Interdisciplinary Health Data Competition

• February 21: Registration opens
• March 6: Last day to register
• March 16: Competition kickoff and data release, 5:00 pm CT - Watch recorded Kickoff
• March 27: All project submissions due by 11:59 pm CT
• March 31: Finalists announced
• April 5: Finalist presentations, 4:00 pm CT - Watch recorded finals
• April 7: Winners announced

Teams are required to use the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems (HCAHPS) survey from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Additional publicly available sources are encouraged to be used. 

Learn more about the HCAHPS          Access the data

• Submit a one-page Executive Summary - maximum of 500 words (not including references) 
• Submit a PowerPoint presentation outlining the team's project - maximum of 20 slides 
• Record a voice-over with PowerPoint, presenting the team's analysis, insights, and innovations - maximum of 20 minutes
• Finalists will virtually present projects to judges - each team has 20 minutes to present followed by 5 minutes for judges' questions
• A rubric will be provided when data is released on March 16, 2022

• Competition is open to all current graduate and professional degree-seeking students at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
• Maximum of 5 students per team 
• Each team must have students from at least 2 different colleges or schools within the U of M Twin Cities
• Students may only participate on one team
• You can form your own team or request to be placed on a team
• No individual entries are allowed

• First Place Team: $4,000 - Sponsored by United Health Foundation
• Second Place Team: $2,000 - Sponsored by the Office of Academic Clinical Affairs
• Third Place Team: $1,000 - Sponsored by Medtronic

This competition would not be possible without the support and involvement of University of Minnesota faculty and industry partners!

Industry Experts: 

• Matt Chock, Bind Benefits
• David Cook, OptumLabs
• Alex Everhart, Harvard-MIT Center for Regulatory Science
• Erene Hammond, OptumLabs
• John Hargraves, Health Care Cost Institute
• Molly Jeffery, Mayo Clinic
• Todd Johnson, IZiel Healthcare
• Danita Kiser, Optum
• Rich Krueger, MHealth Fairview
• Spencer Merchant, United Health Group
• Donna Spencer, RTI International
• Kurt Waltenbaugh, Unite Us
• Michael Webber, Hennepin Healthcare Systems
• Mark Wehde, Mayo Clinic
• Bill Woywod, Komodo Health
• Audrey Workman, Davita Kidney Care

University of Minnesota Faculty: 

• Steve Johnson, Institute for Health Informatics
• Joel Farley, College of Pharmacy
• Caitlin Carrol, School of Public Health 
• Russ Funk, Carlson School of Management
• Robin Austin, School of Nursing

How do I record the voiceover for the presentation?  

• Teams can use any method of recording the voice-over on their slides; however, we recommend VoiceThread or Zoom.

I registered as an individual. When will I find out what team I am on? 

• Emails will be sent by March 11, 2022 to all registered participants and will include their team members' information as well as other important details.   

Are we more in favor of an exploratory analysis?

• It is up to your team whether you want to do exploratory analysis, or predictive analysis or take another approach. 

I competed in the Health Data Competition in the past. Can I compete again?

• Yes! Past participants are welcome to compete again since each year the topic and required dataset change so teams will need to take different approaches and bring new insights to their projects.

Our team members are dual-degree programs from the same 2 schools. Does this meet the requirement of 2 colleges/schools?

• Yes! Dual-degree programs meet the requirement of having 2 colleges/schools represented on each team.

Does HCAHPS survey data include patient-level data (education, demographics, etc.)?  

• No, HCAHPS does not include patient-level data. Teams can use other publicly available data sources, such as American Community Survey data, to incorporate some aspects of patient-level data.   

Contact Kim Choyke with additional questions.