More than 113 innovators from around the world submitted entries for the CHIME Healthcare Innovation Trust National Patient ID Challenge’s Concept Blitz Round. Following a thorough review by a panel of five independent judges, 23 proposals were selected as semifinalists and eight submissions were chosen as finalists. Today, CHIME named two Concept Blitz Round winners for submitting concepts that are well positioned to meet criteria for a national patient ID solution:

Michael Braithwaite, whose proposal promises to tap into enhanced biometric technology to create an easy-to-implement and scalable solution.

Mark Schroeder, whose proposal relies on HL7-approved standards for data exchange to enable demographic and biometric data to be utilized for patient identification.

“One of the most encouraging aspects of the Concept Blitz Round is the fact that so many ideas seem to leverage technology that already exists and won’t require wholesale disruption of our information technology systems. This reinforces CHIME’s position that we can find a solution that can be deployed regardless of provider type, size or location,” said CHIME Board Chair Marc Probst, vice president and chief information officer, Intermountain Healthcare.

The challenge now moves into the Final Innovation Round, which is open from June 1 to November 10. Innovators must register by July 12. It's important to remember that you did not have to participate in the Concept Blitz Round in order to enter the Final Innovation Round. The final round is open to anyone who registers by July 12.

We strongly encourage innovators to flesh out their ideas and sumbit an entry for the Final Innovation Round and the $1 million prize. More importantly, be a part of this important journey to save lives! 

“The ECRI Institute ranked patient misidentification as its No. 2 patient safety concern for 2016,” said CHIME President and CEO Russell Branzell. “Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine recently named medical errors as the third leading cause of death in the United States. We know that somewhere, right now, a patient is being harmed due to misidentification. We owe it to our patients to solve this problem once and for all. The solutions coming forward in this challenge are pointing us to a real solution. We look forward to seeing even more compelling and innovative ideas in the Final Innovation Round.”

Thanks!