Every week, it seems, the Department of Health and Human Services or a related federal agency kicks off a new developer contest or publicly declares another winner – largely in the spirit of engaging the American people by asking for their help in finding innovative new technologies.

But what of the winners, and the runners-up for that matter, after collecting their prize?

Wil Yu, HHS special assistant of innovations and research and director of ONC’s SHARP (Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects) program, spoke with Government Health IT about how, after writing the winner’s check, HSS is fostering innovation intended to help achieve the triple aim of patient-centered care that improves population health at a lower cost.

Q: What do the contestants get out of the entire process beyond the money?
A: Certainly, the prize money is a financial boost but oftentimes the amount of work that they may have put into development far exceeds the prize they might achieve. From a developer standpoint, one of the great ways of benefitting from a challenge effort is the recognition that one receives. While not an actual endorsement, they certainly have gone through a judging process that among a field of applicants they were the best concept or best idea to come out. This helps identify them as potential candidates to collaborate with but also helps to create opportunities in the form of test beds. One of the key challenges for early-stage health IT developers is the identification of a proof-of-concept, the ability to test their technology within a live setting, to refine it, to validate the value proposition. The process of technology development is not always aligned with the process of healthcare delivery. Whereas technology developers might need to rapidly re-develop or redeploy their technologies, a healthcare organization is likely to be a bit more conservative. There’s no equivalent to clinical trials for health IT. So for the second Transitions in Care challenge, the prize is not only a modest $5,000 but also the opportunity to test their technology in a live environment. Over a year-long trial they’ll have the opportunity to test their technology, to refine it, and thus create a stronger argument for further commercialization.

[See also: Sebelius touts winners of HHSinnovates program.]

Q: And then once they win and collect the money, is HHS, ONC or any other federal agency involved beyond that point?
A: The ultimate goal for the department is to achieve better health, healthcare delivery, and at a lower cost to the consumer. We’re agnostic to which technology or innovation the system actually adopts to get us there. We support health IT and meaningful use through certified systems but by and large we don’t tell you which vendor to choose, or which product to purchase. That being said, we know that as a result of the transformation taking place in the healthcare system, it’s in the best interest of the country as a whole for those who would seek to support that transformation to have as wide a range as appropriate to help them get there. We’re trying to incentivize and support those who create the tools, services, applications to drive that change.

Q: Is part of that helping innovators understand nuances particular to healthcare?
A: What we do is try to provide clarity when it comes to various aspects of healthcare policy, understanding the landscape. That’s very much low-hanging fruit, many of these innovators do not have degrees in healthcare policy, and don’t understand the challenges the country is facing with regard to shifting demographic trends, reimbursement, the pressures being felt from various stakeholders.

[See also: App challenge winners harness public data for cancer treatment .]

Certainly we can provide clarity and guidance on rules currently in place and those being developed, for instance meaningful use, security and privacy, understanding regulatory bodies like the FDA and their stance toward emerging technology classes such as mobile health. Just by communicating the issues around the environment, regulations, policies, I think we help the early-stage entrepreneurs in a significant way because they don’t have the resources to pull that information in themselves. Because of the variety of expertise needed to be successful in the health IT marketplace, an innovator at step one has to have expertise in a variety of disciplines, and sometimes they don’t get to step 12 or 13 until they find out they needed some nuance in their technology at step 2. We’re trying to support as much informed innovation as possible at the early stages – where the cost, risk and resources being deployed to that innovation are most dear.