient decision-making. Specifically, the goal of the Challenge is to improve patient follow-through on recommendations made during a doctor’s appointment, whether that be medicine, testing, or seeing a specialist. RWJF is looking for mobile or web applications to assist patients with the following:

• Comparing the cost and local availability of prescriptions based on their insurance coverage
• Finding labs and imaging centers based on location and insurance coverage; and
• Obtaining referrals to specialists based on location and insurance coverage.

The Challenge will be held in two phases, with Phase I requiring a 500-word description of your idea and a mockup of the design. This “concept development” phase is due March 13, 2017.  Five finalists will then be selected to receive $5,000 and participate in Phase II. Phase II will require development of your proposed tool, which must be fully functional by the “breakthrough” phase due date of June 19, 2017. Three prizes are available, with the first place winner receiving $50,000, second place receiving $15,000, and third place receiving $10,000.

Now, how cool is that? If you’re a tech guru, your patient-friendly application could be sitting on mobile devices right next to consumers’ Facebook icon by 2018…ready, set, design! Pre-registration is mandatory and can be completed here.