Transforming raw Electronic Health Information (EHI) into actionable insights for patients and clinicians.
Join the $490,000 EHIgnite Challenge.
Since December 2023, health IT developers have been required to export EHI, but “computable” doesn’t always mean “usable.” Raw exports are often overwhelming and difficult to integrate.
Develop tools, platforms, and workflows that transform raw EHI into usable, readable, and actionable information that supports clinical care, patient engagement, and informed decision-making.
Enable patients to ask questions about their health data and receive understandable responses.
Build tools that allow customized queries and organization by relevant domains.
Allow and enhance integration of exports from multiple places of care.
Enhance easier and more streamlined sharing of information for insurance coverage.
Have a better idea? Propose it.
This webinar provides a comprehensive breakdown of the EHIgnite Challenge’s objective, background, submission guidelines, multi-phase prize structure, evaluation criteria, and competition eligibility rules. The webinar also features a live Q&A answering attendees questions.
Phase 1
Phase 1 Launch – February 17, 2026
Phase 1 Close:
May 13, 2026
Phase 1 Winners Announcement: June 22, 2026
Submit proposal, design narrative, and wireframes.
Winners invited to Phase 2.
Up to 9 Winners
( $10,000 each)
Phase 2
Phase 2 Launch Summer 2026
Phase 2 Close: Spring 2027
Phase 1 winners develop and test proposed solution.
Phase 2 Judging Begins
1st: $250,000
2nd Place: $100,000
3rd Place: $30,000
Most Innovative Use of AI: $20,000
Phase 2 Winners Announcement: Spring 2027
Phase 2 Winners Announced
April 26, 2027
Announce the 1st ($250,000), 2nd ($100,000), and 3rd ($30,000) and Most Innovative Use of AI ($20,000)
The EHIgnite Challenge is open to eligible to U.S. individuals, teams, or entities and is designed to incentivize creative solutions to improve the usability, readability, and actionability of Single Patient EHI Exports. The target audience includes health IT developers, clinicians, patients, patient advocacy groups, data scientists, UX designers, and interoperability experts. Please see the Eligibility & Rules sections for further information.
Participants must register by completing the Challenge Registration Form on EHignitechallenge.org.
Team name, number of members, and brief description of each member’s expertise relevant to EHI usability, interoperability, or health IT.
Statements confirming compliance with eligibility rules, including consent to challenge rules and acknowledgement of privacy/HIPAA considerations.
Title of the proposed solution, brief description of the idea (1–2 sentences), and intended EHI scenario(s) addressed (e.g., summarization, patient interaction, domain filtering, integration, payer workflow).
To submit Phase 1 submissions, participants must login to the Challenge website to access the Phase 1 Submission Portal.
After logging in, click ‘Portal’ in the Navigation Bar to access the Phase 1 Submission Portal.
Phase 1 Submissions are due by May 13, 2026.
A complete submission package must include:
Both components are required. The registration form must be submitted, and the submission narrative uploaded by the Challenge submission deadline.
Describe the solution and how it addresses challenges in Single Patient EHI Exports, including usability, readability, integration, or patient/clinician engagement.
Provide background on the submitter(s), relevant experience, and any interdisciplinary or community engagement (e.g., collaboration with clinicians, patients, UX designers, or health IT experts).
Visual elements of your solution including screen views, workflows, and UX/UI assets. Please include all UI visuals within the PDF itself. Do not link to other external sites (e.g. Figma)
Describe how the solution can be implemented, integrated into workflows, and scaled across multiple EHRs or care settings.
Highlight the novelty of the approach, creative problem-solving, or unique use of technology to make EHI data actionable.
Explain how the solution improves usability for patients, clinicians, or care teams, and the potential benefits in real-world settings.
Details on the Phase 2 Submission package will be communicated after Phase 1, but will involve the following elements.
Optional: evidence of performance with exports from multiple EHR systems.
Submissions will be evaluated by a panel of representative, expert judges. Following the submission deadline, the Judging Panel will review the submissions and discuss, evaluate, and rank the submissions. Judges will assess submissions on the criteria described below and score submissions on a 100 point scale.
View helpful ASTP EHI resources from the list below:
The EHIgnite Challenge is a $490,000 competition designed to incentivize the development of tools, platforms, and workflows that transform single patient Electronic Health Information (EHI) exports into usable, readable, and actionable insights. The goal is to solve the problem of overwhelming, hard-to-integrate raw data and better support clinical care, patient engagement, and informed decision-making.
The challenge is open to U.S. citizens, permanent residents, and private entities incorporated and maintaining a primary place of business in the U.S. The target audience includes health IT developers, clinicians, data scientists, UX designers, patient advocacy groups, and interoperability experts. Federal entities and federal employees acting within the scope of their employment are not eligible to participate.
The $490,000 prize pool is split across two phases:
Raw EHI exports are “computable” but often overwhelming, unstructured, and difficult for humans to use for actual care.
Yes.
While the challenge is based on Single Patient EHI exports, solutions can serve both patients (personal tools) and providers (clinical domain organization).
You decide. The challenge allows for five scenarios: Patient tools, Clinical domains (Providers), Integration, Payer uses, or a Custom use case.
While, the core mission is to transform raw “Single Patient EHI” into usable insights you may propose other data but this should not be the focus of the solution.
Yes. The goal is to transform “computable” but “unusable” raw data into actionable insights for human users.
The “Clinical Domain Customization” scenario allows providers to use the tool to organize a patient’s provided EHI export into actionable clinical domains.
Improved patient engagement, better care coordination, and making it easier for patients to move their data between different care settings.
No.
The features your solution includes are at your discretion, so long as they comply with relevant privacy and security laws.
Phase 1 (Concept & Design): Narrative PDF
Phase 2 (Prototype Development): Working Prototype with Technical Documentation and Supporting Materials
Please email ehignitechallenge@ensembleconsultancy.com for support. There is not a QA or ticketing system.
Only one primary registration account is needed per team/entry.
ASTP will announce and promote the winners, but full submissions reamin the property of the submitters.
Yes, but you must be registered to have your final submission considered. Registration is open until the Phase 1 deadline of May 13th.
You can register anytime up to the Phase 1 close date of May 13, 2026.
Please contact support at ehignitechallenge@ensembleconsultancy.com for technical assistance with the portal.
While multiple submissions are permited, provided each submission is unique and meets all registration and eligibility requirements, we strongly encourage a single submission of the strongest solution.
ASTP is ascertaining its ability ro provide sample resources.
Assume that EHI Exports are in electronic and computable formats.
No. AI must be transparent and explainable” and the solution must comply with relevant privacy and security laws.
PDFs are not required to be used in the solution. Although Exports may exist in PDF format, the challenge goal is to make the data contained in them more understandable and usable.
Health IT developers are required to make EHI Export functionality available through their EHRs
In the Phase 1 narrative, describe your technical approach and feasibility for handling exports from multiple EHRs.
In Phase 1, submissions must be PDF only; any additional materials will not be reviewed. In Phase 2, a video demo may be a required element of the submission package.
Health IT certification is not required. Use of standards cited in ASTP certification criteria, such as HL7 FHIR R4, HL7 FHIR US Core IG, SMART App Launch Framework , is an element in the “Potential for Integration” judging criteria. Please visit ASTP’s website (https://healthit.gov/) to learn more about ASTP’s certification criteria.
No. In Phase 2, a working prototype is sufficient. Scalability to production EHRs is a judging factor.
No.
EHI Exports are required only to be made available in an electronic and computable format, and particpants are free to choose their submission’s format(s).
Under the EHI Export mandate, health IT developers must enable patients to export their data. Common methods include patient portals or secure download links.
No.
No; as long as the company adheres to the submission process and is eligible according to the challenge rules, it can receive a Phase 1 award and participate in Phase 2.
Individuals must be citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. to be eligible to participate.
If the private entity is the registered challenge participant, it must be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the U.S. Individuals participating singly or in a group must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
A private entity must be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the U.S. to be eligible to participate. Team composition as part of a registered private entity is solely at the discretion of the entity.
Winners must complete verification and payment documents within 20 business days of notification of tentative award, including proof that it’s primary place of business is located in the U.S.
Individuals participating singly or as a group must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. If a private entity is the participant, it must be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the U.S..
You cannot use federal funds from grants or contracts to develop your submission. If your other program is federally funded, the work for this challenge must be separate.
Only the registered Participant (individual or entity) is eligible for the prize. Collaborators should be listed in the registration if they are part of the team.
Yes, team details can evolve, but the Lead participant must remain eligible.
Yes.
No, individuals participating singly or as a group must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
Individuals must be citizens or permanent residents of the U.S. to be eligible to participate.
Yes, but they must not use federal funds, such as contracts or grants, for the submission and must comply with all rules.
A private entity must be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the U.S. to be eligible to participate. Team composition as part of a registered private entity is solely at the discretion of the entity.
Every individual in a “group of individuals” must be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to be eligible for a prize.
Federal funds cannot be used as part of this challenge, and we recommend consulting with your institution’s ethics official.
A typical team is more than one person and takes a multidisciplinary approach. That said, there are no restrictions on team size.
Yes, the “Most Innovative Use of AI” is a separate prize category that can be won in addition to a first, second, or third place prize.
No.
Prizes are awarded as cash prizes under the America COMPETES Act, rather than traditional grants or contracts.
Yes, winners are encouraged to share their success.
The challenge is intended to incentivize development; commercialization or “going live” are at the discretion of the developer.
No. The team description is a required section and helps judges assess expertise and interdisciplinary engagement.
Judges will be a representative panel of experts in health IT, informatics, clinical care, and patient advocacy, and include but not be solely composed of federal staff.
Phase 1 is a document/wireframe submission. Phase 2 requirements (including the demo video) will be detailed for finalists.
No. The submitter retains all intellectual property rights; the federal government receives a non-exclusive license to use the submission for purposes such as promotion.
Yes, participants retain all intellectual property rights to their submissions.
Participants retain all intellectual property rights to proprietary technologies and techniques. However, the submission narrative requires describing technical feasibility so judges can evaluate the solution.
The nonexclusive license permits the federal government to reproduce, publish, post, link to, share, and display publicly the submission on the web or elsewhere. The participant retains all other intellectual property rights.
To be eligible to win a prize under this Challenge, a Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity):
The narrative must include the following sections:
