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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 retains all other intellectual propoerty rights.
The $490,000 prize pool is split across two phases:
Phase 1 (Closes May 13, 2026): Participants submit their proposals, design narratives, and wireframes. Up to 9 winners will be selected, each receiving $10,000 and an invitation to Phase 2.
Phase 2 (Summer 2026 – Spring 2027): Phase 1 winners develop and test working prototypes of their solutions. The final prizes are awarded in Spring 2027: 1st Place ($250,000), 2nd Place ($100,000), 3rd Place ($30,000), and a bonus for the Most Innovative Use of AI ($20,000).
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.
ONC will announce and promote the winners, but full submissions reamin the property of the submitters.
No.
Yes, team details can evolve, but the Lead participant must remain eligible.
A typical team is more than one person and takes a multidisciplinary approach. That said, there are no restrictions on team size.
Yes, winners are encouraged to share their success.
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.
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.
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.
No. The team description is a required section and helps judges assess expertise and interdisciplinary engagement.
Single Patient EHI Exports are required only to be in an electronic and cimputable format. However, they can contain so much information that they are not user-friendly, informative or actionable. Thus, their potential to help patient care has not been met.
Yes. While the challenge is based on Single Patient EHI exports, solutions can serve both Population EHI Export as well.
The core task is to address Single Patient EHI Exports, but participants may include other data sources in addition. Similarly, participants may work with Population Export in addition to Single Patient.
The core task is to address Single Patient EHI Exports, and participants may choose which role(s) to address in the summarization plus one additional scenario.
Yes. The goal is to make Single Patient EHI Exports more understandable and actionable for users through the summarization task plus one additional use case.
An approach to include providers could entail addressing the “Clinical Domain Customization” scenario.
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.
Under the EHI Export mandate, health IT developers must enable patients to export their data. Common methods include patient portals or secure download links.
The challenge is intended to incentivize development; commercialization or “going live” are at the discretion of the developer.
After logging in click ‘Portal’ on the top navigation bar to access the Phase 1 Submission Portal.
Please contact support at ehignitechallenge@ensembleconsultancy.com for additional technical assistance with the portal.
ONC 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 ONC 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 ONC’s website (https://healthit.gov/) to learn more about ONC’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).
