Rep. Lee Praises HHS App Challenge
Contact Katherine Jolly (510) 763-0370
Health IT Initiative Aimed at Reducing Cancer Among Women of Color reflects key provisions of Tri-Caucus Health Equity and Accountability Act
Oakland, CA – Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the Reducing Cancer Among Women of Color App Challenge, an initiative to motivate entrepreneurs to create a mobile device application to help underserved and minority women combat and prevent cancer. Yesterday, the department also announced that it will begin a push to implement electronic health records across the country, leading to greater coordination, fewer errors and less duplication throughout our healthcare system.
In her role as the Chair of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus’s (CAPAC) Healthcare Taskforce, Congresswoman Lee led the efforts to write the provisions into the Health Equity and Accountability Act which make this challenge possible and builds upon the Affordable Care Act.
“Today’s health IT announcement is a welcome step forward in our collective mission to reduce and eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities that persists in communities of color in the Bay Area and across the country,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Health Care Taskforce Chair, CAPAC. “Cancer, among other health conditions, remains widespread among women of color. I am optimistic that Bay Area business and health leaders will draw on the regions strengths in IT and community health services to lead new innovations and achieve health equity for all.”
"We in the health center community warmly welcome this exciting announcement from HHS," stated Jeff Caballero, executive director of the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations. "This new smartphone application is another innovative tool that builds on the many opportunities within the Affordable Care Act to promote and educate communities of color about the importance of preventive care services that can save lives."
Background:
The announcements from HHS followed months of advocacy by the Congressional Tri-Caucus to implement Health IT challenge grants designed to address racial and ethnic health disparities. In September 2011, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-9), CAPAC’s Healthcare Taskforce Chair, introduced H.R. 2954, the Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2011 on behalf of the Tri-Caucus. CAPAC Executive Board Member Senator Daniel K. Akaka introduced a companion bill, S. 2474 in the Senate this Spring. During CAPAC’s meeting with President Obama last year, the President agreed to implementing provisions of the bill administratively, including efforts to improve outreach and adoption of Health IT resources in minority communities.
This challenge is being issued by the HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH). The Challenge calls for the creation of applications for mobile devices that can help minority women and their health care providers fight and prevent cancer, addressing factors that contribute to health disparities among racial and ethnic minorities.
The challenge being issued today is a multidisciplinary call to software application innovators and developers to create an app that provides information directly to women at a high risk of breast, cervical, uterine and ovarian cancers or women who already have been diagnosed with these cancers. The app must be able to communicate with electronic health records used by their health care providers and other members of their health care teams, and protect patient privacy.
The winning app will:
- Provide users with general, accessible information about preventive and screening services for breast and gynecologic cancers – in different languages and in culturally appropriate contexts;
- Communicate with patient health records or provider-sponsored patient portals in a secure way that protects patient privacy and that will provide specific reminders and trigger electronic health record-based clinical decision support about preventive services;
- Support the secure storage, viewing, and the exchange of complex patient care plans in a way that protects patient privacy while strengthening communications between a patient’s care team that may be located across a large geographic area, such as a local clinician being able to work with a regional cancer center in a major metropolitan area; and
- Support patient engagement and caregiver support by helping patients and their caregivers keep track of complex care plans with a particular emphasis on connections to community health workers, such as promotores de salud.
The Reducing Cancer Among Women of Color App Challenge is a partnership between ONC and the HHS Office of Minority Health. The app challenge is also part of ONC’s Investing in Innovation (i2) Initiative, which holds competitions to accelerate development and adoption of technology solutions that enhance quality and outcomes.
The winning app will be judged on its effectiveness in providing relevant and compelling content that can be acted upon by the target audience.
The first place winner will receive $85,000. The second place prize will be $10,000 and third prize will be $5,000.
More information about the challenge can be found at http://challenge.gov/ONC/402-reducing-cancer-among-women-of-color.
###
Follow Barbara Lee on Twitter@RepBarbaraLee