A nationwide hackathon hosted by University of Pennsylvania this weekend added a new wrinkle with a mobile health division, PennApps Health. The move underscores the growth of mhealth submissions in the contest and the interest in shaping app development with clinical insights. Companies such as Independence Blue Cross, Main Line Health, and interestingly, electronic medical record giant, Epic, set down some guidance on the kinds of tools they’re looking for, which corresponded with national trends.
Staff from the Perelman School of Medicine, Penn Center for Innovation and University of Pennsylvania Health System are participating in the hackathon both as mentors and as hackers. Penn medical school student Mitt Coats organized PennApps Health.
Among the tools they’re looking for are ways to improve healthcare literacy, and make it easier for patients to manage their health once they’re discharged. Independence Blue Cross is looking for apps that fit into categories such as doctor visit assistants that could help with referrals and to manage customers’ personal health records and drug interaction alerts. Other needs on its radar include a way for adult children to remotely monitor their parents and medication adherence. It is offering a prize of Apple Watches to up to four members of a team when the devices come on the market.
Dan Velazquez, who works in Epic’s research and development division at its Verona, Wisconsin headquarters, said it would give an award for best patient engagement app. DreamIt Ventures is also offering a prize — a final round interview for its 2015 class in Baltimore or Philadelphia.
Among the prizes on offer across the PennApps hackathon include one from Thalmic Labs for the best hack using its API for its gesture control wearable Myo. BenefitFocus is giving FitBits for the best healthcare hack.
Winners are to be announced Sunday afternoon. Check back here for an update on the winning healthcare teams.
[Photo from Flickr]
