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Ignite the Future of Health Data Usability

Transforming raw Electronic Health Information (EHI) into actionable insights for patients and clinicians.

Join the $490,000 EHIgnite Challenge.

Register for Phase 1
Download Official Challenge Rules

The Challenge

Why does the EHIgnite Challenge matter?

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.

Watch the Orientation Webinar & Download Slides

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.

Download Challenge Webinar Slides
Download Challenge Webinar Video
Go to Challenge FAQs Page

Resources

View helpful ONC EHI resources from the list below:

Getting Ready for EHI Export: A Quick Guide
Understanding Electronic Health Information (EHI)
Download Official Challenge Rules

Watch the
Orientation Webinar &
Download the Webinar Slides

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.

Download Challenge Webinar Slides
Go to Challenge FAQs Page
Download Challenge Webinar Video

Resources

View helpful ONC EHI resources from the list below:

Your Mission

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.

Interactive Patient Tools (Optional)

Enable patients to ask questions about their health data and receive understandable responses.

Submissions must create a usable, readable summary of relevant health information PLUS an additional scenario
Clinical Domain Customization (Optional)

Build tools that allow customized queries and organization by relevant domains.

Integration Across Settings (Optional)

Allow and enhance integration of exports from multiple places of care.

Streamline Payer Uses (Optional)

Enhance easier and more streamlined sharing of information for insurance coverage.

Participant Defined Use Case (Optional)

Have a better idea? Propose it.

Timeline & Prizes

Phase
Date
Focus
Prize

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)

Register for Phase 1

How To Enter

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.

Step 1: Phase 1 Registration

Participants must register by completing the Challenge Registration Form on EHignitechallenge.org. 

Participant Information:
  • Name
  • Email
  • Organization (if applicable or select Individual if submitting solely as an individual),
  • Role/affiliation (developer, clinician, patient advocate, etc.)
Team Details:

Team name, number of members, and brief description of each member’s expertise relevant to EHI usability, interoperability, or health IT.

Eligibility Confirmation

Statements confirming compliance with eligibility rules, including consent to challenge rules and acknowledgement of privacy/HIPAA considerations.

Project Overview (Optional):

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).

  • Don’t worry if your title and solution change as you develop them. We will only review the final submitted version.

Step 2: Phase 1 Submission

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. 

Phase 1 Submission Requirements

A complete submission package must include:

  • Submission Entry Name
  • Submission Team Name and Team Lead Name & Email (This should match registration email)
  • Submission Description (No more than 1000 Characters)
  • Submission Narrative (uploaded as a PDF to EHignitechallenge.org)

Both components are required. The registration form must be submitted, and the submission narrative uploaded by the Challenge submission deadline.



Submission Narrative Components (10 pg. PDF)

Description of Solution and Problem Addressed:

Describe the solution and how it addresses challenges in Single Patient EHI Exports, including usability, readability, integration, or patient/clinician engagement.

Description of Submitting Individual, Team, or Entity:

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).

Wireframe / Mock Ups:

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)

Technical Feasibility and Scalability:

Describe how the solution can be implemented, integrated into workflows, and scaled across multiple EHRs or care settings.

Innovation:

Highlight the novelty of the approach, creative problem-solving, or unique use of technology to make EHI data actionable.

Potential Impact:

Explain how the solution improves usability for patients, clinicians, or care teams, and the potential benefits in real-world settings.

Register for Phase 1

Phase 2 Submission Package

Details on the Phase 2 Submission package will be communicated after Phase 1, but will involve the following elements.

  • Working prototype
  • Technical documentation.
  • Demonstration video (5–10 minutes).
  • Usability test results, if available.

Optional: evidence of performance with exports from multiple EHR systems.

Register for Phase 1

Evaluation and Judging

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.

Relevance and Problem Alignment (Up to 25 pts)
  • How effectively does the solution address the usability challenges of Single Patient EHI Exports?
  • Does it clearly solve a real-world problem for patients, clinicians, or care teams in line with the scenarios identified (summarization, patient interaction, clinical domain filtering, integration across EHRs, or streamlined payer use)?
Potential for Integration & Scaling (Up to 20 pts)
  • Practicality of implementation and ability to integrate into existing clinical workflows.
  • Use of consensus-based standards, such as those adopted by ONC to enhance implementation and adoption.
  • Scalability to multiple patients, providers, and EHR systems.
  • Interoperability across multiple EHR systems.
Interpretability & Ease of Use (Up to 40 pts)
  • Novelty of the approach to making EHI data actionable, readable, and interpretable.
  • Use of user-centered design principles to create intuitive tools or interfaces.
  • Ease of use for intended end users, including patients, clinicians, and care teams.
  • Creative approaches to summarization, integration, or interaction with EHI data.
  • Potential to improve care coordination, patient engagement, or clinical decision-making.
Privacy, Security, and Compliance (Up to 15 pts)
  • Adherence to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) rules and other applicable privacy, security, and consent laws is required.
  • Effectiveness and innovation in enabling users to customize privacy settings when sharing data and information with others.
Bonus Points: Use of AI (Optional, up to 20 bonus pts)
  • Use of transparent, explainable AI or other advanced methods in compliance with privacy standards

Eligibility & Rules

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:

  • Shall have registered to participate in the Challenge under the rules promulgated by the HHS as published in this announcement.
  • Shall have complied with all the requirements set forth in this announcement.
  • In the case of a private entity, shall be incorporated in and maintain a primary place of business in the U.S., and in the case of an individual, whether participating singly or in a group, shall be a citizen or permanent resident of the U.S.
  • Shall not be a federal entity or federal employee acting within the scope of their employment.
  • Shall not be an employee of the HHS (or any other component of HHS) acting in their personal capacity. Individuals employed by a federal agency or entity other than HHS (or any component of HHS) should consult with an agency ethics official to determine whether the federal ethics rules will limit or prohibit the acceptance of a prize under this Challenge.
  • Shall not be a judge of the Challenge, or any other party involved with the design, production, execution, or distribution of the Challenge or the immediate family of such a party (i.e., spouse, parent, stepparent, child, or stepchild).
  • Shall be 18 years of age or older at the time of submission.

Legal and Administrative Rules

  • Participants (whether individuals, groups of individuals, or entities) may not use federal funds from a grant award or cooperative agreement to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions.
  • Federal contractors may not use federal funds from a contract to develop their Challenge submissions or to fund efforts in support of their Challenge submissions.
  • By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) agrees 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 participation in this Challenge, whether the injury, death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise.
  • No Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) participating in the Challenge is required to obtain liability insurance, or demonstrate financial responsibility, or agree to indemnify the federal government against third party claims for damages arising from or related to Challenge activities in order to participate in this Challenge
  • A Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) shall not be deemed ineligible because the Participant used federal facilities or consulted with federal employees during the Challenge if the facilities and employees are made available to all Participants participating in the Challenge on an equitable basis.
  • By participating in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) warrants that they are sole author or owner of, or has the right to use, any copyrightable works that the submission comprises, that the works are wholly original with the Participant (or is an improved version of an existing work that the Participant has sufficient rights to use and improve), and that the submission does not infringe any copyright or any other rights of any third party of which the Participant is aware.
  • Each Participant will retain all other intellectual property rights in their submissions, as applicable.
  • To participate in the Challenge, each Participant must warrant that there are no legal obstacles to providing the above-referenced nonexclusive licenses of the Participant’s rights to the federal government. To receive an award, Participants will not be required to transfer their intellectual property rights to HHS, but Participants must grant to the federal government the nonexclusive licenses recited herein.
  • Each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) agrees to follow all applicable federal, state, and local laws, regulations, and policies.
  • Each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) participating in this Challenge must comply with all terms and conditions of these rules, and participation in this Challenge constitutes each such Participant’s full and unconditional agreement to abide by these rules. Winning is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements herein.
  • As a condition for winning a cash prize in this Challenge, each Participant (whether an individual, group of individuals, or entity) that has been selected as a winner must complete and submit all requested winner verification and payment documents to HHS within 20 business days of formal notification. Failure to return all required verification documents by the date specified in the notification may be a basis for disqualification of a cash prize winning submission.