The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) has launched a data innovation challenge in which companies can develop and submit solutions that increase access to care, enhance patient engagement, and improve care delivery and outcomes.
BCBSA and Blue Health Intelligence—a healthcare data and analytics firm and an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association—have said that the winner of the challenge will have six months access to a limited dataset within BHI’s database of more than 5 billion covered procedures performed annually, originating from more than 170 million active and inactive Blue Cross and Blue Shield members.
The Blues are telling interested companies they can choose from three categories to submit their proposals that will use BHI’s national data:
- identify, predict and prioritize members and providers for real-time interventions
- reduce barriers to care
- enhance members’ journeys through the healthcare system
According to BCBSA officials, to apply, applicants must provide a company and team overview, a proposed solution for a selected category, expected outcomes and impact, scalability requirements, and references. Interested companies can submit their proposals now through June 25, 2019.
Following submissions, the applications with the most potential to leverage BHI’s dataset to address one of the categories will be provided access to “a limited HIPAA-compliant relevant dataset and other BHI resources to test its hypothesis. Based on their preliminary results, the winner will then be chosen in the fall of 2019 and will receive access to a limited dataset within BHI’s database of more than 5 billion covered procedures, and support and advice from BHI for six months,” officials said.
The winning company will also receive mentorship and advice from BCBS companies’ and leaders of the Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Bob Kolodgy, executive vice president and chief financial officer for BCBSA and BHI board member, noted in a statement, “The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Blue Cross and Blue Shield companies across the country are committed to making healthcare more accessible, more affordable and simpler to support the health of America. A major roadblock in advancing innovative solutions to improve how our healthcare system works is a lack of access to data.”
